When going down to South Park, one can be sure to have themselves a time. Famous for toilet humor and topical satire, it’s difficult to pigeonhole this game-changing animated series. Parking may be ample, but so too are irreverent jokes and absurd twists. The series has built a reputation for crossing every line. But Trey Parker and Matt Stone have not only crossed the line, they have also done horrible things to the line, and now the line is crying – and audiences are loving it!
With over 300 episodes, it takes a lot to stand out in the canon – only time will tell if the ongoing 26th season of South Park will be remembered alongside its highest points. The best South Park episodes blend the crude and the clever, holding space for satire and silliness to coexist. The original songs hit all the right comedic notes, and the characters are so flawed that irreverence is an expectation. So come on down to South Park, and meet some of the show’s top-rated episodes on IMDb.
- Release Date
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August 13, 1997
- Seasons
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26
- Network
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Comedy Central
60
“Professor Chaos” (Season 6, Episode 6)
IMDb Rating: 8.5/10
Having grown tired of Butters’ lame antics since he joined the group following Kenny’s death, Cartman, Stan, and Kyle evict him from their gang and run a contest to determine who will be their fourth friend. Setting up an elaborate range of challenges, the boys orchestrate a competition for the neighborhood kids. All the while, a rejected and disgruntled Butters becomes Professor Chaos, a nefarious villain seeking to destroy the atmosphere by spraying aerosol cans and flooding the world with a garden hose.
Lampooning reality TV shows like The Bachelor through Cartman, Kyle, and Stan’s story, while parodying X-Men through the focus on Professor Chaos, the Season 6 episode is a delightful highlight of South Park’s knack for mixing referential comedy with character-driven narrative. It is a defining highlight of the show’s sixth season, and has aged gracefully with its spoof gags and its origin story for the series’ most beloved supervillain.
59
“You’re Getting Old” (Season 15, Episode 7)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
Throughout its immense run, South Park has been everything from an irreverent and crude comedy to a sharp social satire, a profound and profanity-laden parody, and even an insightful political allegory. Even with such a range being considered, there is no episode quite like “You’re Getting Old.” Following his tenth birthday party, Stan develops a cynical outlook on life, leading him to ponder his existence as he begins seeing things in the world as literal feces.
It is a moody and dark episode, one that pushes past the ridiculousness of a child experiencing such feelings to present a rich and contemplative story of growing old and growing beyond things. Stan’s emotional melancholy is only accentuated by the subplot involving Randy and Sharon’s fighting, leading to divorce, and an alarmingly abrupt ending devoid of happiness and hope. Of course, South Park still injects the story with plenty of humor, but “You’re Getting Old” is one of the most striking and unique episodes the series has ever aired, and it is no surprise that viewers consider it to be among its better entries.
58
“Go God Go XII” (Season 10, Episode 13)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
A direct follow-on from the previous episode, “Go God Go XII” sees Cartman stranded in the distant future where religion has been eradicated and atheists are entrenched in a struggle against super-intelligent sea otters. In the present day, Mrs. Garrison’s love affair with Richard Dawkins becomes all the more intriguing as audiences discover the duo play a vital role in the expunging of religion.
The Season 10 episode exemplifies the brand of efficient, large-scale storytelling South Park has always executed so well, with the episode juggling its interweaving plots with impressive grace and clarity while using the juxtaposition of the stories to conjure up laughs aplenty. In an interview with Playboy in 2012, Dawkins himself revealed he wasn’t a fan of the episode. That’s okay, though, because its impressive IMDb rating implies that nearly everyone else was.
57
“Something Wall-Mart This Comes Way” (Season 8, Episode 9)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
Serving as a direct parody of Disney’s 1983 movie Something Wicked This Way Comes, the Season 8 episode sees the pitfalls and allure of commercialism stand as the villain rather than a wish-granting carnival owner. A “Wall-Mart” store is built in South Park, and businesses in the town begin to fail as the residents become completely addicted to the outlet’s bargains. The four boys go to the company’s headquarters hoping to bring an end to the hysteria before it overruns the entire town.
Like many of the series’ best episodes, “Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes” excels by blending referential comedy and parody with a razor-sharp story targeting a contemporary flaw in society. While it is perhaps overshadowed by some of the other great episodes Season 8 has to offer, “Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes” still stands as a golden nugget of South Park’s scathing comedy. It still stands as a razor-sharp critique of unvetted capitalism over 20 years since it first aired.
