Do you think South Park is funny?

I haven’t watched it in a good 13 years. But I used to love to watch it. Sometimes I found it a bit over the top for me, but in general I found it pretty damn funny.

It was hit and miss for me, but I did think a lot of the episodes were funny. I also found it appealing because a lot of their jokes were about social commentary.

Funny, educational and enlightening.

Some of it was funny. some of it wasn’t. Sometimes they dragged a joke out much longer then they should have.

First it’s “Tom Cruise.. out of the closet!... hahaha!”
Then “Yeah.. Tom Cruise.. out of the closet.. I get it…funny.”
Then “Yep.. Tom Cruise.. out of the closet.. can’t get tired of hearing that.. nope.”
Then “Shaddup already about Tom Cruise!”

But there was lots of good stuff. Nothing sticks out at the time, but I do remember having fun times watching it.

—
Now Family Guy.. that was nothing but a mess of awkward for me. It’s not totally on topic, but lots of people who love South Park love Family Guy just as much. I can’t get behind that…I had a chuckle or two, but then I just had to cringe in shame for watching it the rest of the time.

@keobooks Not a Family Guy fan, either.

At first, yeah. Then it got way too predictable & suffered from “we peaked early syndrome”
The Simpsons I never did get into, hugely overrated.

With all due respect to South Park fans—well, at least some due respect _—I think it’s grossly UNfunny.

But that’s just me. Funny is strictly a matter of personal taste.

So far, every show mentioned above fails to entertain me. Seinfeld reminds me too much of the two-digit-IQ-void-of-all-personality-pathetic-losers I tried to avoid so very many times, even after I was married.
All these shows are wildly popular, but I never understood why. I find them nothing more than annoying. I always seem to get along very well with the fans of those shows though, which I find quite odd.
I’m sorry. I believe I was less diplomatic with my answer than @Pachy with his.

Trust me, @Here2, I was biting my tongue like mad.

South Park’s has its moments, but I really couldn’t say about the current product. Last time I really watched it was around the time the movie came out.

I love South Park and find it very funny, especially their silly non-social-commentary episodes. The conservative bias gets to me sometimes.

I fucking love south park, politics and all

Conservative bias?

Usually, though not nearly as funny as it used to be. Then again, I’m all about social commentary presented with a humorous spin; George Carlin, Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert…

However, Seinfeld was about as funny and interesting as watching paint dry.

@keobooks Actually, I hate Family Guy.

Since someone else started talking about Seinfeld, I’ll just go ahead too. That’s a show that’s almost physically painful for me to watch. There was always some situation where someone would do something that seemed fairly innocuous, but for some reason it deeply offended—not just one person, but every person that they came into contact with during the episode. The characters were not likable. But not so unlikable that you loved to hate them They were just tepid, selfish and annoying people who weren’t very funny.

For some reason, my dad is totally obsessed with Seinfeld and it’s brilliance. He can go on for hours at a time about one single episode (seriously.. hours at a time.. all at once.,, in one sitting,, with no bathroom breaks, my dad is talking about one episode I’ve never seen of a show I don’t like. It’s a gas.)

My dad is really weird though. I don’t think he likes Seinfeld for the same reasons that other people like Seinfeld. As much as he talks, I can’t quite get what his take on it, but he always has a really… unconventional.. way of looking at television. Like once he explained to me that “Frasier” was brilliant.. and it was obvious that Niles and his dad didn’t really exist. They were different aspects of his personality. You may THINK you were watching the crazy antics of a mismatched family play out, but you were REALLY watching Frasier Crane’ slowly sinking deep into unfathomable insanity, getting sicker with each passing episode. Yeah.. laughs a plenty.

Anyway. long story short. I never liked the show, but I hate it with a passion now that my dad has gotten into it.

There are some jokes I find funny, but overall, I can’t stand how every satirical episode feels bloated and self indulgent

I think it’s a decent show that has gotten better with time. What Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been doing with continuity lately is also really interesting and demonstrates how much thought they put into growing the show.

