Christmas, South Park Style

Christmas isn’t Christmas without South Park Christmas specials! Oh, how Mr. Hankey, Santa, Jesus, Cartman and company have delighted us year after year, making every yuletide gay—or as gay as Mr. Garrison will allow it to be!

Speaking of Mr. Hat’s holder, who sings a better Christmas ditty than Garrison himself? “Merry F****** Christmas!” is one of the most moving holiday songs ever, because not only does it embrace the sentiments of the holiday season—it also explains the entire American outlook during the winter (well, throughout the year, really), when it comes to non-American countries’ holidays, traditions and spiritual beliefs. Way to go, Mr. G, on conveying such a complex concept in one angry song!

One of my favorite Christmas songs, of course, is Cartman’s version “O Holy Night,” in which he is electrocuted over and over again when he can’t recall the words. Aside from the V-chip in the South Park movie, we haven’t really had the chance to watch Cartman pulse with electricity and scream all that much, so It’s always nice to watch our favorite little foul-mouth get tortured.

And who could forget the first South Park Christmas special—the one where Kyle introduced us to a marvelous talking piece of Christmas poo, Mr. Hankey? Even when we discovered that Mr. Hankey married a drunken tramp and produced a trio of stinky kids, we still loved him and his “Hiiiiiidey ho!” greeting.

Jesus and Santa fighting over who should have the most songs was always a classic scene, of course, especially when their dragged-out duet war culminated with a sweet Duran Duran ditty.

Perhaps one of the best Christmas episodes ever—as well as episodes in general—was when Stan created those horrifying “Christmas critters” who turn out to be evil as hell. We even get a reprise performance from them in Imaginationland. Oh, and of course, there was the unforgettable episode, Merry Christmas Charlie Manson.

What’s your favorite Christmas moment in South Park? Was it when Santa dismantled the anti-Christ animals that Stan so evilly created (who would’ve thought Stan, of all the boys, would be capable of that?) by blowing their furry brains out? How about when Kyle sang, “Dreidel Dreidel Dreidel”—or Satan led the chorus of “Christmastime in Hell”?  Maybe it was when Mr. Hankey explained the Circle of Poo to us all. Share your fondest (or foulest) holiday memories of South Park below. Need a refresher? Catch your favorite South Park Christmas clips here.