56
“Die Hippie, Die” (Season 9, Episode 2)
IMDb Rating: 8.7/10
Another excellent parody episode, “Die Hippie, Die” mocks disaster films like The Core as South Park becomes overrun by a horde of hippies congregating for a music festival. Cartman, who has been working as a pest control expert specializing in the removal of hippies, stands as the town’s last chance for survival and begins working with political figures to enact a plan to rid the town of the anti-corporate invaders.
While it isn’t the most thematically pointed episode of the series, it still contains intriguing ideas about society’s attitudes towards hippies, and the questionable level of conviction many hippy-types have in their own espoused beliefs. It is a typically bold episode in this social commentary, but it is more famous for its disaster movie parody and its violent ending that includes Slayer’s “Raining Blood.” The episode also stands as the last to contain new voice dialogue from Isaac Hayes.
55
“The Jeffersons” (Season 8, Episode 6)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
As relentless a skewering of a celebrity personality as South Park has ever undertaken—with the possible exception of Katelyn Jenner—“The Jeffersons” is remembered by many as the episode where Michael Jackson moves to South Park. Another gem from Season 8, it sees the pop icon relocating to the Colorado town and changing his name to Michael Jefferson in order to escape the rigors of stardom. Jackson tries to grow disturbingly close to the boys. Local police, agitated at claims of there being a wealthy Black man in town, set out to frame him, but have a moral conniption when the target appears to be White.
The episode swings wildly in all directions, and the vast majority of the jokes they aim for land in emphatic fashion, offering non-stop hilarity from its opening moments. While its lens on racial prejudice in the police force may only be surface-level, it more than makes up for its thematic weaknesses with its all-out assault on Michael Jackson that remains as gasp-inducing and hysterical today as it was in 2004.
54
“The Death Camp of Tolerance” (Season 6, Episode 14)
IMDb Rating: 8.7/10
While offensive absurdity and controversy are something of a specialty of South Park, the Season 6 episode “The Death Camp of Tolerance” stood out even by the show’s standards as it revolved around Mr. Garrison’s attempts to capitalize on discrimination lawsuits. His efforts to be fired for being gay lead the teacher to insert the class gerbil, Lemmiwinks, up his boyfriend’s rectum in class. With the children’s outrage being mistaken for homophobia, they are sent to a “toleration camp” while Lemmiwinks ventures through Mr. Slaves’ body.
With the boys’ rigorous camp mimicking the Holocaust while Lemmiwinks’ journey parodied the songs from 1977’s animated The Hobbit movie; the episode was a masterstroke of referential comedy. “The Death Camp of Tolerance” also functioned as a pulverizing criticism of blind tolerance and people’s desperation to appear as accepting without properly understanding the nuances of the issues they are judging.
53
“The Biggest Douche in the Universe” (Season 6, Episode 15)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
While the serial, seasonal arcs wouldn’t become common practice on South Park until many years later, Season 6 does offer a consistent subplot in the form of Kenny’s spirit living on within Cartman after he mistook his friend’s ashes for chocolate milk mix and drank them. That subplot yields hilarious rewards in “The Biggest Douche in the Universe,” while the episode also offers stern skewering of celebrity psychics.
With Kenny’s spirit beginning to take possession of Cartman’s body, Chef and the kids decide to appear on a television psychic’s program to try to help Cartman, but are disappointed when they only get vague responses that offer no benefit. While Chef takes Cartman to his parents in Scotland to perform an exorcism, Stan strives to disprove the psychic publicly. It’s a hilarious take-down episode that features the creators at their scorching best.
52
“Proper Condom Use” (Season 5, Episode 7)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
Shockingly crude, thematically pointed, and offering parody of a beloved film in the process, “Proper Condom Use” is an underrated episode from the sublime fifth season of South Park. With their parents too uncomfortable to teach their children about sex, it falls to the school to conduct sexual education, though misguided and biased approaches from the teaching fraternity lead to conflict between the boys and girls that escalates into a battle.
It is made memorable by its more outlandish scenes, such as the boys trying to “milk” a dog and the violent spoofing of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, but the episode truly shines with its criticism of how sex ed is often mishandled. As brilliantly observant as it is hilariously disgusting, the Season 5 episode offers non-stop hysterics that resonate with many viewers whose sex ed classes at school and/or at home were both awkward and ineffective.
51
“My Future Self ‘n’ Me” (Season 6, Episode 16)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
One of South Park’s most brilliant balancing acts, “My Future Self ‘n’ Me” excels at both satirizing the excessive anti-drug advertisements of the 90s and early 2000s and delivering its own concise and effective anti-drug message. Stan meets a future version of himself who he is shocked to see is a drug addict and an alcoholic. While he initially tries to set himself straight, he learns his supposed future self is actually a paid actor, and sets out to make his parents admit the truth to him about their deceitful scheme.
