It has been hailed as the most important TV show of the second Trump presidency. It\u2019s currently in the form of its life and clocking up record ratings. Not bad for a cartoon about four potty-mouthed Colorado schoolboys.<\/p>\n
NSFW sitcom South Park might have been been on air since 1997, but it has never been more relevant. In an era when satirical talkshows are being axed, Trey Parker and Matt Stone\u2019s creation fulfils a vital function as it mercilessly mocks both sides of the political spectrum. Written and made the week of transmission, it has been able to incorporate topical stories and hold power to account. No wonder parent company Paramount recently won a $1.5bn bidding war<\/a> for a five-year, 50-episode deal.<\/p>\n South Park\u2019s no-holds-barred approach to hot-button issues has made it the most controversial American comedy of all time, animated or not. Here\u2019s our potted history of its scandals, rated in order of explosiveness.<\/p>\n 15. Meghan and Harry\u2019s privacy pleas (2023)The Worldwide Privacy Tour, 2023. Photograph: Comedy Central<\/p>\n Royal feathers were ruffled by this slice of Sussex baiting. The Prince of Canada and his wife embark on a \u201cWorldwide Privacy Tour\u201d. When their private jet lands in South Park, they wave \u201cStop looking at us!\u201d placards. The prince plugs his tell-all memoir, titled Waaagh, with monarchy-bashing interviews. Described in the episode as \u201csorority girl, actress, influencer, victim\u201d, Meghan Markle was reportedly \u201cupset and overwhelmed\u201d. Rumours swirled that the pair were planning legal action. A\u00a0spokesperson dismissed this as \u201cbaseless, boring nonsense\u201d. Bit rude.<\/p>\n 14. Steve Irwin\u2019s fishy fate (2006)<\/p>\n When Satan throws a Halloween party in Hollywood, Australian naturalist Steve Irwin is among the celebrity guests. The croc-hunting cult hero was depicted with a stingray barb through his chest, having died in that manner just two months before broadcast. Fans slated it as \u201cgrossly insensitive timing\u201d. Irwin\u2019s widow Terri said she was \u201cdevastated by Steve being mocked in such a cruel way\u201d, worrying that their children could one day see it.<\/p>\n 13. The \u2018kick a ginger\u2019 craze (2005)Ginger Kids, 2005. Photograph: Comedy Central<\/p>\n Hitler allegory Ginger Kids sees Cartman wage war on red-haired people. When Kyle tricks him into thinking he\u2019s caught \u201cgingervitis\u201d, Cartman switches sides and rallies them to rise up as a master race. Cue real-life controversy when the storyline inspired the infamous \u201cNational Kick a Ginger Day\u201d meme. Actual violent attacks included one treated as a hate crime in Canada and bullying at a Rotherham school. Copper-topped troubadour Ed Sheeran joked that the episode \u201cruined my life\u201d.<\/p>\n 12. Isaac Hayes\u2019s resurrection (2006)Isaac Hayes in The Return of Chef, 2006. Photograph: Comedy Central<\/p>\n Soul legend Isaac Hayes voiced Chef for nearly a decade, serving up home-spun wisdom and crooning about chocolate salty balls. Following the Trapped in the Closet episode (more of which shortly), the Scientologist singer resigned in protest. In retaliation, the next season sees Chef return to South Park after travelling the world with the cult-like \u201cSuper Adventure Club\u201d, which brainwashes members into child abuse. Chef\u2019s dialogue was spliced from old episodes, hence the uneasy spectacle of Hayes singing about \u201cmaking love\u201d to the kids, before soiling himself. Poignantly, Hayes\u2019s son later claimed<\/a> that his entourage made the decision to quit on Hayes\u2019s behalf, with the man himself unable to speak after a stroke.<\/p>\n 11. Holy inappropriate (2005)<\/p>\n Religion is one of the show\u2019s regular targets, and the Bloody Mary episode was particularly inflammatory. When a statue of the Virgin Mary begins \u201cbleeding out its ass\u201d, the pope dispatches a cardinal to decide if it qualifies as a miracle. Catholic campaign groups in the US, New Zealand and Australia declared it \u201cdisgusting\u201d, demanded apologies and unsuccessfully lobbied for it never to be rerun.