Having run for over 25 years, South Park remians one of the most controversial shows ever and continues to shake the cultural landscape after more than 300 episodes. While many of these animated escapades are undoubtedly funny and offensive, some haven’t received as much praise as they should have.
Not every episode from such a long-running show is bound to be a hit, but some overlooked gems like these seven shouldn’t stay buried in the backs of fans’ minds.
7. Pinewood Derby
To beat a rival father and son at the pinewood derby, Randy helps Stan cheat by stealing a superconducting magnet while dressed as Princess Leia and achieving warp speed. Their lies go interstellar when they take space cash from an alien bank robber and hide it from galactic authorities.
While this episode might seem too silly, even for South Park, it is still a wacky and enjoyable episode that stays true to the show’s dark, comedic nature. Also, it’s impossible to watch Randy trying to make world leaders hide their stolen cash like a stockbroker dealing with the feds without laughing.
6. Pee
When the kids go to the water park, they end up fighting for survival after the park floods with an apocalyptic amount of urine. While Kyle and his pals try to save everyone, the ever-racist Cartman fears ending up in a world ruled by minorities, and Randy races to find an antidote to prevent everyone from becoming rageful pee zombies.
Yes, this episode is as ridiculous and shocking as it sounds, but this potty-mouthed parody is still one of the show’s most hilarious disaster-movie spoofs.
5. Night of the Living Homeless
As South Park residents find more and more homeless people congregating in their town, the adults treat the issue like a zombie apocalypse as their visitors keep asking for change like ghouls hungry for brains.
It’s a well-crafted spoof that pokes fun at how people dehumanize and discriminate against those living in poverty and push aside the issue instead of solving it. Also, the idiotic adults shine as bright as ever as they panic over the homeless people, proving once again that they are a far greater danger to themselves than anyone else.
4. Smug Alert!
When Kyle’s father Gerald buys an eco-friendly Prius, he grows so smug that he decides to move his family to San Francisco, feeling it is the only place good enough for them. To help get his friend back, Stan gets everyone in town to drive a Prius, only to create a storm of “smug” that ravages the country, leaving Cartman, of all people, to go and rescue Kyle while dressed like he’s entering the Upside Down.
The way this episode mocks liberal arrogance proves that the show is not afraid to make fun of all demographics. The creators even made fun of their old pal, George Clooney, by having his Oscar acceptance speech destroy San Francisco.
3. A Nightmare on FaceTime
When Randy becomes the owner of an abandoned Blockbuster, he takes his irate family to their new business and loses his mind over his bad investment in a fantastic parody of The Shining, just in time for Halloween.
Though Stan can’t physically go trick-or-treating with his friends as the powerful Avengers, he joins them all through FaceTime, and they end up witnessing a robbery and helping the cops track down the perps. All in all, A Nightmare on FaceTime is a wild and hysterical holiday adventure that fans of horror and superheroes can really enjoy.
2. Medicinal Fried Chicken
After learning that Kentucky Fried Chicken has been banned in Colorado, Cartman goes full Scarface as he enters the underground KFC trade to get his fix of the Colonel. At the same time, Randy learns medicinal marijuana has been legalized, and he gives himself testicular cancer just so he can get high.
This episode is stuffed with hysterical moments, from Cartman snorting a line of fried chicken skin like cocaine to Randy and his friends bouncing around town on their engorged testicles like hippity hops. It should really be talked about as much as the show’s more popular episodes, especially since Randy has been a pot farmer for the past few years.
1. You’re Getting Old
Beginning on Stan’s 10th birthday, this episode shows him suffering an existential crisis once he starts seeing and hearing everything he used to love as poop. This drives a wedge between him and his friends, and he grows more depressed when Randy and Sharon get a divorce.
It’s not often that South Park makes its audience want to cry, but this episode tugs at the heartstrings as it conveys the relatable struggles of growing up and facing harsh realities in adulthood. Many people actually thought this episode was supposed to cap off the entire series, and it could’ve done so on a high note with that unforgettable Landslide montage.
