The American animated sitcom South Park has covered and satirized a large number of topics over the course of its run. South Park Studio's use of computer animation allows it to edit episodes in days, quickly commenting on recent events, including Elián González, 2000 U.S. presidential election, the capture of Saddam Hussein, and the elections of both Barack Obama and Donald Trump. The creators also have engendered a mix of socially liberal and fiscally conservative viewpoints, espousing a libertarian ideology in both real life and on the show. However, the show's creators call themselves "equal opportunity offenders",[1] and reject the notion that they are trying to put forth any consistent ideological agenda through the show.[2][3]
"Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut": Cartman's Mom attempted to get her son a "40th trimester" abortion, and finds out that such a late abortion is illegal, she says "Well, I think you need to keep your laws off of my body." Later in the episode, Mrs Cartman says "I should've thought of raising a child before having sex." She was later informed that she confused the word "abortion" with "adoption".
"Cartman Joins NAMBLA": Upon learning that his parents want to have another child, Kenny attempts to prevent the event of having a younger sibling. He attempts to give his mother morning-after abortion pills, tries to get her to drink liquor and encourages her to ride on an intense amusement park attraction in order to provoke a miscarriage. None of his attempts work, however, leaving the newborn child to become a miniature reincarnation of Kenny himself.
"Chef Goes Nanners": The substitute teacher shows that the class had participated in different debates, with one being "Pro-Choice vs. Cartman".
"Kenny Dies": Cartman attempts to get stem cell research (using aborted fetuses) legalized in a feigned attempt to save Kenny's life. It is revealed at the end of the episode he really wanted to use stem cells to clone Shakey’s Pizza.
"A Ladder to Heaven": Upon realizing that Kenny's soul is inside his body, Cartman decides to go somewhere where they "remove living souls from inside" of him. He then proceeds to go to an abortion clinic where he gets into an argument with the lady at the counter, stating that he can't live this way and demanding that they just suck Kenny's soul out. A couple walk in and upon hearing Cartman's rant, the girlfriend states that she "can't do this" and runs out. At that point, the visibly angry boyfriend throws a rock at Cartman.
"Woodland Critter Christmas": The mountain lion cubs are taught at an abortion clinic how to stop the Antichrist porcupine from being born. During the episode's final confrontation, they give Kyle an "abortion", expelling the Antichrist from his body so that Santa can crush it with a sledgehammer.
"Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina": The newly sex-changed Mrs. Garrison becomes convinced she is pregnant because she doesn't start menstruating. She asks the doctor whether he would "vacuum it (the fetus) out or scramble its brains" because "a woman can do whatever she wants with her body," only to find out at the abortion clinic that uteruses are not created in sex change operations; therefore she cannot get pregnant.
"Eek, a Penis!": Cartman spends most of the episode teaching inner-city kids that it is okay to cheat. In counseling a pregnant teenager, he says that "Abortion isn't wrong...abortion is the ultimate form of cheating. You're cheating nature itself. Why do rich white girls get ahead in life? Because they get abortions when they're young. They get pregnant, but they still want to go to college, so, whatever, they just cheat. They cheat that little critter in their belly out of a chance at life."
South Park: The Stick of Truth: A section of the game takes place in the abortion clinic, named Unplanned Parenthood, as the New Kid goes undercover dressing as a girl to recover a girl's abortion records for Wendy's crew. Along the way, he has to perform an "abortion" on Randy Marsh in disguise to fool the government agents and deal with an outbreak of Nazi Zombie Fetuses that overrun the clinic. This section was censored in the release of the game in certain regions.
Canadians
Canadians are heavily satirized in South Park. They are depicted as having beady eyes, and the top halves of their heads simply flap up and down when they speak.[4] They also exhibit exaggerated Canadian stereotypes. This traces back to the season one episode "Death", which introduced the Canadian comedy duo Terrance and Phillip. The episode was inspired by early criticism that South Park was little more than flatulence jokes and primitive animation. And thus Terrance and Phillip literally did nothing but a series of flatulence jokes, and were rendered in cruder animation than South Park itself. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone then decided to extend the visual running gag to all of Canada after Terrance and Phillip were later featured in the season two premiere "Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus".[5] Canada is featured prominently in several episodes such as "It's Christmas in Canada", "Canada on Strike", and "Where My Country Gone?" as well as the film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
Robert Smith from The Cure: In "Mecha-Streisand", he is called in to defeat Barbra Streisand by turning in to a Mothra-like creature to take her down. However, he has an ability called "Robot Punch", which his a reference to many mecha anime.
