South Park has always been one of those shows people either love or hate. But opinions on the show aside, I think we can all agree it’s crazy the show has officially turned 25 this year.
And as is often the case when a popular show celebrates an anniversary, the creators have found themselves reminiscing on years gone by, including the good, bad and ugly.
It seems for South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, there are certain seasons of the show they wish they could undo, and make it so they never happened at all.
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Understandably, a considerable part of this regret stems from how they've matured since the early years of the show.
At the beginning of the show, Parker and Stone's priorities varied between 'trying to get laid' and 'f***ing around', as they previously told The Hollywood Reporter.
But now they’re not twenty-somethings behaving like kids anymore, instead they’re actually parents to kids of their own.
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And so, it’s no surprise then that their earliest seasons are the ones that have left the sourest taste in their mouth.
Notably, Parker said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly: “If I had to permanently erase anything from the library, it would basically be anything before season 4”.
And he was very clear in his reasoning why, citing pure embarrassment as the source of regret.
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He added: “It’s just embarrassing to watch. OK, we were, like, 26, 27. But it’s like, ‘Really?’ We thought that was funny? We thought that was well-written? Oh my God, this is terrible.”
It’s hard not to sympathise with Parker’s reasoning for such embarrassment, because nostalgia-induced cringe is a rite of passage for most of us. How often have we all found ourselves haunted by memories of our early years?
But now 25 years have passed, and creators Parker and Stone have evolved and refined their craft. They follow the same age-old formula with a dash less cringe.
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Parker shed light on the script-writing process in an article for The Los Angeles Times’ on the show’s 25th anniversary, saying: "The writers' room always starts with us sitting around a table going, 'All right, what's going on?' Just like in any office. But even in the season we just did, some of my favorite things were Butters riding a horse and Cartman living in a hot dog. Just kid stuff."
And it seems despite the early seasons they wish they could scrub from existence, the creators still have an unfailing love for the show, as another South Park film is expected in 2023, alongside five more seasons in the coming years.
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Topics: South Park, Film and TV
Jenny Medlicott