TV SERIES · 1997–present · USA
South Park
- Created by
- Trey Parker, Matt Stone
- Network
- Comedy Central
- Seasons
- 29
- Episodes
- 337
- Studio
- South Park Studios, Comedy Central, Braniff Productions
192 archived facts 7 topics 2 sources Last reviewed Nov 2026
Follow the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.
192 Interesting Facts About South Park
Interesting Facts (15)
- #001
- #002
In the late 1990's, a mother in Canada complained about the show to the CRTC (Canada's version of the FCC). Her young son, also named Kenny, was being traumatized by Kenny dying in every episode, she said, and his classmates made it worse by teasing him about it. She asked the CRTC to lean on Parker and Stone to give Kenny a different name. The complaint was thrown out.
- #003
- #004
- #005
- #006
Cartman has been arrested 6 times, despite having done countless other crimes. These include: Murder, Rape, Arson, Prostitution, Enforced Cannibalism, Attempted Genocide, Manslaughter, Animal Abuse, Hate crimes, Grave Robbery, War crimes, Child abuse, Vandalism, Theft, Piracy, Embezzlement, Shoplifting, Terrorism, Drug Possession, Smuggling, Armed Robbery, and many many more.
- #007
- #008
- #009
Kenny's uncovered face has to date been shown five times: "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" (episode 110, airdate: December 7, 1997) where Kenny is seen singing on the stage at the beginning of the episode; "Super Best Friends" (episode 504, airdate: July 4, 2001) Stan comes upon a drowned corpse, which he first mistakes for Kyle before saying "Oh my God, they killed Kenny!"; "The Jeffersons" (episode 807, airdate: April 21, 2004) features an un-jacketed Kenny (wearing an eye-covering masquerade ball masque) posing as Michael Jackson's toddler, Blanket, and for the first time on the actual series speaking audibly; "The Losing Edge" (episode 905, airdate: April 6, 2005) shows Kenny in baseball uniform several times (he's the one with the dark, dirty blonde hair sitting on the right-hand side in Whistlin' Willy's Pizza Gultch); "Lice Capades" (episode 1103, airdate: March 21, 2007) Kenny's face is half shown when he is being sock bathed for a few seconds. He is also shown in the shower with Stan, Kyle, and Cartman in the episode "Lil Crime Stoppers" (episode 706, airdate April 23, 2003).
- #010
The original plot of Kenny Dies (2001) was for Kyle to be permanently killed off as Matt Stone and Trey Parker felt Stan and Kyle's personalities were too similar, and Butters would make a good replacement. For unknown reasons though they ultimately changed their minds and killed off Kenny.
- #011
- #012
- #013
- #014
- #015
Production Story (89)
- #016
- #017
- #018
The documentary "Taint of greatness, The Journey of Beavis and Butt-head" revealed that Beavis and Butt-head inspired Trey Parker and Matt Stone to make South Park: its rough animation and crude humor convinced them to try a similar kind of show. (Matt and Trey even met with Mike Judge after telling him about their plans for a show of their own.)
- #019
To avoid copying the celebrity cameos The Simpsons (1989) was known for, Trey Parker and Matt Stone only let guest stars on if they agreed to voice animals (George Clooney as Stan's dog, for instance). The exceptions were Jennifer Aniston, who voiced Miss Stevens in Rainforest Shmainforest, and Natasha Henstridge, who voiced Miss Ellen in Tom's Rhinoplasty (1998), since they'd had a crush on her ever since Species (1995).
- #020
- #021
- #022
- #023
The first twelve seasons were made in 4:3 standard definition; the show switched to 16:9 high definition in season thirteen. South Park Studios later remastered the first twelve seasons in HD and reanimated every scene to fill a 16:9 frame. The pilot, Cartman Gets an Anal Probe (1997), was made on film with cutout animation, so it was rescanned in high definition but kept its original 4:3 aspect ratio.
- #024
Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus (1998) is the first episode without Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Cartman does make a cameo in the recap of Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut (1998), where his father's identity was supposed to be revealed, only for it to turn out to be an April Fools prank; after that the episode sticks with Terrance and Phillip, though Stan and Kyle pop up on Terrance and Phillip's TV and the four boys' faces appear on a T-shirt.
- #025
- #026
- #027
Fatbeard (2009) was meant to air a few weeks earlier than it did, but it was held back because of the Maersk Alabama Highjacking, when Somali pirates boarded the American cargo ship of that name and kept its captain hostage on a lifeboat for five days. Stone and Parker didn't want to air an episode that looked like it was mocking what was happening.
