45 Ideal ‘South Park’ Episodes of All Time, Ranked According to IMDb
When going down to South Park, one particular can be certain to have themselves a time. Popular for toilet humor and topical satire, it really is tough to pigeonhole this game-altering animated series. Parking could be ample, but so as well are irreverent jokes and absurd twists. The series has constructed a reputation for crossing each line. But Trey Parker and Matt Stone have not only crossed the line, they have also performed horrible issues to the line, and now the line is crying – and audiences are loving it!
With more than 300 episodes, it requires a lot to stand out in the canon – only time will inform if the ongoing 26th season of South Park will be remembered alongside its highest points. The greatest South Park episodes blend the crude and the clever, holding space for satire and silliness to coexist. The original songs hit all the suitable comedic notes, and the characters are so flawed that irreverence is an expectation. So come on down to South Park, and meet some of the show’s top rated-rated episodes on IMDb.
South Park
- Release Date
- August 13, 1997
- Seasons
- 26
45 “You Have Buddies” (Season 14, Episode four)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
Brilliantly utilizing Tron as a thematic and visual inspiration, “You Have Friends” is a scorching criticism of the hazardous allure of social media that boasts a sturdy point with out losing any of South Park’s trademark controversial irreverence. It follows Stan as he reluctantly joins Facebook only to come across himself becoming actually sucked into the site. Meanwhile, Kyle struggles with a dilemma amongst preserving his personal social status and displaying kindness to a third-grader who has no buddies.
Inspired by Trey Parker’s personal experiences with Facebook, the episode is a hilarious, inventive, and even occasionally poignant evaluation of the selfish and numerical priorities people today have on social media platforms. It is a brilliant critique of tech culture that, when brutal, does spend some thoughts to the isolated victims it creates. Sadly, its cautionary tale hasn’t been heeded by a lot of contemporary society.
44 “Medicinal Fried Chicken” (Season 14, Episode three)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
Offered that Cartman and Randy are two fan-favored characters, it is no surprise that “Medicinal Fried Chicken” ranks so extremely on IMDb as it capabilities each characters at their hilarious greatest all through. Cartman, appalled to study that the town’s KFC has been replaced by a medicinal marijuana dispensary, becomes involved in an illegal meals trade. Meanwhile, Randy offers himself testicular cancer so he can make use of the dispensary, a ploy that sees his testicles develop exponentially.
Satirizing social problems of medicinal and legalized drug use and quick-meals issues when also relentlessly skewering the Catholic Church and parodying Scarface by way of Cartman’s arc, “Medicinal Fried Chicken” fires on all cylinders as an appropriately absurd however contemplative exploration of contemporary social problems. It even received an official response from KFC that, when not becoming glowing, was far from important of the episode and praised its inclusion of the chain’s hometown in Corbin, Kentucky.
43 “Breast Cancer Show Ever” (Season 12, Episode 9)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
Across South Park’s 26 seasons (and counting), some episodes have established to be additional timeless than other individuals. One particular of the most enduring is “Breast Cancer Show Ever,” which sees Cartman acquiring his just deserts in an immensely satisfying style. Although operating with a hilarious, Cartman-focused storyline, it also consists of references to such films as Snatch and There Will Be Blood.
It transpires as Wendy Testaburger tries to raise awareness of breast cancer at college, only to be berated by Cartman each step of the way. When she’s lastly had sufficient, she challenges Cartman to a fistfight that captures the interest of the students and leads Cartman desperate to come across a way to back out of it. Granted, it is not South Park’s most ambitious or shocking outing, but the straightforward premise is handled extremely properly to be a rewarding story of comeuppance that fans have come to like.