The episode relentlessly mocks the extremity of the anti-drug campaigns of the era that, if anything, were so ridiculous that they had the opposite effect of what was intended. However, it still brings interesting insights to parents wanting the best for their children but not necessarily knowing what the best way is to communicate that. It’s a fun episode with a strong point to make.
50
“Lil’ Crime Stoppers” (Season 7, Episode 6)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
There’s an imaginative, fun-loving purity to “Lil’ Crime Stoppers” that, while meshed with crime violence, makes it one of the most wondrous and endearing episodes of the series. It follows the boys as their playful detective game leads to them being recruited by the police force to take down a local drug operation. They bumble through their assignment and make a significant impact on the force but start to have second thoughts as they don’t find the detective game to be as fun anymore.
A hilarious mockery of police procedural series like CSI, “Lil’ Crime Stoppers” finds plenty of fun within its simple premise that is loosely inspired by series creator Trey Parker’s own childhood experiences where he would pretend to be a detective. It’s a wonderful example of the four boys teaming up as opposed to their usual antagonistic antics, and it stands as a somewhat underrated episode of the series.
49
“Cartman’s Silly Hate Crime 2000” (Season 4, Episode 2)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
The second episode of South Park’s fourth season saw the creators pull no punches in revealing their views on hate crime legislation at the time. Eric Cartman finds himself in hot water when he retaliates to Tolkien’s bullying by throwing a rock at his head. As the incident is misconstrued as a racially motivated act of violence, Cartman is handed a lengthy prison sentence, something that impacts the boys’ chances of beating the girls in a sledding race.
The episode references everything from HBO’s prison series Oz to Phil Collins winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song over “Blame Canada” at the 1999 Oscars. Its exploration of the perception of hate crimes and media sensationalism and bias of such occurrences may not appeal to all viewers, but it does adequately epitomize common focal points of discomfort and doubt of many Americans who, even today, maintain a stance against hate crime legislation. Incorporating plenty of hilarity into the fold as always, “Cartman’s Silly Hate Crime 2000” is a brilliant, contemplative gem of South Park’s earlier seasons.
48
“Cartman’s Mom Is a Dirty Slut” (Season 1, Episode 13)
IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
The final episode of South Park’s first season, “Cartman’s Mom Is a Dirty Slut” relishes the series’ trademark brand of offensive humor while still offering a surprisingly poignant story about belonging and abandonment. It focuses on Cartman’s efforts to identify his biological father, an endeavor that reveals his mother’s promiscuity and makes his goal that much more difficult to accomplish. All the while, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny gather footage of Cartman with a mind to submit it to ‘America’s Stupidest Home Videos’.
While it concluded with an announcement that the true identity of Cartman’s father would be revealed in the Season 2 premiere, fans were left frustrated when the mystery was never resolved. That being said, the Season 1 finale has still become a series classic as an excellent episode for the villainous Cartman that also celebrates many of the show’s secondary characters.
47
“Cartman’s Incredible Gift” (Season 8, Episode 13)
IMDb Score: 8.6/10
South Park‘s work of simple though hilarious parody that comes up trumps, “Cartman’s Incredible Gift” plays with mystery tropes and notions of psychic or gifted detectives in a twisted story focused squarely on Cartman’s maniacal ego. After Cartman sustains a head injury, he awakens in a hospital where he is able to convince a police officer that he has developed psychic abilities. With an active serial killer in the area, law enforcement brings Cartman to the crime scenes to solve the crimes.
A skewering of the phenomenon of psychics that also lampoons movies like Red Dragon and The Dead Zone, the episode is perfect for fans of murder mystery narratives. Despite being relatively basic in its focus and never straying too intently into the taboo or socially controversial (like many of South Park’s most famous episodes), “Cartman’s Incredible Gift” has become a fan favorite with its parody premise and Cartman’s manipulative cunning.
46
“The Passion of the Jew” (Season 8, Episode 3)
IMDb Score: 8.6/10
A scorching indictment on The Passion of the Christ released as fanfare and fallout of the Mel Gibson film was reaching its zenith, “The Passion of the Jew” is a perfect example of South Park’s creative immediacy being its greatest strength. In the episode, Cartman tries to use the provocative film to inspire antisemitism and see a group rise up against the Jews. Meanwhile, Stan and Kenny, having seen The Passion of the Christ and hating it, track down Mel Gibson to demand a refund.