Dr. Oz: in "Butterballs", Dr. Oz spouts false medical babble and bullies Butters while interviewing him about the anti-bullying video he is starring in.
"Fat Butt and Pancake Head": Cartman makes a Jennifer Lopez hand puppet, which suddenly develops a personality of its own and becomes a singing sensation. As a result, the real J-Lo is fired from her record label and Ben Affleck falls in love with the hand puppet.
Affleck, prior to "Fat Butt and Pancake Head", also appears in "How to Eat with Your Butt", where it is revealed that he is the long-lost son of a couple suffering from a fictitious congenital condition called "torsonic polarity syndrome" (TPS), which causes victims to appear to have buttocks in place of their face.
Rob Reiner is derided as a hypocritical activist who works to outlaw smoking in public places for reasons of health, despite the fact that he is obese on account of poor dietary habits, in "Butt Out". His obesity hits home whenever he needs butter to get out of tight places such as a car.
"The Biggest Douche in the Universe": Rob Schneider is shown in four movie previews. The previews depict Schneider transforming into a stapler, a carrot, and Kenny McCormick. One of the previews is more like a template with often used phrases "Until one day", "From the creators of", and "Rob Schneider is" between which it's filled with nonsensical gibberish. Schneider is shown dancing in a discothèque, walking into a lamp post, drinking some liquid in a laboratory, and falling down stairs.
Mel Gibson is the subject of Cartman's admiration after Cartman watches Gibson's film, The Passion of the Christ, culminating in "The Passion of the Jew", wherein Gibson responds to Stan and Kenny's demand for a refund of the money they spent on The Passion by masochistic tendencies with which he accuses Stan and Kenny of threatening to torture him, and by chasing after the two after they steal the money from his home. He later defecates on Cartman and smears his feces on a South Park building, ruining his standing with Cartman and his Christian South Park fans. He later appears in the "Imaginationland Episode III", in which he provides story ideas to the United States government, in order to inspire a possible avenue of investigation into the invasion of Imaginationland. Despite his bizarre, erratic behavior, the Pentagon officials observe, his experience as a director and his understanding of story structure actually provide a useful idea, where previous directors consulted, Michael Bay and M. Night Shyamalan, merely suggested special effects and plot twists.
Michael Jackson is portrayed with the character "Mr. Jefferson" in the episode "The Jeffersons", in which he moves to South Park with his son Blanket to a house full of arcade games and animals, inevitably attracting all the kids in the town.
Jackson is later parodied in the season 13 episode "Dead Celebrities" as a ghost possessing Ike because of his denial of being dead, being a man, being an adult and being black.
Paris Hilton is caricatured as a "skank" in "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset". The episode implies (and in some cases explicitly states) that Paris Hilton is a stupid, spoiled, drunken whore who has done nothing to deserve her fame except being rich and spoiled. The episode also criticizes how she has become a role model for young girls (the girls of South Park, with the exception of Wendy Testaburger, quickly take up her supposedly promiscuous and mindless attitude towards life after the opening of the "Stupid spoiled whore" shop).
Tom Cruise and John Travolta are famously caricatured in "Trapped in the Closet" for their participation in Scientology. This episode resulted in the departure of Isaac Hayes as Chef in "The Return of Chef", where Chef is brainwashed into a made-up organization lampooning Scientology (of which Hayes is a member, and claimed religious insult because of "Closet")[citation needed]. The title of the "Closet" episode references "Trapped in the Closet" by R. Kelly, who is also a participant in "Closet."
Prior to "Trapped in the Closet", Travolta was featured in "The Entity", demonstrating Mr. Garrison's mono-wheel vehicle known as "IT."
"Red Hot Catholic Love": Martha Stewart uses Cartman's method of digestion (which involves shoving food up the anus and defecating out the mouth) to eat a whole turkey.
Al Gore is satirized in the episode "ManBearPig", where he warns the town of South Park about a terrible creature that is "half-man, half-bear and half-pig."
Both are further explored in Season 22 as both Gore and ManBearPig return. Gore becomes a friend of the boys as they try to defeat the monster.