42 “Significant Boobage” (Season 12, Episode three)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
Parker and Stone are no strangers to absurdist hilarity, but Season 12’s “Major Boobage” is anything of a series highlight in their endeavor to be absolutely insane. A new craze develops amongst the children of South Park linked to sniffing the urine of cats in order to practical experience a higher. Although Cartman tries to defend the neighborhood cats by hiding them in his attic, Kenny becomes addicted to the hallucinogenic impact the urine has as he experiences a planet with a recurring motif of women’s breasts realized in the style of the 1981 film Heavy Metal.
The episode lovingly parodies the cult-classic animated sci-fi film when nonetheless containing quite a few hilarious and shocking jokes, and an excellently delivered story that consists of Cartman’s Mr. Kitty experiencing an Anne Frank‘s Diary-style practical experience. The episode took eight weeks to make offered the creators’ insistence on acquiring the animated homage of Heavy Metal suitable, and the finish outcome proved that it was the suitable choice.
41 “Evening of the Living Homeless” (Season 11, Episode 7)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
A gem of South Park’s knack for pointed parody, “Night of the Living Homeless,” as the name would recommend, satirizes the situation of homelessness with a story inspired by zombie films. The Season 11 episode sees South Park overrun by hordes of homeless people today. As they mindlessly roam, a group of adults hides out on the roof of the neighborhood center. Meanwhile, the boys embark on a trek to study additional about the horde and how it can be stopped.
As a lot as the spoof episode requires aim at the homeless, it also mocks these from the middle and upper classes who are absolutely incapable of understanding the situation or empathizing with the people today it impacts. It is a South Park episode that punches each strategies when delivering a hilarious parody of zombie film tropes to the tune of “chaaaaaaaaange,” creating it a cult favored for series fans who also like horror cinema.
40 “Cartoon Wars: Portion 1” (Season ten, Episode three)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
One particular of the most infamous and worryingly controversial episodes of South Park ever, “Cartoon Wars: Portion I” consists of lots of referential entertaining, but is notorious for its depiction of the Prophet Muhammad. The Season ten episode requires spot as it is announced that Loved ones Guy will function Muhammad as a character in an upcoming episode. As the residents of South Park worry what the fallout will be, Cartman embarks on a journey to Hollywood to attempt to get the episode pulled off-air.
It is fairly understandable why the episode ranks extremely in the eyes of South Park fans, as it flaunts a socially polarizing satire that series diehards have come to like. The episode was intended to be the Season ten premiere, but disagreements amongst Comedy Central and Parker and Stone led to it becoming delayed. Although it has come to be loved for its additional trivial plot beats and its skewering of Loved ones Guy, each “Cartoon Wars” episodes are two of 5 episodes of South Park that have been created unavailable on Max and Paramount+ due to their content material.
39 “A Ladder to Heaven” (Season six, Episode 12)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
One particular of the greater episodes in what was a stupendous sixth season, “A Ladder to Heaven” follows the boys as they make a ladder to Heaven in order to retrieve a ticket from their dead pal Kenny that will grant them an all-you-can-grab candy prize. Although the media blunders the boys’ perform to be an act of childish innocence, a political race to attain Heaven starts, with George Bush believing Saddam Hussein is constructing weapons of mass destruction from beyond the grave.
Most notably, the episode is a merciless skewering of Bush’s actions when in workplace, lampooning each the WMD hysteria and his basic demeanor and presentation. It also requires aim at the nature of media circuses and how quickly correct intentions can be misrepresented in the news. Above all else although, the episode could in the end be remembered due to Cartman mistaking Kenny’s cremated remains to be chocolate milk powder and drinking them, top to his eventual tie to Kenny’s soul.
38 “Die Hippie, Die” (Season 9, Episode two)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
One more exceptional parody episode, “Die Hippie, Die” mocks disaster films like The Core as South Park becomes overrun by a horde of hippies congregating for a music festival. Cartman, who has been operating as a pest handle professional specializing in the removal of hippies, stands as the town’s final possibility for survival and starts operating with political figures to enact a program to rid the town of the anti-corporate invaders.
