This week, I welcome Matt back to the podcast, and am also joined by Olivia Broome, to talk about South Park (1997-, Comedy Central) in general, as well as conducting a full episode-by-episode retrospective on Season 5 of the show, which aired over the course of 2001, and contains episodes including Scott Tenorman Must Die, Super Best Friends, Kenny Dies and Butters' Very Own Episode.
We discuss the approach and attitudes of Trey Parker and Matt Stone's work as a whole, as well as their development of South Park in the early years, including the move South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (Trey Parker, 1999). We attempt to examine whether Season 5's status as my personal peak of the show holds up to scrutiny. We also debate how our fandom has evolved over the decades, the show's influence on us, and our current varying assessments of the show in 2020.
Content warning - in discussing the show, we do very occasionally use the words 'Jew', 'F*g' and some other terms that could be considered slurs, in quoting from the show or the ancillary materials. Just to make you aware.
0.00 Intro/general discussion of South Park
0.26 South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut
0.43 Season 5, episodes 1-8
1.19 Season 5, episodes 9-14
1.55 Wrap up
You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on escapegoatpod@gmail.com. All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.
Matt can be found on Youtube with his regular co-hosted movie analysis show 'Matt and Mike Pull Focus'. Matt previously appeared on Episode 01 of this podcast, where we discussed Zombie movies (especially Day of the Dead) and World War Z. Listen to that episode here. Olivia can be reached on Instagram via @oliviaxbroome.
NOTES
The short commentaries on Season 5 by Parker and Stone (which are fascinating) can be found currently on the South Park Studios UK website, and I imagine on other global equivalent sites. The full movie Cannibal: The Musical (Parker, 1993) can at the time of this posting be watched in full on the Troma Youtube channel, which I just discovered is a thing. Be assured, the three of us watched it (remotely) a few nights after recording this show, whilst drinking bloody maries.