"Ginger Kids": When Cartman presents his report about red-haired, pale-skin, freckled people, his slideshow displays pictures of Carrot Top and Ron Howard.
Bono is parodied in the episode "More Crap", which highlights his humanitarian efforts, coupled with his pretentious, often narcissistic personality. It's revealed that he is actually a world-record setting "piece of crap"; Stan explains: "That's why he's able to do so much, try to help so many people, but still seem like such a piece of shit." Measurements in the episode are measured in Courics.
"The Ring": The Jonas Brothers are part of an evil plot by Mickey Mouse, unbeknownst to The Jonas Brothers, to help Mickey Mouse sell sex to young girls.
"Prehistoric Ice Man": Marilyn Manson is performing a song called "Stinky Britches" on a TV in a shop before Larry angrily smashes the glass and the TV.
The singer Lorde is portrayed in Season 18 as none other than the secret identity of character Randy Marsh.
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is parodied in the season 18 episode "Go Fund Yourself" along with several other NFL team owners. In one scene, Jones is depicted as having huge, bulging chameleon-like eyes, as a young woman's head pops up from his lap.[6] He reappears in the season 21 episode "Moss Piglets."
Caitlyn Jenner was mocked in several episodes of the nineteenth season, with many episodes referencing Jenner's hit-and-run accident (by showing Jenner driving over numerous people).
Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and Mike Pence appear in the episode "Doubling Down" advising Mr. Garrison that his slogan "Fuck them all to death!" is going too far, only to be threatened and bullied into submission.
Rudy Giuliani appears in the episode "Season Finale" as Mr. Garrison's (and thus metaphorically Donald Trump's) lawyer.
Mark Zuckerberg appears in the episode "Franchise Prequel", where he is invited to talk about fake news stories on Facebook but then does not address the citizens' concerns, instead dismissing their complaints and pretending to deflect their attempts to "block" him by speaking and moving in the style of blocking techniques from martial arts films.
Jeff Bezos appears in "Unfulfilled" and "Bike Parade" as in the form of the lead Talosian from the original 1965 Star Trek pilot "The Cage". He watches people through hidden cameras in their Amazon Echos and stamps out any dissenters or strikers against Amazon.
"Cartoon Wars Part II": Cartman wishes the President a major news corporation to prevent an episode of Family Guy from airing, and to prevent Kyle from interfering with his plan, Cartman states, "okay, I'll make it easy for you", and pulls out a gun and aims it at the President. When the President responds with, "okay, I'll listen to you", Kyle states to the President, "you can't do what he wants just because he's the one threatening you with violence!" When the president then responds with, "I can't be responsible for people getting hurt. Especially me", Kyle states, "yes, people can get hurt. That's how terrorism works. But if you give into that... you're allowing terrorism to work. Do the right thing here".
Drugs
"Ike's Wee Wee": Mr. Mackey is forced out of his job for losing a marijuana bud in a drug-education class. Ironically, he goes through a cycle of experimentation (ending up in his adopting hippie ideology and happily marrying a woman he meets), before an enforced treatment (after being captured during his honeymoon in India by the A-Team, no less) and reverting to his position as a spokesman against drugs.
"My Future Self n' Me": Stan and Butters' parents find an indirect and strange way to try to prevent their children from using drugs. They hire representatives to act as though they were future versions of the children, who travel back in time to tell them how the use of drugs has made their lives miserable. While the episode does condemn the use of drugs, it parodies the tendency of people (especially parents) to overreact to the substances and deceive their children to ensure their safety.
"Towelie" and "A Million Little Fibers": Towelie is forced to confront his marijuana addiction in times of crisis, eventually coming to the "conclusion" that he should only partake in drug use when he accomplishes something good, not in order to.
Towelie later puts his marijuana addiction to good use as he is a state government inspector that approves and later works at Randy Marsh's marijuana farm in Season 22.
"Die Hippie, Die": The hippies have their Jamfest in South Park to "Stop Corporations" and Kenny, Kyle and Stan join the hippies. In the end, the boys realize the hippies smoke way too much pot and are just as selfish as the corporations they complain about by trying to forget about their troubles when they don't have any.
"Major Boobage": Kids across the nation, particularly Kenny, have found a new way to get high. The episode references the glue-sniffing, paint snorting, and marker sniffing epidemics.