Although it is not the most thematically pointed episode of the series, it nonetheless consists of intriguing suggestions about society’s attitudes towards hippies, and the questionable level of conviction quite a few hippy-forms have in their personal espoused beliefs. It is a commonly bold episode in this social commentary, but it is additional popular for its disaster film parody and its violent ending that incorporated Slayer’s “Raining Blood.” The episode also stands as the final to include new voice dialogue from Isaac Hayes.
37 “The Wacky Molestation Adventure” (Season four, Episode 16)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
Viewed by quite a few fans to be the greatest episode of Season four, “The Wacky Molestation Adventure,” as the name could indicate, presents South Park at its shockingly hilarious greatest. Inspired by and parodying Young children of the Corn, the episode sees the boys inform the police that their parents are molesting them. Other children in town adhere to suit, and quickly the only residents left in South Park are the kids, but society starts to collapse as Cartman requires charge, with anarchy quickly following.
The episode is rife with South Park’s trademark crude irreverence, but also with its insightful satire as it makes use of the children’s political struggles to analyze the nature and volatility of energy. The truth that the entire point began since Kyle’s parents wouldn’t permit him to go to a concert just tends to make the episode all the additional hysterical. Extra influences for the narrative of the episode came in the kind of Logan’s Run and the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Miri.”
36 “The Death Camp of Tolerance” (Season six, Episode 14)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
Although offensive absurdity and controversy are anything of a specialty of South Park, the Season six episode “The Death Camp of Tolerance” stood out even by the show’s requirements as it revolved about Mr. Garrison’s attempts to capitalize on discrimination lawsuits. His efforts to be fired for becoming gay lead the teacher to insert the class gerbil, Lemmiwinks, up his boyfriend’s rectum in class. With the children’s outrage becoming mistaken for homophobia, they are sent to a “toleration camp” when Lemmiwinks ventures by way of Mr. Slaves’ physique.
With the boys’ rigorous camp mimicking the Holocaust when Lemmiwinks’ journey parodied the songs from 1977’s animated The Hobbit film the episode was a masterstroke of referential comedy. “The Death Camp of Tolerance” also functioned as a pulverizing criticism of blind tolerance and people’s desperation to seem as accepting with out adequately understanding the nuances of the problems they are judging.
35 “Chinpokomon” (Season three, Episode 11)
IMDb Rating: eight.7/ten
Taking aim at Japanese anime, “Chinpokomon” parodied the preferred Pokémon brand, with the kids of South Park expanding obsessed with the new fad ‘Chinpokomon’, an animated series with a variety of associated goods. Nevertheless, what appears a harmless trend is quickly revealed to be a ploy by the Japanese to brainwash American children to grow to be soldiers and launch an attack on Pearl Harbor. The kids only drop interest when their parents use reverse psychology and pretend to appreciate Chinpokomon themselves.
A critique on the overbearing commercialization of children’s fads was front-and-center of the Season three South Park episode. Working with Kyle, who struggles to see the appeal of Chinpokomon, as the central character enabled the episode to discover each children’s obsession with such ideas and parental confusion more than what tends to make them so alluring. The episode hasn’t lost any of its punch due to the fact releasing in 1999 either, with its commentary on anime and children’s fads arguably even additional applicable these days.
IMDb Rating: eight.eight/ten
The initial in a 3-episode stretch to conclude South Park’s 19th season, “Sponsored Content material” saw the series shine at its satirical greatest. Jimmy’s choices as editor of the college newspaper clash with the ideology of Computer Principal who insists on alter, anything which leads Jimmy to meet with a group rallying against the advancement of on-line advertisements. Meanwhile, Mr. Garrison participates in a political debate against Hilary Clinton.