- #028
- #029
- #030
- #031
- #032
- #033
Trey Parker and Matt Stone have made sure every noteworthy minor character gets at least one episode in the spotlight: * Bebe: Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society (2002) * Clyde: Lice Capades (2007) * Token: Raising the Bar (2012) * Wendy: Breast Cancer Show Ever (2008) * Tweek: Gnomes (1998) * Craig: Pandemic (2008) & Pandemic 2: The Startling (2008) * Pip: Pip (2000) * Jimmy: Krazy Kripples (2003)
- #034
- #035
The music usually heard over the closing credits sounds like Primus's original opening theme played instrumentally and slowed down, but it's the other way round: the slow version was meant to be the opening theme, until Comedy Central asked for something more up-tempo. The song was sped up, and someone had to track down lead singer Les Claypool on tour so he could re-record the vocals on a tape recorder at the new speed.
- #036
Kristen Schaal says she was fired for "talking too much" a little over a month after being hired as a writer on the show in 2007. A huge fan, she said it was her first TV writing job, and admits she wasn't used to a writers' room and pitched far too many ideas instead of following protocol. After a few warnings, she was let go.
- #037
- #038
An animated series normally takes 8 to 12 months to finish, which makes reacting to current events almost impossible. Computer animation gave South Park's creators the lee-way to put some episodes together quickly (such as -"Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" - 22 April 1998), sometimes leading to visible differences between an episode and its promo. Best known are the "11th hour episodes", finished just days, sometimes hours, before airtime. They include, among others: * "Quintuplets 2000" a.k.a "Janet Reno in a Bunny Suit" (airdate: 26 April 2000), which mirrored the U.S. government's removal of Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives three days before it aired. * "Trapper Keeper" (airdate: 15 November 2000), a parody of the 2000 presidential election scandal of the week before. * "It Hits the Fan" (airdate: 20 April 2001): story changes kept it in production right up to airtime, and the original broadcast was missing many finished sound effects, most obviously during Kenny's death. * "Osama bin Laden has Farty Pants" (airdate: 7 November 2001): airing weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the USA, it was one of the first fictional series to deal with them. * "It's Christmas in Canada" (airdate: 17 December 2003), which mentioned the capture of Saddam Hussein just four days after it happened. * "Best Friends Forever" (airdate: 30 March 2005), a parody of the media coverage of the Terry Schiavo case. * "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" (airdate: 19 October 2005), inspired by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and the way people blamed the government for what happened and for how long aid took to arrive; the season commentary says it was also a parody of "The Day After Tomorrow (2004)".
- #039
Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef, quit in 2006, four months after Trapped in the Closet (2005), the episode that spoofed the Scientology church. Hayes, a Scientologist, put out a statement saying he could no longer in good conscience support a show that mocked religion that way (even though he'd gone along with jokes about plenty of other religions). The show dealt with his exit in The Return of Chef (2006). Matt Stone later said that before 'Trapped in the Closet' aired, Hayes had told him he was uneasy about its subject and asked him not to broadcast it. Stone was convinced at the time that Hayes had been pressured into objecting, and Hayes' son later confirmed it, saying his father would never have been such a hypocrite. He also explained that Hayes had suffered a stroke that left him unable to speak, and that someone connected with Scientology then released the statement about his departure on his behalf.
- #040
- #041
- #042
- #043
- #044
Like Timmy, Jimmy was supposed to appear just once, and his first episode says he's from out of town. But Trey Parker and Matt Stone liked him so much that they kept him, and a few episodes later he's in the South Park gang's (Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Kenny) class, meaning Jimmy has moved to South Park.
- #045
- #046
- #047
- #048
- #049
- #050
Trey Parker and Matt Stone talked with both MTV and Comedy Central; Parker leaned toward Comedy Central because he feared MTV would turn South Park into a kids' show.
- #051
South Park doesn't write its scripts ahead of the season: work on each episode starts on a Thursday, with the writing consultants brainstorming alongside Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
- #052
- #053
- #054
- #055
In the late 1990s, a Canadian mother complained about the series to the CRTC (Canada's equivalent of the FCC). She said her son was traumatized by Kenny, the character who dies in every episode, and that the situation worsened when his classmates teased him about it. She asked Parker and Stone to change Kenny's name, but the request was denied.
- #056
- #057
- #058
Isaac Hayes (the voice of Chef) left the series in 2006, four months after the episode 'Trapped in the Closet' (2005), which satirized the Church of Scientology. Hayes issued a statement saying he could not support a series that mocks religion. The series addressed Hayes's departure in the episode 'The Return of Chef' (2006). Matt Stone said Hayes had raised concerns before the episode aired and asked that it not be broadcast, but that Hayes was forced to make this criticism. Hayes's son also confirmed that his father would not be that hypocritical and stated that while he could not speak after suffering a stroke, someone connected to Scientology made a statement on his behalf.