<\/p>\n 10. King of pop dethroned (2004)Michael Jackson in The Jeffersons, 2004. Photograph: Comedy Central<\/p>\n Five years before his death, Michael Jackson got the South Park treatment. When eccentric millionaire Mr Jefferson moves into a local mansion with a funfair in the garden, the kids investigate whether he is a child abuser or the victim of society\u2019s prejudice against rich Black men. When caught sleeping in Stan\u2019s bed, Jefferson pays off his parents to keep quiet. He dresses as Peter Pan, dangles his son over a balcony and at one point his surgery-addled face falls off. Subtle.<\/p>\n 9. Great brawl of China (2019)<\/p>\n Having already rattled China\u2019s cage with its depiction of the Dalai Lama and deliberate deployment of Asian stereotypes, the episode named Band in China proved the last straw. It took aim at Hollywood\u2019s expansion into the lucrative Chinese market, despite the country\u2019s strict censorship and repressive political regime. Mickey Mouse\u2019s presence made it clear that Disney was one target. In response, the Chinese government banned the show entirely \u2013 scrubbing it from streaming and social media platforms \u2013 which only proved Parker and Stone\u2019s point. The unrepentant pair issued a sarcastic apology<\/a>, comparing President Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh and saying: \u201cWe too love money more than freedom and democracy \u2026 We good now, China?\u201d<\/p>\n 8. Green around the gills (2006)Al Gore gets an apology in the episode Time to Get Cereal, 2018. Photograph: Comedy Central<\/p>\n South Park has repeatedly mocked the concept of climate change. Its denialism peaked with ManBearPig, in which Al Gore lectures children about a mysterious new environmental threat: a cryptid described as \u201chalf man, half bear, half pig\u201d. The show was slammed as \u201cirresponsible\u201d for equating eco-warnings with scares about mythical monsters. Twelve years later, it reverse-ferreted by having the boys realise that ManBearPig actually did exist and grudgingly apologise to Gore. \u201cTime to get cereal\u201d, indeed.<\/p>\n 7. Toilet humour (2001)<\/p>\n The fifth season opened with the profanity-packed It Hits the Fan. When a character says \u201cshit\u201d on a TV cop drama called, well, Cop Drama, it normalises the swearword. This brings on a plague that makes citizens vomit up their intestines, while awakening the ancient Knights of Standards and Practices. The episode parodied CBS medical soap Chicago Hope, which broke ground two years before by having actor Mark Harmon say \u201cshit\u201d for the first time on network TV. South Park went way further, dropping the s-bomb 162 times, averaging once every eight seconds \u2013 handily totted up by an onscreen counter. Comedy Central received 5,000 complaints.<\/p>\n 6. If you tolerate this \u2026 (2002)The Death Camp of Tolerance, 2002. Photograph: Comedy Central<\/p>\n Many rate The Death Camp of Tolerance as one of the all-time great episodes. In a typically outrageous storyline, teacher Mr Garrison tries to get himself sacked for being gay so he can launch a $25m anti-discrimination lawsuit. When he inserts Lemmiwinks the class gerbil somewhere intimate, pupils protest. Paranoid they are homophobic, parents send them to Tolerance Camp, where Nazi-esque guards force them to draw pictures of \u201cpeople of all colours and creeds holding hands beneath a rainbow\u201d. Lemmiwinks\u2019s journey through Mr Slave\u2019s rectum became a Hobbit spoof. You shall not pass.<\/p>\n 5. Slur causes a stir (2007)<\/p>\n Inspired by Seinfeld star Michael \u201cKramer\u201d Richards\u2019s offensive outburst the previous year, With Apologies to Jesse Jackson satirises both racism and meaningless mea culpas which fail to address the underlying issues. When Stan\u2019s father Randy uses the N-word on Wheel of Fortune, a national scandal erupts. Seeking forgiveness, Randy kisses the backside of Rev Jesse Jackson, AKA \u201cthe Emperor of Black People\u201d. The uncensored epithet is uttered 42 times. Black communities and civil rights organisations praised this nuanced take on hate speech.