It was a deftly balanced episode, one particular which matched South Park’s trademark, pop-culture-skewering comedy with surprisingly higher-notion suggestions linked to contemporary marketing. It has skilled enduring good results with its addressing of invasive net advertisements resonating with quite a few, when its unexpected twist involving Jimmy’s pal Leslie was handled in a manner that brilliantly mimicked science-fiction intensity. Although it is a small brief on the series’ central characters, “Sponsored Content” excelled as a scathing commentary on contemporary-day politics, ideologies, and on-line advertising and marketing.
33 “Titties and Dragons” (Season 17, Episode 9)
IMDb Rating: eight.eight/ten
The culmination of a 3-episode arc inspired by the hit series Game of Thrones, “Titties and Dragons” earned important acclaim with its concentrate on Black Friday mania and gaming console rivalries. With the children of South Park split into two warring factions more than no matter whether they should really get PlayStation 4s or Xbox Ones when they are on sale, the episode marked the point at which they would need to have to attain a conclusion.
Full with backstabbing, scheming, and even a ‘Red Robin Wedding’, it was a razor-sharp GoT parody that nonetheless had its personal satirical concentrate on America’s ridiculous obsession with Black Friday, with Randy Marsh hilariously obtaining to deal with shopper violence. Although it saw Xbox One particular emerge victorious as Bill Gates killed the head of Sony, the episode in fact came to a surprisingly uplifting conclusion as Cartman realized he’d had additional entertaining improvising Game of Thrones with his buddies than he could have playing Xbox 24/7.
32 “A Song of Ass and Fire” (Season 17, Episode eight)
IMDb Rating: eight.eight/ten
The preceding episode to “Titties and Dragons”, “A Song of Ass and Fire” was the middle entry in season 17’s Game of Thrones/Black Friday trilogy. With the boys split into unique factions regarding Xbox or PlayStation, the episode saw Cartman hatch a scheme for the Xbox crew, Butters and Scott Malkinson stop by the house of George R. R. Martin, and Randy is promoted to be the captain of safety at the South Park Mall.
Parker and Stone faced issues regarding the narrative of the episode and what path they should really steer the parody in. The finish outcome, on the other hand, is one particular of the most acclaimed episodes in South Park’s history and an ingenious middle entry to the 3-episode arc. Moments like Butters’ torment as George R. R. Martin speaks ceaselessly about “wieners” and Cartman’s interaction with Bill Gates are some of the greatest in South Park’s run.
31 “Butters’ Bottom B***h” (Season 13, Episode 9)
IMDb Rating: eight.eight/ten
When the boys of South Park study that Butters has under no circumstances kissed a girl, the ensuing bullying drives the hilarious character to make a drastic choice – he pays a girl $five to give him his initial kiss. This inspires Butters to capitalize on this concept, producing his personal “kissing enterprise” and primarily becoming a pimp in the gut-busting South Park episode “Butters Bottom B***h.”
There is no shortage of comedy gold in the Season 13 episode, which sees Butters completely embrace his pimp persona, becoming increasingly aggressive towards “his” girls. He also attends a “pimp convention” at one particular point to study additional about the market, unsurprisingly sticking out like a sore thumb in the method. It really is funny to see the ordinarily naive and adorable Butters try to be a ruthless pimp, mocking stereotypes about that questionable line of perform in the method.
30 “Fishsticks” (Season 13, Episode five)
IMDb Rating: eight.eight/ten
Popular for its lampooning of Kanye West, the Season 13 episode “Fishsticks” has grow to be a favored for quite a few series fans who like South Park’s knack for taking aim at celebrity personalities. It follows the nation-sweeping reputation of a joke about fishsticks. In South Park, Cartman tries to take credit for the gag regardless of it becoming Jimmy’s concept, when, on a grander stage as the joke engulfs America, Kanye West is incapable of understanding the punchline.
Although it was viewed favorably upon release in April 2009, it would practical experience a substantial resurgence just months later when, in September of that year, following Wests’s infamous interruption of Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech at the MTV Music Video Awards, Comedy Central re-broadcast it for two hours straight. West himself has referenced the episode unfavorably in several songs. His ridiculous reaction has only noticed the episode’s legacy develop higher, with “Fishsticks” one particular of the most properly-identified South Park episodes ever created.