- #059
- #060
The episode 'Fatbeard' (2009) was going to air a few weeks earlier than planned. However, it was postponed because Somali pirates hijacked the Maersk Alabama and held its captain hostage for five days. Stone and Parker did not want to air an episode that would seem to be mocking the situation.
- #061
- #062
- #063
- #064
To avoid imitating The Simpsons' famous habit of celebrity guest stars, Trey Parker and Matt Stone allowed guest stars to voice only animals (such as George Clooney voicing Stan's dog). They made exceptions for Jennifer Aniston (Miss Stevens in 'Rainforest Shmainforest') and Natasha Henstridge (Miss Ellen in 'Tom's Rhinoplasty'), because they had been in love with Henstridge since seeing her in Species (1995).
- #065
Kristen Schaal said she was fired in 2007, a little over a month after being hired as a writer on the series, for 'talking too much.' A big fan of the series, Schaal was in her first TV writing job and, unaccustomed to working in a writers' room, did not follow protocol and offered too many ideas. After receiving warnings, she was let go.
- #066
- #067
- #068
Like Timmy, Jimmy was conceived as a one-off character, and his first appearance stated that he came from out of town. But Trey Parker and Matt Stone liked him so much that they kept him on the show. A few episodes later, Jimmy joined the South Park gang's (Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Kenny) class, meaning Jimmy moved to South Park.
- #069
Terrance and Phillip: Not Without My Anus (1998) is the first episode without Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Cartman appears briefly in the summary of the episode Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut (1998), in which Cartman's father was to be revealed but it turned out to be an April Fools' joke. The rest of the episode focuses on Terrance and Phillip; Stan and Kyle appear briefly on Terrance and Phillip's television, and the faces of the four boys appear on a T-shirt.
- #070
- #071
- #072
- #073
- #074
Traditionally, completing an animated series takes 8 to 12 months, which makes addressing current events nearly impossible. On South Park, computer animation gave the creators the flexibility to prepare some episodes quickly (for example, 'Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut' - April 22, 1998). This sometimes leads to noticeable changes between an episode and its promotion. The most notable are known as 'eleventh hour episodes'; episodes completed only days, or even hours, before broadcast. These include: 'Quintuplets 2000' (April 26, 2000), about the U.S. government taking Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' home in Miami; this event took place three days before broadcast. 'Trapper Keeper' (November 15, 2000) parodies the 2000 presidential election scandal that had happened a week earlier. 'It Hits the Fan' (April 20, 2001) underwent constant changes up to broadcast and was missing many sound effects in its first airing, most noticeably the silence during Kenny's death. 'Osama bin Laden has Farty Pants' (November 7, 2001) aired weeks after the September 11 attacks, making it one of the first fictional series to address the subject. 'It's Christmas in Canada' (December 17, 2003) dealt with Saddam Hussein's capture just four days after it happened. 'Best Friends Forever' (March 30, 2005) parodies the media coverage of the Terry Schiavo case. 'Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow' (October 19, 2005) deals with the government being blamed and the late arrival of aid after Hurricane Katrina; it is also a parody of the film 'The Day After Tomorrow'.
- #075
The music that plays during the closing credits sounds like an instrumental, slowed-down version of Primus's original theme song. In fact, it is the opposite: the slow version was originally intended as the opening theme, but Comedy Central wanted something more upbeat. The song was sped up, and someone had to find singer Les Claypool while he was on tour and record vocals to match the new speed onto a tape.
- #076
The first twelve seasons were produced in 4:3 standard definition, and the show switched to 16:9 high definition in its thirteenth season. South Park Studios later remastered the first twelve seasons in high definition, re-animating every scene to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio. Because the pilot episode 'Cartman Gets an Anal Probe' (1997) was made with cutout animation on film, it was scanned in high definition but remained in its original 4:3 aspect ratio.
- #077
In the first episodes, the voices Matt and Trey did for the children were much more childlike and exaggerated. Matt and Trey have said that they did the voices of Cartman, Stan and Kyle during film class, and that these high-pitched child voices annoyed their teacher and got them thrown out of the classroom. Over time the children's voices became more relaxed and began to resemble the voice actors' real voices. While they initially voiced the child characters without pitch shifting, their voices became noticeably deeper than in the early seasons. Matt and Trey began using Pro Tools plug-ins once they could afford them. Now they speak in their normal vocal ranges and add a childlike tone, then the recorded voice is edited with Pro Tools and the waveform is raised by exactly three semitones, so the voices sound more like a fourth-grade student.
