South Park: Worthy of an Emmy or Two

Throughout my stint as a South Park fan, I’ve been scoffed at for my lack of taste. Most family and friends couldn’t believe that I would “stoop” to watch such “toilet humor,” and wondered why I couldn’t find better things to watch. Why I couldn’t I just like Friends or Seinfeld or whatever they were watching instead?

Um, because those shows are boring. They’re about the same people doing the same thing every day—who wants to see that? South Park is full of social commentary, political humor, satire and a plethora of other relevant things. Plus, it’s freaking hilarious.

Want more proof that it’s a worthwhile show? It’s won an Emmy or two. Oh, no, wait—it’s won FOUR. That’s right, FOUR Emmys. Pretty good for toilet humor, right? And it’s been nominated for another four as well.

In case you missed the press releases or just forgot, here are the Emmy-award winning episodes of South Park. I hope you get a chance to see them because they’re all pretty stellar.

2009: “Margaritaville”

This commentary on the country’s money handled by banks, Wall Street, and the government itself was hands-down the best episode of the year so far. Consumers overspending and the insane, pointless and irrational function of every system that handles money were all satirically explained so well that anyone in America during the last two years simply couldn’t watch without laughing—and resonating. The best scene was when Stan tried to make a deposit and as soon as the banker held the check, it was “gone.”

2008: “Imaginationland”

Hailed for its incredible ingenuity, humor —and yes, use of imagination!—this three-part episode was a classic spin on how the government uses stupid tactics to combat terrorists. In this case, they sent Kurt Russell in for battle. They also parodied several other pop culture references, such as Stargate and Battlestar Galactica. Of course, it was also a blast to see all of our favorite imaginary beings—from Santa to Strawberry Shortcake, Carebears to Napolean Dynamite, and even villains like Jason an a minotaur.

2007: “Make Love, Not Warcraft”

Voted favorite episode ever by UK fans, this episode not only portrayed a really good depiction of World of Warcraft—it also showed how people get so wrapped up into it that they gain weight, lose their lives and become so addicted that they don’t want to do anything else. Perhaps in one of the grossest scenes of South Park history, Cartman’s mom had to catch his poop while he played since he didn’t want to stop playing the game.

2005: “Best Friends Forever”

This episode took on the famous Terry Schiavo case, using Kenny in a vegetative state to show how psycho the media went over whether to remove a feeding tube or not on Schiavo. In the end, though Cartman “won” his battle to have the tube removed, he did it for the wrong reasons—not because it was in Kenny’s will, but because he wanted Kenny’s PSP.