29 “With Apologies to Jesse Jackson” (Season 11, Episode 1)
IMDb Rating: eight.eight/ten
Randy Marsh finds himself in hot water immediately after saying a racial slur on the genuine-life game showWheel of Fortune. The public outrage ultimately pressures him to act, but what he chooses to do is apologize to who he believes is the “emperor of Black people today,” Jesse Jackson. Meanwhile, Stan is embarrassed by his dad’s actions and goes to apologize to Token, only to be rebuffed by his offended pal.
“With Apologies to Jesse Jackson” could have been a controversial episode that downplays the gravity of its subject, but South Park masterfully explores the influence of racial slurs with humor and wit. The plotline exactly where Randy gets a modified version of the racial slur becoming made use of as a pejorative nickname for him banned by the Senate is a clever commentary on the problems the government prioritizes. Stan and Token’s back-and-forth also ends on a satisfying note that underscores a lesson viewers should really take to heart.
28 “Cartoon Wars Portion II” (Season ten, Episode four)
IMDb Rating: eight.eight/ten
The second portion of a two-episode story-arc, “Cartoon Wars Portion II” continues South Park‘s scathing lampooning of Loved ones Guy, a show creators Parker and Stone famously hate. It focuses on Cartman’s continued attempts at acquiring Loved ones Guy canceled, which he does by playing up unfounded fears of aggression from Muslims tied to a future episode of the show exactly where the Islamic prophet Muhammad will allegedly make an look. Kyle desperately tries to fight this work, telling the president of Fox that he will have to air the episode for the sake of absolutely free speech.
Fans are probably currently familiar with the infamous title card that replaces the scene exactly where Muhammad is supposed to seem, which is just the words “Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network.” The censorship that is written into the episode incidentally plays into the plot itself, all when “Cartoon Wars” manages to be a brilliant critique of Loved ones Guy.
27 “The Losing Edge” (Season 9, Episode five)
IMDb Rating: eight.eight/ten
“The Losing Edge” sees the boys of South Park scheming to get out of obtaining to play baseball games. Completely uninterested in the sport, the children would rather remain indoors and play video games all summer season. To attain this target, they get truly ridiculously excellent at losing, ironically placing their work and determination into creating certain they do not have a possibility of winning. Meanwhile, Randy gets as well drunk at these games.
Although Parker and Stone faced some special obstacles in the production of the episode – such as needing to overcome the truth that a lot of the boys appear identical when they put on the exact same outfit – the episode has excelled as one particular of South Park‘s finest. Aside from its hilarious premise, which touches on the loss of interest in physical sports amongst kids these days, it serves as a excellent showcase of Stan’s dad at his drunken, gut-busting greatest, creating it one particular of Randy’s greatest episodes of South Park.
26 “Simpsons Currently Did It” (Season six, Episode 7)
IMDb Rating: eight.eight/ten
It really is effortless to draw comparisons amongst The Simpsons and South Park, with each shows becoming extended-operating animated sitcoms that embrace irreverent humor. The Simpsons is also preferred for obtaining covered various plotlines, with the phrase “Simpsons did it” referencing that truth. This is precisely what the South Park episode “Simpsons Currently Did It” pokes entertaining at.
The season six episode is a continuation of the preceding episode “Professor Chaos,” with Butters continuing to assume his alter ego and acquiring strategies to wreak havoc across town. Nevertheless, his efforts are undermined by how other individuals preserve pointing out that his schemes have currently been performed by the Simpsons. From blocking out the sun to beheading the town’s statue, it really is funny to watch Butters attempt and fail to come up with an original program. The episode’s subplot involving “Sea Folks,” is also wildly entertaining, as the boys think they have somehow brought on the death of Ms. Choksondik.