- #078
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- #080
- #081
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- #087
Kenny's uncovered face has been shown five times to date: in 'Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo' (episode 110, air date: December 7, 1997) while Kenny sings on stage at the beginning of the episode; in 'Super Best Friends' (episode 504, air date: July 4, 2001) Stan finds a drowned corpse, first thinks it's Kyle, then says 'Oh my God, they killed Kenny!'; in 'The Jeffersons' (episode 807, air date: April 21, 2004) Kenny, without his jacket (wearing a mask that covers his eyes), plays Michael Jackson's child Blanket and speaks audibly in the series for the first time; in 'The Losing Edge' (episode 905, air date: April 6, 2005) Kenny appears several times in a baseball uniform (the dark dirty-blond person sitting on the right at Whistlin' Willy's Pizza Gultch); in 'Lice Capades' (episode 1103, air date: March 21, 2007) Kenny's face is shown by halves. He also appears in the shower with Stan, Kyle and Cartman in 'Lil Crime Stoppers' (episode 706, air date: April 23, 2003).
- #088
- #089
- #090
- #091
- #092
- #093
- #094
- #095
In the late 1990s, a Canadian mother complained about the series to the CRTC (Canada's equivalent of the FCC). She said her son was traumatized by the character Kenny, who dies in every episode, and that the situation worsened when his classmates teased him about it. She asked Parker and Stone to change Kenny's name, but the request was denied.
- #096
- #097
- #098
- #099
In the documentary 'Taint of greatness, The Journey of Beavis and Butt-head,' it emerged that Trey Parker and Matt Stone took their inspiration for South Park from Beavis and Butt-head. The crude animation and crude humor of Beavis and Butt-head encouraged Trey and Matt to make a similar series. (Matt and Trey had a meeting with Mike Judge after saying they would start their own show.)
- #100
Terrance and Phillip: Not Without My Anus (1998) is the first episode without Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Cartman appears briefly in the summary of the episode Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut (1998), in which the identity of Cartman's father was to be revealed but turned out to be an April Fools' joke. The rest of the episode focuses on Terrance and Phillip; Stan and Kyle appear briefly on Terrance and Phillip's television, and the faces of the four boys appear on a T-shirt.
- #101
- #102
- #103
- #104
Behind the Scenes (23)
- #105
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- #107
In early episodes, the boys' voices from Matt and Trey were far more childlike and exaggerated. Matt and Trey say they used to do the Cartman, Stan and Kyle voices in film class, and the shrill childish voices often annoyed their teachers enough to get them thrown out. Over time the kids' voices relaxed and started to sound more like their voice actors' own. Although they first voiced the children without any pitch shifting, the voices got noticeably lower after the early seasons, once Matt and Trey could afford Pro Tools plugins. Now they speak in their normal range with a childlike inflection, and the recording is edited in Pro Tools, with the waveform pitched up exactly three semitones along with the speed, so the voices sound more like a fourth grader's.
- #108
- #109
Trey Parker and Matt Stone's idol Norman Lear came on as a guest writing consultant for "Cancelled" and "I'm a Little Bit Country" in South Park's season seven (2003), and saw it as a chance to bond with his son Benjamin as well.
- #110
Once the ideas had been thrashed out, co-creator Trey Parker wrote the script, and over the following week the animators, editors, technicians and sound engineers would typically each put in 100 to 120 hours.
- #111
From the fourth season in 2000 on, Trey Parker took over most of South Park's directing, while Matt Stone gave up directing to focus on production coordination and the business side.
- #112
Trey Parker and Matt Stone say the one-week deadline makes their process more spontaneous, and they think that makes the show funnier.
- #113
- #114
- #115
- #116
- #117
- #118
Traditionally, completing an animated series takes 8 to 12 months, which makes referencing current events nearly impossible. On South Park, computer animation gave the creators the flexibility to prepare some episodes quickly (for example, 'Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut' - April 22, 1998). This sometimes leads to noticeable changes between an episode and its promotion. The most notable are known as 'eleventh hour episodes'; episodes completed only days, or even hours, before broadcast. These include: 'Quintuplets 2000' (April 26, 2000), about the U.S. government taking Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' home in Miami; this event took place three days before the broadcast. 'Trapper Keeper' (November 15, 2000) parodies the 2000 presidential election scandal that had unfolded a week earlier. 'It Hits the Fan' (April 20, 2001) underwent constant changes up to broadcast and was missing many sound effects in its first airing; most notably the silence during Kenny's death. 'Osama bin Laden has Farty Pants' (November 7, 2001) aired weeks after the September 11 attacks, making it one of the first fictional series to address the subject. 'It's Christmas in Canada' (December 17, 2003) dealt with Saddam Hussein's capture just four days after it happened. 'Best Friends Forever' (March 30, 2005) parodies the media coverage of the Terry Schiavo case. 'Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow' (October 19, 2005) deals with the government being blamed and the delayed relief effort after Hurricane Katrina; it is also a parody of the film 'The Day After Tomorrow'.
