South Park (season 9)


release year: 2005
genre: animated comedy
viewing setting: home DVD, 3/22/18 - 4/2/18

synopsis: This show revolves around the odd adventures of four kids (and a large supporting cast) in a fictional Colorado town where damn near anything can happen.

impressions: I watched these back when they came out fifteen years ago, but hadn't kept up with anything after early season two from 1998. So here I am catching up, and delving into new material I'd never seen before. This season's satire targets include...well, you can look at the episode briefs below to see. This is one of those shows that you either know about and watch(ed) or else never have and never will. It's loosely-continuous, meaning that someone could die in one episode and be fine in the next, and it's often a biting satire of popular people and events. It's also crude, with profanity and other references that will drive away critics...which I suspect is the point. This show is basically a way to satirize and make fun of whatever's in the news each week, and then wipe the slate clean for the next episode. Episode briefs:
  • (1) (episode 126 overall) Mr. Garrison (and then others) have transformative surgeries
  • (2) Hippies overrun the town
  • (3) Token becomes a singer, and the kids open a talent agency
  • (4) Kenny is determined to be a key piece of Heaven's war against Hell
  • (5) kids everywhere try to lose their baseball games on purpose so they can get on with their summer
  • (6) Cartman gets tricked into thinking he's dead and no one can hear him
  • (7) Jimmy has problems that may keep him out of the talent show
  • (8) a nearby flood makes everyone think climate change is destroying the world
  • (9) Butters fakes his own death and pretends to be a girl for a spy mission
  • (10) the kids are given eggs to care for
  • (11) everyone freaks out about red-headed children
  • (12) Stan is deemed the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard
  • (13) the kids get tricked into thinking a killer whale can talk
  • (14) (episode 139 overall) Randy over-reacts to his DUI


    • acting: n/a but it's pretty impressive when you consider that two guys basically provide almost all the different voices. Isaac Hayes is hilarious as Chef, who often spontaneously breaks into song to try and explain something.

    final word: This was groundbreaking stuff, and people typically either love it or hate it. Like Beavis and Butt-Head there's some clever humor and satire hidden there, for those with the patience and intelligence to find it...though with the bold and brash nature of this show, it's a lot easier to find.

    back to the main review page