@wildpotato The show has always struck me as less conservative and more heterogeneously libertarian. Parker and Stone can be pretty reactionary at times, however, so I wouldn't be surprised if they swung right in the near future.

@keobooks I always liked Seinfeld but it got a lot funnier after I lived in NYC for a bit. The characters are not caricatures, as it turns out.

Your dad sounds like an interesting person. I think I’m going to have to rewatch some Frasier.

And I hate Family Guy – but they do have the occasional great joke. Brian seeing another dog in a car and freaking out like a real dog would – “Hey Lois, there’s another dog in that car! Hey! Hey, other dog – Fuck you!”

For a while, I felt like the quality declined (especially seeing how they make the show like how I procrastinated in college). Fortunately, it seems like they’re recovering. In terms of comedy shows, I don’t think anything can touch It’s Always Sunny.

@SavoirFaire Agreed, more or less…but they do seem to fall to the right on many social issues. Gays in Scouts? Nope. Sexual harassment lawsuits? Frivolous. Change/ban/take down the offensive flag? Nope. Hate crime? Ridiculous concept. War in Iraq? We’re all secretly down with it but half of us protest to make it look like we’re sane people (maybe it’s silly of me to take a non-silly message out of that episode; after writing it out it strikes me as too inane to take seriously or attribute to others). Science over religion? Same thing in the end, blind belief. Global warming? Boogeyman.

But they have had a few hundred episodes now and those were the only major offenders I saw at a quick glance through – not as many as I thought. You’re right that by and large they’re more about emphasizing individual liberty than traditionalism.

I love South Park.

Yes

@wildpotato That’s why I called it “heterogeneous” libertarianism. For the most part, the messages are more in line with right-libertarianism. But there is a lot of centrism, too, and even the occasional feint to the left. The political viewpoint has also evolved over time. Compare “Cartman’s Silly Hate Crime 2000” to “World War Zimmerman.”

@wildpotato Really? Do you think Stephen Colbert really truly is a Conservative, or do you actually understand the concept of parody but just fail to find humor in it?

I’ve always thought of South Park as a satirical commentary on whatever issue is currently hot that derives it’s humor from being SO over the top that it is truly ridiculous. The beauty of the show is how far they can and do go.

It’s not that Matt and Trey are for the Iraq War and against gays in the Scouts; it’s that those are issues that are in the public eye and they want to keep the show topical. If there is any sort of message to South Park, it’s that we live in a ridiculous society of extremist behavior.

South Park is wicked and irreverent cutting edge social commentary. But for my money nothing on television surpasses the Simpsons for wit, cleverness and quality of writing. The trailblazing show made the others possible, and for nearly 30 years has been the standard by which all others are judged.

Yes, I do find it funny. I will agree that it isn’t as good as it used to be. Most of the recent episodes are “fad of the day” episodes and I don’t find them to be that good. They did an episode about the freakin’ Shake-Weight for crying out loud…I don’t need every episode to be “biting satire”, but I just don’t feel too interested in episodes that are about fads and trends that become dated not too long after the episode airs.

@jerv

Pretty much my take. I’ve never really gotten the impression that Parker and Stone are endorsing any side over the other, just that they’re poking fun at people’s behavior. Take their musical, The Book of Mormon for instance – In it they absolutely skewer Mormon customs and behavior. Yet by the close the message seems to be nevermind silly customs and rituals, if people get something out of religion that helps them through their day then that’s what matters.

(As an aside, I went to see The Book of Mormon in Chicago, and the first ad in the Playbill was an ad by the Latter-Day Saint church for the actual Book of Mormon. The ad’s tagline was something like “the book is always better”. So kudos to the LDS church for being good sports and having a sense of humor about the musical.)

In places, South Park has been utterly hilarious, especially the satire on Al Gore & the ManBearPig.

In general, though, it is funny? “Meh.”

@jerv You reminded me of this :)

it’s frustrating to never be able to find a Simpsons clip when I need one; what’s with that?

There is actually a name for their politics “south park conservative” They tend to be largely conservative, libertarian-ish while leaning left on the more social issues.

@wildpotato Well played!