"Quest for Ratings" To get ideas for South Park Elementary's closed-circuit television system, the boys decide to get high on cough medicine. Remembering that they had seen Craig's program while high and thought it to be brilliant, they conclude that a majority of the school must be perpetually high on cough medicine, accounting for his ratings. They then decide to produce a special report that gets cough medicine banned from school.
"Smug Alert!": Hybrid automobiles, while praised, nonetheless have owners who are touted as a source of "smug" (caused by the incredible selfish and self-centered behavior of their owners); San Francisco is considered as the "smug" capital, destroyed in a "smug-storm" à la The Perfect Storm. The "smug-storm" was represented by an Oscar Acceptance speech given by George Clooney a few weeks before the episode originally aired.[7]
In "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow" Earth Day people come to South Park. The Earth Day people utilize a Jedi mind trick to make the townspeople not only believe that all they say is correct, while that which conservatives say is slander, but to also build for them a massive Earth Day celebration. When Stan says "My dad is a geologist and he says there actually isn't any concrete evidence of global warming", they answer "That's not true, global warming is going to kill us all. The Republicans are responsible".
In "Time to Get Cereal" and "Nobody Got Cereal?", after ManBearPig comes to South Park and goes on a murderous rampage, the boys seek out Al Gore to help stop him. ManBearPig serves as a metaphor for the devastating effects climate change, while the town's indifferent reaction parodies the views of climate change deniers. Some critics have suggested that Parker and Stone made the episodes as an "apology" to Gore for mocking him in the past.[8][9]
Big Gay Al and Mr. Slave are later married in "Follow That Egg!". South Park parodies the real-life "civil union" compromise by proposing gay couples be allowed to have the same rights as married groups, but be called "butt buddies".
In "The F Word", the word fag is used quite satirically to reference middle-aged men who ride Harley-Davidsons and even the homosexuals petition for the word's definition to be changed from meaning homosexuals to middle-aged bikies.
In "Trapped In the Closet", many references are made about the rumors of Tom Cruise being gay. He locks himself in Stan's bedroom closet and the characters say "Tom Cruise won't come out of the closet." John Travolta and R. Kelly also join in.
The Tom Cruise homosexuality joke continued in the Season 14 episode 200 where Tom Cruise was working in a fudge factory putting them in packages. Stan sees and refers to him as a "Fudge Packer" which then makes Tom Cruise outraged and threatens to sue the town of South Park with numerous celebrities who have been mocked by the show.
Literature
In "Chickenlover", Officer Barbrady is forced to confront his illiteracy while attempting to solve the case of the "chickenlover", a man who goes around having sex with local chickens. In the end, it's revealed that the "chickenlover" is the owner of a local bookmobile, whose motive was to help Barbrady learn to read by leaving clues in book passages. He gives him a copy of Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, which Barbrady reads and decries, "I read every last word of this garbage and because of this piece of SHIT, I'm never reading again!"
In "Timmy 2000", a doctor diagnoses Timmy and the other children with ADD by reading them the novels The Great Gatsby and A Farewell to Arms in their entirety, then asking them a trivial question about a single passage; he deduces from their unresponsive boredom that they weren't paying attention and prescribes them all Ritalin.
In "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs", books that (allegedly) cause the death of a major celebrity are often barred from sale, explicitly referencing the supposed role of The Catcher in the Rye in the shootings of John Lennon and Ronald Reagan. It is also a fact that if an author finds success, people will always assume that the written work contains hidden meanings.
In “D-Yikes!”, the boys hire Mexican day laborers to read The Old Man and the Sea and write book reports for them. The Mexicans misunderstand the request to write four “essays” and instead write letters to their éses.
"Starvin' Marvin in Space": Christian missionaries and Pat Robertson attempt to cajole Starvin Marvin's people and the Marklar into accepting their faith. This episode in general portrays missionaries in a rather unfavorable manner, as when the missionary character attempts to get the Africans to read the Bible. "Remember, reading the Bible plus accepting Jesus equals FOOD", suggesting that the Christians would have let the emaciated Africans starve if they did not convert.
