In a television landscape filled with shows that struggle to complete a few seasons before being canceled, it is a testament to the success of "South Park" that the show recently began its 16th season on Comedy Central. While on the surface the show may seem to be about toilet jokes and the ridiculous exploits of four foul-mouthed boys, the strength of "South Park" lies in its ability to mix absurd humor with satire on current events and pop culture.
Unfortunately, not all recent episodes have completely capitalized on these strengths, and the latest season has developed a decidedly hit-or-miss feel to it. This could be attributed to a variety of factors, but two main ones that stand out are co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker's tendency to choose easy targets to lampoon and rush storylines so certain episodes repeat the same joke throughout.
In spite of these drawbacks, the latest season of "South Park" has still been able to deliver occasional episodes where the comedy is firing on all cylinders. A perfect example of this is the episode "Faith Hilling," which serves as a send-up of meme culture and the pace at which pop culture fads come and go. The episode begins with the boys infiltrating a Republican presidential debate to strike a naughty pose for a popular meme trend called "Faith Hilling," which is quickly replaced by a different meme pose: "Taylor Swifting."
Many of the episode's jokes provide a clever take on the recent Twitter trends such as Tebowing, and the plot takes a turn toward the surreal when humans threaten to go to war with cats over the use of memes. This absurd humor manages to generate laughs on its own, and it also serves as an effective backdrop for commentary on the fickleness of the Internet age. The episode even ties in political commentary to the events at the beginning of the episode, with a TV anchor implying similarities between the shallow nature of memes and the perceived pandering by Republican presidential nominees during this year's debates.
While this particular installment is an example of the capacity that "South Park" has to create strong episodes at this late point in its run, last week's episode, "I Should Have Never Gone Ziplining," represents all that is wrong with the current state of the series. The episode tries to satire elements of the Animal Planet show, "I Shouldn't Be Alive," but fails because of a meandering plot and jokes that mainly hinge on whether you've watched the spoofed series. The end of "Ziplining" goes so far in its satire as to feature a live-action reenactment with actors assuming the roles of the juvenile protagonists. Meant to echo a style reminiscent of survival shows, this prolonged gag falls short with little comedic payoff.
The decision to lampoon an Animal Planet show that is not widely viewed is indicative of one of the major flaws of this season. Too often, Stone and Parker pick satire targets that are either too simple or irrelevant. While "South Park" has proven that it can still address controversial topics, such as the Joseph Kony video and the debate over the MPAA rating for the documentary "Bully" (2011), provocative and hysterical subject matter has started to become the exception rather than the rule.
For every episode this season that has satirized a contentious topic like Kony, there are many more that hone in on effortless targets - such as home-shopping networks - or dated ones, such as the Transportation Security Administration. Subjects like these have still provided some laughs in their respective episodes, but one gets the sense that these topics are all too easy for Parker and Stone, who in the past have taken on taboo subject matters like Scientology and WikiLeaks.
It should be noted that even the weakest of "South Park" episodes are generally salvageable due to the character of Eric Cartman, who is a constant source of humor and delivers some of the funniest and most politically incorrect lines on television. Cartman's crude language and extreme narcissism never fail to entertain and are often the saving grace of certain episodes with particularly weak plot setups.
In spite of the staying power of "South Park" and its ability to still deliver humorous episodes laced with satirical commentary and hilarious characters, many of the recent episodes suffer from a lack of originality and creativity. "South Park" is undoubtedly still capable of great episodes, but these are becoming fewer and farther between with each subsequent season.
