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South Park (Real)Oh My God, They Killed Kenny!
Date: 1998/02/19 Agree? Disagree? : Have Your Say Buy Books About This Topic At: Amazon UK Amazon US Send This Article To A Friend: Email It Use Telepathy "Oh, my God! They killed Kenny! You bastards!" Sound familiar? It should. This now-famous catch-phrase is from the Comedy Central show, South Park, the brainchild of animators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The animation? Crude. The language? Cruder. The humor? Brilliant. Made to look like cut-paper animation (it actually takes some fancy computer equipment and a lot of free time), the show chronicles the lives of four third graders in the small Colorado town of South Park. Stan, a fairly nondescript kid in a red and blue hat, has an evil sister, a gay dog [1] and a crush on Wendy Testaburger (he throws up whenever she talks to him). Kyle, the kid in the green hat with flaps, is Jewish, talks to Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo [2], and is the protagonist of sorts. Cartman is the fat kid, who has been abducted by aliens, given an anal probe, almost been on TV with Kathie Lee Gifford, and delights in tormenting those less rotund than he. Lastly is Kenny, the kid in the hood who is completely incomprehensible [4] and who dies in nearly every episode. Those children of the seventies will undoubtedly recognize the Oscar-winning voice of Isaac Hayes behind the school's chef. This rotund culinary master is always prepared to help out his "little crackers" with a helping of Salisbury Steak, and a wildly inappropriate, sexually-oriented song. It all started with a video Christmas card, "The Spirit of Christmas". In this delightful holiday tale, Jesus and Santa Claus go at it, Mortal Kombat-style, taking out half the neighborhood kids and setting the stage for Kenny's recurring death. The dispute is settled by Brian Boitano [5], and the (remaining) kids realize the true Spirit of Christmas: presents. This video, a rather large MPEG, was kicked around on the Internet, developing a cult following, and was finally picked up by Comedy Central, who has since commissioned at least 13 episodes. This is, of course, in addition to commercials [6] and the natural appearance on The Tonight Show, in which Jay Leno kills Kenny. Despite being chock-full of obscenities, atrocities and the occasional blasphemy, or perhaps because of them, the show manages to be both hilarious and thought-provoking. Episodes poke fun at UFO enthusiasts, genetic engineers, sports commentators, teachers, political correctness, hunting, Sally Struthers, and damn near anything they can think of. It's only a matter of time, one thinks, before Cartman eats an entire Sacred Cow. The jokes range from the token flatulence and sex jokes to rather sophisticated humor. In fact, one recent episode was entirely devoted to a duo of walking fart jokes in a "movie" entitled, "Not Without My Anus." It's like having Beavis and Butthead sit in on The Simpsons. Like any cult classic, South Park episodes lend themselves to being watched over and over. Every time you watch an episode, you notice something different, including what Mr. Garrison, the kids' teacher, writes on the blackboard, and other such details that give the show a real masterful touch. And of course, it all goes to show: Kids say the darndest things. South Park airs at 10pm EST Wednesday night and Saturday night on Comedy Central in the United States. Those in the UK may be able to tune into Channel 4 on the Friday night cartoon slot, although of course this information may well be out of date by the time you read this.
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