"Red Hot Catholic Love" parodies the Catholic sex abuse scandal (the town's pastor is seen trying to convert other Catholic priests from molestation) and the separation of church and state as demanded by atheists; the issue of sex abuse was lampooned again in "A Boy and a Priest", which came in the wake of renewed scrutiny of the Church following an extensive Pennsylvania grand jury report. In the latter episode, the archdiocese in Denver sends three priests to South Park in order to clean up Father Mackie's mess when he is only having a non-sexual relationship with Butters. The episode involves the pastor becoming the butt of jokes by the townspeople.
Cartman Sucks features Butters' stay in a Christian conversion therapy camp, where he, completely oblivious to the euphemisms used to designate homosexuality ("confusion", "bi-curious"), witnesses suicides and the psychological pressure applied on homosexual children. The episode ends with Butters realizing that "If I'm bi-curious and I'm made from God, then I think your God must be a little bi-curious too."
"All About the Mormons?" chronicles the arrival of a Mormon family in South Park, and lampoons the story of Joseph Smith. Yet in conclusion to the episode, Gary, Stan's Mormon friend, tells Stan, "Look, maybe us Mormons do believe in crazy stories that make absolutely no sense, and maybe Joseph Smith did make it all up, but I have a great life. and a great family, and I have the Book of Mormon to thank for that. The truth is, I don't care if Joseph Smith made it all up, because what the church teaches now is loving your family, being nice and helping people. And even though people in this town might think that's stupid, I still choose to believe in it. All I ever did was try to be your friend, Stan, but you're so high and mighty you couldn't look past my religion and just be my friend back. You've got a lot of growing up to do, buddy. Suck my balls".
"Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" and "Probably" depicts Stan, Cartman, and Kenny being frightened by the town Priest's descriptions of hell and those who are headed there. Determined to save their souls and those of their friends, including Kyle, a Jew and Timmy, who is mentally handicapped, they seek out advice from the local clergy. When the boys find the priest having sex in the confessional, they decide to make their own church aimed at salvation. They continue this course until it is revealed that Cartman, in an obvious nod to televangelism, only did it to make ten million dollars, and Jesus shows up to bring an end to Cartman's prosperity gospel church. The episode pokes fun at charismatic evangelicals.
Scientology is the subject of "Trapped in the Closet" where Stan is declared the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard.
"Go God Go" and sequel, "Go God Go XII" attempt to show that atheism can be just as radical as religion. In the future, all religion has been destroyed by Richard Dawkins and Mrs. Garrison and everyone is atheist in hopes that reason will prevent war. However, fanaticism nonetheless grows and there are several warring factions trying to decide whose logic is correct in determining their name. They also use 'Science' as an alternative to 'God' as a curse, e.g. 'Science Damn You', 'Science H Logic!'.
"Canada on Strike": A husband and wife driving are witness to Ike holding a sign: "Honk if you support Canada", the husband honks twice, and upon his wife confirming to him "Oh, we're supporting unions" he states to her "That's right; we're a very progressive couple", and later "Well we've done our good deed for the week. I think now I can make love to your anus without making God angry".
"Imaginationland Episode III": Within a plead to US generals not to "nuke our imagination" despite it having gone wild in the Pentagon's Operation Imagination Doorway, Kyle states that "I mean, whether Jesus is real or not, he... he's had a bigger impact on the world than any of us have. And the same could be said of Bugs Bunny and, a-and Superman and Harry Potter. They've changed my life, changed the way I act on the Earth. Doesn't that make them kind of 'real'. They might be imaginary, but, but they're more important than most of us here. And they're all gonna be around long after we're dead. So in a way, those things are more realer than any of us"
"Ginger Cow": Cartman's prank, dressing a cow as a "ginger", fools Christians, Jews, and Muslims into thinking it is a doomsday prophecy. They gather in Jerusalem where their respective symbols (the Cross, Star of David, and Star and crescent) are morphed into one, the symbol of Van Halen, ushering in 10 years of peace, harmony, and rock music. Meanwhile, Cartman blackmails Kyle to hide the truth to keep the peace going. The episode references the red heifer, which is mentioned in all three religions.
Politics
A subplot in "Trapper Keeper" features the kindergarten class voting for Class President, pitting Ike against his classmate, Filmore. The count repeatedly ends in a tie as a single student named Flora, remains undecided. Filmore's aunt, Rosie O'Donnell, demands a recount and calls in a team of lawyers to contest the election. The episode satirizes the 2000 U.S. presidential election, especially legal disputes over the recount in Florida and the eventual Supreme Court decision.
