Never Thought I Could Stop Watching
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — South Park
dust_2 — 9 years ago(October 31, 2016 07:19 AM)
I never thought I could stop watching South Park, but here I am. Season 19 was bad and I was hoping they'd be done with the continuing storyline.
Everything that has happened so far in this season could have fit into one really funny episode. This way we get 1 episode worth of material stretched into 10 episodes with 1/10 of the laughs. I get the point, no need to repeat it every episode. Memberberries were funny once, but now they're just repeating the same phrases over and over again. This season will have absolutely no replay value once the whole election thing is over.
South Park works when it's 1 story per episode where a lot of goofy things happen. This is now becoming a drama show with maybe a laugh once per episode. I don't care about the build up. Previous season I gave it a shot because it looked like it's all going to fit together nicely, but then the climax was nothing, and the whole season felt pointless. I'm sure this season will end the same, with no punchline at the end, just a long story that went nowhere.
I hope this season is the last season they do this format and next season they go back to the regular 1 unrelated story per episode. -
Philip_90 — 9 years ago(October 31, 2016 11:09 AM)
I said sometime ago that Season 19 would become dated sooner or later because what they had done, could've been accomplished with a single episode. Same goes for Season 20 but within each episode they still make great points about different issues.
Personally, wouldn't say these recent seasons are terrible they're just different. I'm very much enjoying Season 20 so far. -
TMC-4 — 9 years ago(November 03, 2016 01:10 PM)
http://decider.com/2016/11/02/whats-wrong-with-south-park-season-20/
There have been dozens of truly incredible shows this year, shows that have broken new boundaries and expanded our television universes. South Park is currently not one of them. Were more than halfway through Season 20, and the nicest way I can describe this season is inconsistent. There have been a couple of shining moments, but the lows of this season have hurt.
To me, watching South Park has always been a bit like watching Saturday Night Live. You watch both series for the jokes, yes, but more than that, you watch to see what these comedic geniuses can come up with during a week turnaround time. When South Park works, its really a thing of beauty. The onslaught of Penn State jokes that dominate The Poor Kid are impressively timed and surprisingly barely offensive. Likewise, the over-the-top insanity of About Last Night will go down in history for its timeliness for the 2008 election and its sheer stupidity. South Parks job is to gleefully make fun of everyone and criticize our society in the most brutal and silly ways imaginable. More often than not, it does that job well, but not this time. During arguably the most insane election season America has ever faced, South Park has ranged from forgetful to just wrong. So whats up? Why does this season feel boring instead of barbed? I have a few theories.
Spoilers for South Park ahead.
The Show Jumped the Gun in Season 19
Do you remember how Season 19 started? In the seasons second episode Where My Country Gone? the Canadian Donald Trump was raped and murdered by Mr. Garrison. From that moment on, South Park established two things: Season 19 would be targeting Donald Trump, and Mr. Garrison would stand as the shows insane Trump surrogate.
Where My Country Gone? premiered in late September 2015, months before other comedy shows would jump on the Trump-mocking bandwagon and almost a year before it was socially acceptable to mock the candidate as ruthlessly as South Park did. Because of this, Season 19 was ahead of its time. Though its unclear if Matt Stone and Trey Parker ever expected Trump to get as far as he has, the show predicted months before any other outlet the candidates loyal rise to power and the savage response from the media. However, that put the show at a disadvantage this season. Because they already attacked Trump, continuing to do so felt a bit repetitive, yet ignoring the candidate would be an even greater misstep. Like it or not, Trump has dominated pop culture for months now. Hes unavoidable, which led to a second problem for the series.
The Election Has Been Covered So Much, Any Additional Commentary Feels Bland
Overall, this ridiculous election has been pretty great for comedy. Stephen Colbert brought Jon Stewart on his show and revived his Comedy Central character (more or less). SNL was the first comedy outlet to comment on the Trump tapes. John Olivers Last Week Tonight rants and Seth Meyers Closer Looks have been amazing. Samantha Bee has been dominating. Even The Daily Show has produced a couple of gems. However, there are only so many jokes you can make about Trump and Hillary Clinton. At some point, that well runs dry, and it went dry weeks ago. Thats the comedy environment South Park returned to, one where the series had to cover a topic that had already been covered to death. Thats when the series started gambling, and it got it wrong.
In Season 20, South Park characterizes Trump as an angry, racist menace to society who realizes that being president has real responsibilities. Most of this season has involved Mr. Garrison desperately trying to throw the election. There have been some smart takes thrown in. During his debate with Turd Sandwich (Hillary Clinton), Mr. Garrison begs America to vote for her instead of him, to which Madame Sandwich robotically responses My opponent is a liar and he cannot be trusted. The series has done a solid job portraying something most other outlets gloss over both candidates arent great. However, South Parks reality hasnt reflected real life. Trump has not had a humbling revelation. Hes charging toward the White House full force. Likewise, Clinton has taken great strides to improve her robotic criticisms, making the premise South Park is playing with feel outdated. One of the last things you want to be during this ever-changing election cycle is outdated, which brings me to the series biggest flaw this season.
South Parks New Serialized Seasons Have Interfered With Its Timeliness
In Season 18, South Park decided to do something it has never done before. It decided to connect all of its episodes to create one story that lasted throughout the entire season. When you first noticed that Randy was in fact Lorde from episode to episode and that gluten was still toxic, it felt like uncovering a special little surprise. South Park was experimenting, playing with its own DNA to create something new. Seasons 18 and 19 followed this new di