Set in a Colorado mountain town that gets destroyed on a regular basis and is populated by the dumbest, most vulgar characters imaginable, South Park is an anarchic animated sitcom that owes more to the spirit of Monty Python than to its comparatively tame predecessor The Simpsons. The show's origins go back to a 1995 Christmas video "postcard" called The Spirit of Christmas that a Fox Studios executive had commissioned at the previous Sundance Film Festival for 2000 dollars after seeing the work of filmmakers Trey Parker and Matt Stone (Cannibal: The Musical). The adventures of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny became an instant ratings and merchandising smash, and the foul-mouthed eight-year-olds have expanded to the cinema screen (Bigger, Longer and Uncut), the MTV Movie Awards and allowed the show creators/(song) writers/voice-artists to pursue equally anarchic comedy at the cinema with Baseketball and Orgazmo. Constantly pursued by a censorship outcry, the series has survived several copycat cartoon threats and even the death of its lead female vocal artist during its third season. Perhaps the show's biggest controversy has always been that--despite a disclaimer before every episode--under-aged kids still see it. But lured by a universe full of Cheesy Poofs and Cookie Dings, where no-one's afraid to badmouth school bus driver Miss Crabtree, and where it's OK to vomit from being in love, it's no wonder that kids of all ages can't help but love it. Season Three We finally meet Craig, the kid who's always sat outside Counsellor (M'kay) Mackey's office this year. In "Tweek vs Craig" the series makes the most extended and surreal use of live-action scenes so far. More tinkerings with format reassure the show can still surprise such as a three-part segment mid-way which sees the events of one night from three different perspectives. Some inspired homages and spoofs make this the best year for pop-culture references: there's a great rip on the obsessive fad of Pokémon in "Chinpokomon"; Scooby Doo is fondly parodied in "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery"; eggs are thrown at The Phantom Menace for the horror of Jar-Jar Binks in "Jakovasaurs". But to balance things out there's a far kinder wink to Star Wars (and Star Trek) that showcases the creators' fascination with Chewbacca and Endor in "Starvin' Marvin in Space!" which links back to season one and takes us to planet Marklar. The year's best star cameo is Jennifer Aniston as Miss Stevens the Choir Teacher in the love/hate of Green issues in "Rainforest Schmainforest". --Paul Tonks
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