"Douche and Turd": the school votes for a new mascot, and P. Diddy terrorizes the cast into voting; satire on the 2004 U.S. presidential election. This episode essentially depicts the Democratic Party and the Republican Party as being not particularly desirable (a douche and a turd sandwich). When Stan points out that there isn't any point in voting if the only options are a douche and a turd, at the end it is pointed out that most elections that will ever occur will be between a douche and a turd.
In "About Last Night...", Barack Obama wins the 2008 presidential election as South Park and the rest of the country are divided on the outcome: liberals (including Randy) are drunkenly partying and rioting in the streets, while conservatives (led by the Stotches) are terrified that the Apocalypse is at hand. Meanwhile, it's revealed that Obama and John McCain are the leaders of a crew of jewel thieves, who use people's distraction to steal the Hope Diamond from the Smithsonian (a parody of both Ocean's Eleven and Entrapment). The episode notably aired the night after the election and included portions of Obama's victory speech in its opening. It remarks on the absurdity of people who become overly invested in the outcome of elections.
The sixth episode of the eighth season, "Goobacks", deals with illegal immigration and asylum-seekers.
In "Obama Wins!," Cartman manages to steal ballots in the 2012 presidential election swing states of Florida, Ohio, North Carolina, Nevada, and Colorado in an attempt to ensure that Barack Obama wins the election and Cartman gets a part in the next Star Wars movie. Also, China is discovered as making a deal with President Obama. (Mitt Romney won North Carolina in real life. This means that Obama would have won reelection even with the ballots Cartman stole as the President had the 270 needed to secure reelection.)
The 2016 election serves as a central theme for season 20, with Mr. Garrison running for president and assuming a Trump like persona for the remainder of his presidency. Garrison chooses Caitlyn Jenner as his running mate and runs a xenophobic, anti-Canadian campaign, pledging to “build a wall” between Canada and the United States. This eventually leads him to call a nuclear strike on Toronto near the end of season 21.
In "I'm a Little Bit Country", war protesters are portrayed as needing the war supporters so that the United States would not become weak and unable to defend itself from attack, while war supporters are shown as needing the war protesters so the U.S. would not seem like a power hungry or tyrannical government. The theory was discovered by Cartman (in a flashback) to have originated from the founding fathers, who referred to it as "having your cake and eating it too".
"Sexual Harassment Panda" addresses frivolous lawsuits – especially those against public institutions.
"Here Comes the Neighborhood" lampoons Class hate with allusions to racism by pitting townspeople who happen be white against "richers" who happen be black.
"Gnomes" addresses corporate take over of small businesses, and makes the point that America was founded on free enterprise and capitalism.
"Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina" has a subplot about Kyle and his father having both self and body image problems with themselves not being perfect. They refuse to accept their physical appearance (Kyle not being tall black and Gerald not being and wanting to be a dolphin) and they used cosmetic surgery to "help" the problem.
"Tonsil Trouble" has a subplot about Cartman having HIV and Kyle laughing at Cartman for having it and Cartman infecting Kyle with HIV and they turn to Magic Johnson for help, It also addresses the using of HIV positive jokes.
"Butters' Bottom Bitch" points out the social disadvantages to prostitution being illegal, and proposes an alternate system wherein prostitutes need not suffer abuse and instead receive housing and health care.
"W.T.F." parodies several aspects of professional wrestling, highlighting the sport's emphasis on such theatrical elements as costumes, back stories and scripted storylines.
South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid addresses the debate over NFTs, portraying it as a big pyramid scheme, with Butters in his new identity as "Victor Chaos" making loads of money by convincing others to buy NFTs.
^Hirsch, Sarah (August 11, 2022). "25 Years of South Park". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved April 6, 2023. Parker: 'We'll always laugh at the Canada stuff more than anything. It goes way back to season two, when we were going to say who Cartman's father was, and instead we did this big Terrance and Phillip episode'
Simpson, Brandon (2013). The Libertarian Lessons of South Park: An Analysis of Libertarianism in South Park, How Ron Paul, Gary Johnson & South Park Created a New Generation of Libertarians & South Park Conservatives. Dry Ridge, KY: Small Town Press. ISBN978-0981646664. OCLC844727134.
