The most recent episode of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s South Park, “The Crap Out,” aired on December 10th of last year. That was just over three months ago, yet it is the number one show on Paramount+, its “new” home after leaving HBO Max. That means it’s beating SpongeBob SquarePants as well as Taylor Sheridan shows like Y: Marshals, The Madison, Yellowstone, Landman, and Tulsa King. On top of being the number one show on the streamer in the United States, it’s also top of the pile in the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Germany, France, and Canada, to name a few.
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So how, after being on the air for nearly 30 years, is this show so popular? That’s what we’re unpacking today because, while The Simpsons and Family Guy are certainly popular, there’s a strong argument to be made that Parker and Stone’s animated sitcom is even more beloved by the world.
What Makes South Park a Continuous Hit?
As someone who goes to sleep listening to South Park every single night, it’s easy to explain why at least one household on the globe gives Paramount+ so many hours: nostalgia. The first few seasons are a warm blanket of nostalgia. But, naturally, not everyone who watches South Park is a ’90s kid.
The bigger answer isn’t so surprising, which is that South Park has never, not once, pulled its punches. The opening episode of Season 2 was basically Parker and Stone blowing a party horn until it bopped the fandom on their collective nose. But it’s the how of its risk taking that has made it a perennial favorite. South Park is not content with being just crass (okay, maybe the first batch of seasons were), it wants to make valid, cogent arguments in a crass way. In an age where comedy media feels the need to tiptoe through a minefield of offense-taking, it feels like something of a unicorn.
Then there’s the fact that the past two seasons, brief as they were, represented the show going full charge on the current U.S. administration. That’s something that not only a ton of Americans wanted the show to do, but much of the remainder of the world, as well. By dropping the whole Mr. Garrison in office thing (which always fell just shy of working) and instead going with the Mel Gibson and Saddam Hussein-esque real head for the show’s version of the leader of the free world, it made clear that it was going to rip into this administration. And it has.
So, in short, the answer as to why South Park will always find itself happily sitting with its feet up in the top ten comes down to a multitude of factors. The current revitalization thanks to its particularly incisive political commentary naturally will burn off, but it will continue to draw eyes because it’s smart, funny, and rewatchable. Even when it’s a down season, it’s smarter than any other animated sitcom under the sun. It will remain a popular watercooler convo show for as long as its creators choose to keep putting out episodes.
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