Top 10 South Park episodes

   Since I did a top 10 of the Simpsons episodes it seems natural to do a top 10 of some other animated shows that I really like. First up - South Park. Unlike the Simpsons South Park managed to stay really good even after so many years. They are still making episodes that can rank up with the classic ones it is just that there are more duds in the last couple of seasons than there were in earlier ones. 

10. The Losing Edge - season 9, episode 5    

    This episode probably won't show up on that many top 10 lists, but for some reason I really enjoyed this episode a lot. Randy Marsh is one of my favorite characters and this episode puts Randy in the spotlight. In this episode the boys try to lose baseball games on purpose so they would avoid playing baseball all summer. However all of the other teams from little league are trying to lose as well. A side plot from this episode revolves around Randy who trains to fight the other fathers at the games. The side plot involving Randy includes some of my favorite Randy moments of the entire show, and this episode gave birth to my favorite Randy line - "I thought this was America." This episode also brings back Kyle's cousin Kyle Swartz, that annoying kid who is pretty much terrible at everything.

Favorite quote/conversation
 

Cartman: At this point in the baseball movie, they usually get a really sweet player to help them win the championship.
Kyle: Like the motorcycle kid in Bad News Bears? 
Cartman: Yeah! So we need a player who totally sucks ass. 

9. 200 and 201 - season 14, episodes 5 and 6

    At number 9 I actually have two episodes since they don't really go without each other. As a celebration of their 200 episode Matt Stone and Trey Parker decided to do a 2 part special, in which they brought back a whole bunch of characters from previous season, biggest highlight being Scott Tenorman. When Stan insults Tom Cruise by calling him a fudge packer. This starts a chain reaction which leads to 200 previously ridiculed celebrities filing a lawsuit against the town of South Park. And when you add ginger kids, Muhammad and Mecha-Streisand to the mix you are sure to see some insanity to the screen. These two episodes reminded me of so many great episodes from previous seasons, it was just amazing to see some of the old forgotten characters. Mephisto that mad scientist who was very prominent in those first couple of season didn't really come up in that many episodes after season 5, so it was cool to see him back since he was one of those side characters that I really liked. Probably the best part of this episode was bringing back of Scott Tenorman and basically going the full circle by revealing him as Cartman's father.  



Favorite quote/conversation

Kyle Broflovski: You see, I learned something today. Throughout this whole ordeal, we've all wanted to show things that we weren't allowed to show, but it wasn't because of some magic goo. It was because of the magical power of threatening people with violence. That's obviously the only true power. If there's anything we've all learned, it's that terrorizing people works.
Jesus Christ: That's right. Don't you see, gingers? If you don't want to be made fun of anymore, all you need are guns and bombs to get people to stop.
Santa Claus: That's right, friends. All you need to do is instill fear and be willing to hurt people and you can get whatever you want. The only true power is violence.

8. Major Boobage - season 12, episode 3

    South Park doesn't try to have parts of the episode in another animation style that often, but when they do they really make something special. Plot of this episode revolves around a new method of getting high - being sprayed with urine from male cats as a defense mechanism. Once Kenny gets high he descends into a surreal world where he is surrounded by breast. This dreamlike segment pays a great homage to that all animated movie Heavy Metal. There were some really imaginative things going in this imaginary world. Soon the new method of getting high (dubbed cheesing) becomes very prominent in the town. The idea of getting high from a liquid that cats produce when they mark their territory is pretty funny to begin with, and they managed to do some interesting things with this idea.

Favorite quote/conversation

Major Boobage: [Gerald is getting undressed to have an affair with Major Boobages Daughter] Hold, You cannot caress My Daughters awesome Boobage!
Gerald Broflovski: Aww, why not?
Major Boobage: There is a Suiter...
[Kenny appears]
Gerald Broflovski: [Angrily] What, get outta here, Kid!
[Kenny flips the bird, and muffles at Him irritably]
Gerald Broflovski: ... no, you're too young for this!
Major Boobage: The Fate of these two will be decided at the Breastry Area in Nippopolis!