Given The Passion of the Christ was a polarizing film upon release, the South Park episode brilliantly skewered the social phenomenon surrounding the film, addressing its provocative and intense violence and its antisemitic interpretation. It earned high praise from several critics and holds some interesting insights into how The Passion of the Christ vilified Jewish people and what the impact of that was.
45
“201” (Season 14, Episode 6)
IMDb Score: 8.7
Season 14 saw South Park celebrate a monumental milestone with its 200th episode, an event the series creators honored with two of the most controversial and dangerous episodes aired in the history of television. The second of them, “201,” continues the two-episode arc as celebrities and the Ginger Separatist Movement try to force the people of South Park to hand over the prophet Muhammad. All the while, a team of religious figures arrives to spare the town from the attack of Mecha-Streisand.
The episode has become infamous for its depiction of Muhammad, who is always seen behind a black bar marked “censored,” and the threats of violence surrounding the release that saw Comedy Central further censor the episode to Parker and Stone’s dismay. Despite being so highly rated, “201” is unavailable to stream and has not been shown in re-runs. However, it was nominated for a Primetime Emmy.
44
“200” (Season 14, Episode 5)
IMDb Score: 8.7/10
The predecessor to “201” and, of course, the 200th episode of the series, “200” was a significant event for the series as it brought back many of the celebrities the series had mocked over its first 199 episodes. Led by Tom Cruise, a litany of Hollywood stars descend upon South Park to file a class action lawsuit against the town, however, they state that they will drop the suit if the people of South Park can facilitate a meeting between Cruise and the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Like “201,” the episode earned a Primetime Emmy nomination but has been withheld from all streaming services and hasn’t been featured in re-runs of the series. Loaded with references and gags targeting movie stars and religious icons, while also featuring a surprisingly intricate narrative, “200” is South Park at its most daringly hilarious and controversial.
43
“You Have 0 Friends” (Season 14, Episode 4)
IMDb Rating: 8.7/10
Brilliantly using Tron as a thematic and visual inspiration, “You Have 0 Friends” is a scorching criticism of the dangerous allure of social media that boasts a strong point without losing any of South Park’s trademark controversial irreverence. It follows Stan as he reluctantly joins Facebook only to find himself being literally sucked into the website. Meanwhile, Kyle struggles with a dilemma between preserving his own social status and showing kindness to a third-grader who has no friends.
Inspired by Trey Parker’s own experiences with Facebook, the episode is a hilarious, inventive, and even sometimes poignant analysis of the selfish and numerical priorities people have on social media platforms. It’s a brilliant critique of tech culture that, while brutal, does pay some mind to the isolated victims it creates. Sadly, its cautionary tale hasn’t been heeded by much of modern society.
42
“Medicinal Fried Chicken” (Season 14, Episode 3)
IMDb Rating: 8.7/10
Given that Cartman and Randy are two fan-favorite characters, it is no surprise that “Medicinal Fried Chicken” ranks so highly on IMDb as it features both characters at their hilarious best throughout. Cartman, appalled to learn that the town’s KFC has been replaced by a medicinal marijuana dispensary, becomes involved in an illegal food trade. Meanwhile, Randy gives himself testicular cancer so he can make use of the dispensary, a ploy that sees his testicles grow exponentially.
Satirizing social issues of medicinal and legalized drug use and fast-food concerns while also relentlessly skewering the Catholic Church and parodying Scarface through Cartman’s arc, “Medicinal Fried Chicken” fires on all cylinders as an appropriately absurd yet contemplative exploration of modern social issues. It even received an official response from KFC that, while not being glowing, was far from critical of the episode and praised its inclusion of the chain’s hometown in Corbin, Kentucky.
41
“Breast Cancer Show Ever” (Season 12, Episode 9)
IMDb Rating: 8.7/10
Across South Park’s 26 seasons (and counting), some episodes have proven to be more timeless than others. One of the most enduring is “Breast Cancer Show Ever,” which sees Cartman getting his just deserts in an immensely satisfying fashion. While running with a hilarious, Cartman-focused storyline, it also contains references to such films as Snatch and There Will Be Blood.
It transpires as Wendy Testaburger tries to raise awareness of breast cancer at school, only to be berated by Cartman every step of the way. When she’s finally had enough, she challenges Cartman to a fistfight that captures the interest of the students and leads Cartman desperate to find a way to back out of it. Granted, it isn’t South Park’s most ambitious or shocking outing, but the simple premise is handled incredibly well to be a rewarding story of comeuppance that fans have come to love.
