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There was a time that I liked South Park very much I started watching it in 2004 and only stuck around until how Kenny still manages to exist is explained.
This show stared out like a show similar to what MTV aired at the time (i.e. Beavis and Butt-Head), but cruder and with younger protagonists in mind. Surprisingly, this was big despite initial negative criticism. Popularity grew in the first 3 seasons plus a movie (which I didn't care for), but the highest point would have to be the 4th season, which had a good bit of my favorite episodes such as "The Tooth Fairy Tats" and "Trapper Keeper".
Unfortunately, the road to jumping the shark was paved with good intentions. First, Kenny died for a year in an otherwise, well-done dramatic episode, then the 6th season onwards spends every other episode making the protagonists punching bags for everyone else (especially newbie Butters, who constantly gets grounded), then Wendy breaks up with Stan in the 7th season and they didn't get back together until 4 years later (although some fans would be okay with that), then season 9 has Mr. Garrison becoming a transvestite (which thankfully lasted 3 years), and then came the Scientology incident which not only have Isaac Hayes leave the show with a heavy heart, but also have Chef killed off the next season (you could've hired Kevin Michael Richardson or something, Trey and Matt?). Not to mention, the show became a dramedy, which wouldn't normally be a bad thing, but South Park isn't supposed to be dramatic, or at least constantly (I'm not kidding). The only silver lining would have to be the Imaginationland trilogy, but... it's not a top 10 contender in my opinion because Kyle, my favorite character, gets bashed, and on the flipside, Butters, my second favorite, is the protagonist for this 3-parter, so... a positive mixed-bag?
It took until season 13 for the show to be wacky again, but it was only for that season. The good thing about this season was Mysterion, a shady hero who protects the town and is the rival to The Coon, Cartman's "heroic" alter-ego. Mysterion was so popular that he returned for a 3-parter in the following season, which should be called "The Coon Trilogy". I really wish that the show ended on that 3-parter because everything about it was perfect. It even tells us that Mysterion was Kenny all along, and he never even died because he was immortal.
But the show is still running, and almost everything after the Coon trilogy is mediocre at best and god-awful at worst, and I've pretty much stopped watching it nowadays. My final score is based around the positive points I've made.
My rating: 7/10