<\/p>\n 4. Too cruel for school (2018)<\/p>\n Season 22 begins with gunfire ringing out at South Park Elementary. Yet the staff and students calmly carry on as if school massacres are an everyday event \u2013 because in the US they are. As metal detectors are installed and hall monitors armed with rifles, authorities still fail to address the root cause. It aired soon after similar shootings in Parkland and Santa Fe claimed 27 lives. As a takedown of desensitisation to gun violence, the daringly dark Dead Kids was incendiary stuff.<\/p>\n 3. In bed with Satan (2025)Sermon on the Mount, 2025. Photograph: Comedy Central<\/p>\n This summer\u2019s season premiere came out swinging with Sermon on the Mount, satirising Trump\u2019s attacks on free speech by having the president sue the entire town of South Park. Biting the hand that feeds, it also lampooned Paramount\u2019s capitulation to him. He is painted as a predatory tyrant, overcompensating for his micropenis. He hops into bed with Satan, who lambasts Trump about the Epstein files. It sparked a Maga-hatted backlash, while the furious White House said the show \u201chadn\u2019t been relevant for 20 years\u201d. It doubled down<\/a> a week later with savage anti-deportation episode Got a Nut<\/a>, telling conservative critics to \u201c#eatabagofdicks\u201d.<\/p>\n 2. Hubbard in the cupboard (2005) Trapped in the Closet, 2005. Photograph: Comedy Central<\/p>\n South Park\u2019s most notorious instalment, Trapped in the Closet, uses the ludicrous R Kelly opus to take aim at A-list Thetans Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Scientology is skewered as \u201ca big fat global scam\u201d, and it animates in unsparing detail the alien lore at the heart of L Ron Hubbard\u2019s religion \u2013 accompanied by the onscreen caption \u201cTHIS IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGISTS ACTUALLY BELIEVE\u201d. Because the church is so litigious, everyone who worked on the episode is credited as John or Jane Smith. Conspiracy theories abounded that transmission was delayed at Cruise\u2019s behest to avoid overshadowing Mission: Impossible III (also produced by South Park\u2019s parent company Paramount). What\u2019s beyond dispute is that Parker and Stone threatened to quit if it wasn\u2019t aired. Hail Xenu!<\/p>\n 1. Prophet and loss (2006)The episode 200, 2010. Photograph: Comedy Central<\/p>\n Potshots at Mormonism and Catholicism caused a kerfuffle but were a storm in a teacup compared to Cartoon Wars. With Islamist extremists increasingly angered by satirical depictions of the prophet Muhammad, South Park weighed in. When citizens hear that rival series Family Guy is breaking the taboo, they literally buried their heads in the sand to avoid seeing it. The boys embark on a mission to get the episode pulled \u2013 Kyle because he fears terrorist reprisals, Cartman because he just hates Family Guy. Paramount censored the scenes anyway, covering them with a black title card, citing concerns for public safety. Parker and Stone condemned the move as hypocritical. When they revisited the topic in 2010, mentions of Muhammad were bleeped out, as was Kyle\u2019s closing speech about the perils of giving in to violent threats. A\u00a0radical Muslim blogger still wrote that he prayed for Allah to kill the show\u2019s creators and \u201cburn them in Hell for all eternity\u201d. The Simpsons\u2019 next chalkboard gag saw Bart write: \u201cSouth Park, We\u2019d Stand Beside You If We Weren\u2019t So Scared\u201d. The episodes remain banned on streaming services to this day.<\/p>\n South Park streams on Paramount+ on Wednesdays in the US and Thursdays in the UK.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It has been hailed as the most important TV show of the second Trump presidency. 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