7. Cartman Joins NAMBLA - season 4, episode 5

      In this episode Cartman decides not to hang out with other boys anymore. He feels that he is way too mature to play with them, so he seeks a more mature company to play with. By accident he joins NAMBLA (North American Man/Boy Love Association). South Park was always known for being a show that pushes boundaries and really deals with some issues that most other shows never dare to deal with. This time it was pedophilia, and weirdly enough this wasn't the only episode from this season that had something to do with pedophilia.
     Most people will agree that Cartman is the best character of South Park, and usually episodes that have Cartman at their center are most of the time some of the best South Park episodes. This is definitely one of them.

Favorite quote/conversation

Cartman: [chatting with an older man] "I'm eight and a half inches." Whoa, this guy's tiny. He must be a dwarf.
[types]
Cartman: I don't want to be friends with a midget. Midgets piss me off." Frowny-face.

6. The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers - season 6, episode 13

    South Park did some really great episodes that parody some of the famous movies and Return of the Fellowship is one of the best. The boys embark on a mission to return "The Lord of the Rings" to the Two Towers video store. What they didn't know is that instead of a copy of Lord of the Rings movie they are actually carrying a porn video Backdoor Sluts 9. Butters who actually saw the video becomes entranced by the tape and essentially becomes a Gollum of this story. They are also being chased by 5th graders on bikes who also wanted to get their hands on the porn vid.  The references to the Lord of the Rings are simply great and very imaginative.  

Favorite quote/conversation

Eric Cartman: And so the party journeyed onward: the great Wizard, the skillful Ranger, and the covetous Jew.
Kyle Broflovski: I'm a Paladin, Cartman!
Eric Cartman: Jews can't be Paladins.

5. Good Times with Weapons - season 8, episode 1

    Good times with Weapons is another South Park episode where they did parts of the episode in different animation style, in fact most of the episode is done in Japanese anime style. The boys get "transformed" into Japanese warriors after they buy martial arts weapon at local market. Butters sees the boys and he wants to play with them, but they refuse. He then puts on his cape and helmet in becomes his other persona Professor Chaos. This episode parodies in a great way anime but also in a way pays a great homage to that style of storytelling and animation. I remember that I was really blown away by the animation in this episode. On the top of that this episode was actually hilarious. Watching a simple game that boys have played getting so exaggerated by presenting it in a ridiculous anime fashion was really entertaining. And who can forget that song - Let's fighting love.




Favorite quote/conversation

Cartman: Okay. Go ahead, Kyle. Throw your nun-chucks away. If you can. But you know damn well that your Jewish blood won't let you. You can't throw away something you paid fifteen bucks for. Go ahead and try. Mel Gibson was right, Kyle. Right now the Jew in you is screaming 'No! Those cost money! Get your money back!' You know this to be true. Go ahead. Prove Mel Gibson wrong, Kyle. Do it. 

4. Imaginationland trilogy - season 11, episodes 10-12

    It seems a cheat to put three episodes at one spot but in this case it is justified. I always looked at Imaginationland as a short movie. In fact whenever I watch it I watch it as a whole.
   After Cartman swears that he saw a leprechaun, majority of the kids from the class come to woods in search of said leprechaun. Kyle is of course the one who doesn't believe Cartman's story. Eventually they've found a leprechaun but he disappears. Later on a man takes boys onto his flying machine in order to tell them the truth about leprechaun, and thus brings them to Imaginationland - a place where all of the imaginary critter and people ever imagined lived. terrosts then attack Imaginationland. So it is upt Pentagon to find out who attacked Imaginationland. It all leads up to a big fight between imagination forces of good and evil. Ever since Matt and Trey made South Park Bigger, Longer and Uncut I always wanted to see another feature length movie. I never got one, but this multiple episodes story arcs did a good job of providing me with some great entertainment. From all the hilarious moments from this episode, the most memorable was the part when three of the as they said most imaginative directors are getting interviewed (M. Night, Michael Bay and Mel Gibson). 

Favorite quote/conversation

Military Leader: We need you, M. Night Shyamalan, to come up with ideas to stop the terrorists.
M. Night Shyamalan: What if it turns out, that they aren't terrorists, but that they are werewolves, from the future?
Military Leader: No, they are terrorists, they've been linked to Al Qaeda. 
M. Night Shyamalan: But what if Al Qaeda is the group terrorized, by aliens?
Military Leader: That's not an idea, that's a twist. We need ideas.
M. Night Shyamalan: How about, that we make everyone believe that we are being terrorized, but really, we were already dead.