- #119
The music that plays during the closing credits sounds like an instrumental, slowed-down version of Primus's original theme song. However, it is actually the opposite: the slow version was originally intended as the opening theme, but Comedy Central wanted something more upbeat. The song was sped up, and someone had to find lead singer Les Claypool while he was on tour and record the vocals to match the new tempo onto a tape.
- #120
The first twelve seasons were produced in 4:3 standard definition, and the show switched to 16:9 high definition in its thirteenth season. South Park Studios later remastered the first twelve seasons in high definition and re-animated every scene to fit a 16:9 aspect ratio. Because the pilot episode 'Cartman Gets an Anal Probe' (1997) was made with cutout animation on film, it was scanned in high definition but remained in its original 4:3 aspect ratio.
- #121
In the early episodes, the voices Matt and Trey did for the children were much more childlike and exaggerated. Matt and Trey have stated that they did the voices of Cartman, Stan and Kyle during film class and that these high-pitched child voices annoyed their teacher and got them thrown out of the classroom. Over time, the children's voices became more relaxed and began to resemble the voice actors' real voices. While they initially voiced the child characters without any pitch shifting, their voices became noticeably deeper than in the early seasons. Matt and Trey began using Pro Tools plug-ins once they could afford them. Now they speak in their normal vocal ranges and add a childlike tone, after which the recorded audio is edited with Pro Tools and the waveform is raised by exactly three semitones, making the voices sound more like fourth graders.
- #122
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- #127
Characters & Cast (25)
- #128
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Easter Eggs & References (19)
- #153
- #154
- #155
- #156
In the famous Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics episode (S3E05), every commercial break is followed by live-action footage of Trey Parker as a newsreader saying, "Frizzies at 11." It's a reference to a widely circulated bootleg of the infamous The Star Wars Holiday Special (1978), which caught a real newscaster saying exactly that in "pause button delay" sound bites.
- #157
- #158
- #159
- #160
- #161
Cartman says he'll "rendezvous" at the Country Kitchen Buffet, and Rendezvous was also a Buick SUV model when the episode aired. Ironically, the Buick that went off the bridge earlier in the episode on its way to the Country Kitchen Buffet wasn't a Rendezvous, or even an SUV, but a sedan like the LeSabre or Park Avenue.
- #162
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- #171
Fatbeard (2009) was originally due to air a few weeks sooner, but it was pushed back because of the Maersk Alabama hijacking, in which Somali pirates boarded the American cargo ship of that name and held its captain hostage in a lifeboat for five days. Stone and Parker held the episode because they didn't want it to look as if they were mocking the situation.
Deeper Meaning (15)
- #172
- #173
- #174
Trey Parker and Matt Stone see the heavy swearing of South Park's child characters as simply how real little boys talk when they're on their own.
- #175
- #176
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- #178
- #179
- #180
- #181
- #182
In the famous Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics episode (S3E05), after every commercial break there is live-action footage of Trey Parker as a news anchor saying "Frizzies at 11." This is a reference to the "stop button delay" audio recording of a real anchor heard on a bootleg video of the notorious 1978 The Star Wars Holiday Special.
- #183
- #184
- #185
- #186
Cartman would say they would "rendezvous" at the Country Kitchen Buffet. Rendezvous was the name of a Buick SUV model at the time the episode aired. Coincidentally, the Buick car that sets off for the Country Kitchen Buffet at the beginning of the episode and falls off the bridge was not a Rendezvous or an SUV, but a sedan like a LeSabre or Park Avenue.
Career & Awards (6)
- #187
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- #190
On The Project 2, Trey Parker said his favorite celebrity reaction to his and Matt Stone's antics over the years came from Jennifer Lopez, who walked past him at a party and simply shoved him. He figured it was because he'd worn her dress to an academy awards show years before. They also made fun of her in season seven, episode five, when Cartman has a hand puppet of her.
- #191
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Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- IMDb
Sources for the entries on this page
- Wikipedia South Park — Wikipedia
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