South Park fans are divided over Trey Parker and Matt Stone seemingly removing one particular character from the show. South Park has been on for 26 seasons, and Season 27 is scheduled to release sometime this year. It’s been a long time since the show first aired on August 13, 1997. Since then, there have been 328 episodes of South Park, plus a variety of South Park video games and South Park movies. Suffice to say, South Park has changed a lot over the years. And in the process, it has shed characters that were once staples.
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While it is not a universally held opinion, many South Park fans agree the earliest seasons are the best seasons of the show. That said, a good number of characters from these earlier seasons are no longer characters in the show, or at least they are no longer active characters in the show. Some of these characters have been forgotten about, but others are missed.
To this end, one of the top posts on the South Park Reddit page this week is a post lamenting about one of these original characters being removed. The character in question actually debuted on the very first episode of South Park in 1997, Cartman Gets an Anal Probe. Many South Park characters are introduced in this episode, including Officer Barbrady.
The South Park police officer debuted in the first-ever episode of the show, and played a reoccurring role in early seasons, but has since been phased out. To this end, the character has not been seen at all since 2021’s South Park: Post Covid. And some fans aren’t happy about this.
“Why was Officer Barbrady removed off the show,” reads the post in question. “He was so funny and yet so underrated.”
Not only does the popularity of the post suggest this is not an uncommon sentiment, but a number of comments echo the post.
“Annoys me that the guys got bored of characters like this, that are great, when Tegriddy Farms has overstayed its welcome and should have been a single episode,” reads one of these comments.
Another comment adds: “Honestly I miss a lot of the characters from the early seasons like Dr. Mephesto, Ned and Jimbo, and of course officer Barbrady. The middle seasons aren’t bad at all but I love the vibe in seasons 1-4.”
That said, not all of the comments agree with the sentiment and spirit of the post, noting that the character ran his course and was naturally replaced as the show evolved.
“Barbrady’s antics hit well with 90’s audiences, but over the decades, his style of comedy became less popular and desired in shows, thus leading to his severe downsizing in role,” reads one of these comments.
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Over the years, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have revealed a variety of reasons the character has been phased out. For one, they wanted to expand the South Park police force and parody it in new, different ways, which led to the introduction of Harrison Yates. Further, while Officier Barbrady was beyond incompetent — like most adults in South Park — he’s actually a decent guy. And this meant there was a limit on the unsavory content the creators could explore with the police as unsavory was not typically within the character of Barbrady, and Trey Parker and Matt Stone did not want to betray the character by changing him so much.
To this end, it has been four years since the character was last seen. He will probably pop up here and there, assuming they haven’t forgotten how to do his voice, which happens sometimes with South Park characters. That said, it seems the days of Officer Barbrady being a reoccurring side character in South Park are over, which is a disappointment to many fans, as evident by the Reddit post above.
For more South Park coverage — including all of the latest South Park news, all of the latest South Park rumors and leaks, and all of the latest South Park deals — click here. Meanwhile, and as always, feel free to leave a comment letting us know what you think. Would you like to see Officer Barbrady return in future South Park seasons?