Eric Cartman: By the way, I should tell you that I haven't had a chance to shower while making my way up here. My balls are.....extra vinegary.

3. The Wacky Molestation Adventure - season 4, episode 16

     This episode is probably surprisingly high on this list, since it is not widely considered to be one of the greatest South Park episodes, but for me this episode is something special. I generally like alternative settings and what if scenarios. In this episode we get to see what happens to town of South Park when there are no parents. In this episodes Cartman gets four tickets for Raging Pussies concert and all of the boys want to go, however none of their parents would allow them to do so. Cartman comes up with a plan to call a police and accuse parents of as his says "molestering". Soon all the kids around the town decide to get rid of their parents in the same way.
      Later on we are introduced to a out of town couple who are having a car trouble and are seeking a help in South Park. There they find out that kids are running the town and lets just say that shit hit the fan. This basically South Park's parody of children of the Corn. In this lets say new South Park kids are fighting over a book, and whoever doesn't have it must sacrifice a tribe member. This is definitely one of the crazier South park episodes.  For me some of the funniest scenes were revolving around the parents and their reeducation in prison about not molesting their children.

Favorite quote/conversation 
Kyle: What's "bad touch"? 
Cartman: Something 'bout a swimsuit, I don't remember, but you definitely answer "bad touch"!

2. Scott Tenorman Must Die - season 5, episode 4

By most of the fans of South Park regarded as a the very best episode of South Park, it is only number 2 on my list. :) There isn't that much to be said about the brilliance of this episode that already hasn't been said. We get to see Cartman get humiliated By Scott Tenorman throughout majority of this episode. And every plan Cartman had to get back at Scott Tenorman backfired. That is until the end. Even up at until that amazing end the episode was pretty funny and interesting, but I believe that the ending of this episode is what truly made it great. We get to see the true evil side side of the Cartman.




Favorite quote/conversation

Cartman: Yes, I'm afraid this isn't your chili, Scott. I switched it with Chef's. It's delicious, Chef. I hadn't planned on that. What I did plan on, however, was that my friends, Stan and Kyle, would betray me and warn you that the Chili Con Carnival was a trap.
Cartman: I assumed that they would tell you that I had trained Denkins' pony to bite off your weiner. What they didn't tell you was that Denkins is a crazy redneck who shoots trespassers on sight. Knowing that you would try and do something to the pony, I warned Mr. Denkins that violent pony killers were in the area. I also knew that you wouldn't go yourself, for fear of having your weiner bitten off. You would most likely send your parents. And, I'm afraid that when Mr. Denkins spotted them on his property, he shot and killed both your parents.
Scott Tenorman: My... mom and dad are... dead?
Cartman: I came just in time to see Mr. Denkins giving his report to Officer Barbrady. And of course, to steal the bodies. After a night with the hacksaw, I was all ready to put on my Chili Con Carnival, so that I could tell you personally about your parents' demise! And of course, feed you your chili. Do you like it? Do you like it, Scott? I call it, "Mr. & Mrs. Tenorman Chili." 

Kyle: Dude, I think it might be best for us to never piss Cartman off again.

1. Make Love, Not Warcraft - season 10, episode 8

    You probably saw this coming, but it is hard to argue against the quality of Make Love, Not Warcraft. This is the episode I've watched about 10 times and each time it makes me laugh really hard. It is consistently funny all the way through. It pokes fun at the on line gaming but it also in a way shows appreciation for this type of game. Interestingly enough Blizzard Entertainment actually collaborated with South Park creators on this episode. They actually crafted the machinima for this episode. In spite of that they didn't really go easy on both them and the game.
    Now that I have finished this list it is pretty clear that I am a big fan of South Park episodes that introduce a new animation style. But it wasn't just that refreshing new animation that makes these episodes great. It was what they actually do with that animation that makes it great. And on the top of that they make them really hilarious. For a while I was going back and forth as far as number 1 and number 2 spots on my list go, but ultimately I went with Make Love which didn't have as interesting of a story that Scott Tenorman had but it was in my book much funnier.

Favorite quote/conversation
Kyle: Wow, look at all these people playing right now! 
Cartman: Yeah, it's bull crap. I bet half of these people are Koreans!