15 Best ‘South Park’ Episodes Ranked

TV FEATURE

“South Park” is an animated television series that first premiered on August 13, 1997, on the American cable channel Comedy Central. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the show follows the adventures of four boys – Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick – in the fictional Colorado town of South Park. The show has since become a cultural phenomenon.

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With more than 300 “South Park” episodes, which ones are rated as the best 15

Plenty of adult animated shows seem to last forever, but the most impressive thing about the decades-long run of “South Park” is the series’ willingness to evolve and change. Sure, the bones of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s Comedy Central series have remained consistent: its foul-mouthed dialogue, offensive humor, surrealist tendencies, and central group of four elementary school boys have carried from the first episode through and beyond the show’s 300th.

But the exploits that Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny get into around their Colorado mountain town these days look a lot different than they did back in 1997, when the show first premiered. Over the seasons — and decades — Parker and Stone have stayed the primary creators behind the show, and watching it back is one way of tracking their growth as writers. After three seasons that relied extensively on toilet humor (not that fart and poop jokes have ever faded from the show), the two eventually became impressive satirists, and “South Park” transformed into a ruthlessly topical comedy tackling practically every controversy and hot-button American issue within reach.

More shakeups have occurred over the seasons; characters were retired (R.I.P Chef), or faded into the background, and others (Randy and Butters, most prominently) grew to rival the four leads in prominence. For a few seasons, the show broke out of its episodic format in favor of serialized plotlines to mixed results. Nowadays, regular “South Park” seasons have been shortened, but are accompanied by a series of Paramount+ special episodes. It’s a strategy that has drawn controversy, but it wouldn’t be “South Park” if people weren’t arguing about something.

While “South Park” has managed to stay relatively fresh across 26 seasons, not every episode is created equal. The show’s famously fast-paced production schedule and top-of-the-minute parodies and celebrity appearances means the series can comment on scandals and news stories faster than many other animated shows on television. It also means that plenty of episodes don’t have a lot of staying power beyond the year or month (heck, even week) they aired. In some cases, the jokes really don’t land with the eyes of hindsight; see “ManBearPig,” which mocked global warming activism and held up so poorly Parker and Stone made a sequel twelve years later to apologize for it.

Diving into “South Park” is more challenging than simply watching the show from beginning to end. While the first three seasons have a few fun episodes (“Cartman’s Mom is a Dirty Slut,” for one), they’re often a chore to get through, and it takes awhile for Parker and Stone to really figure out the characters and fine-tune their humor and writing. So, if you want to dive into “South Park,” the best way to get hooked is simply with one of the show’s crown jewel episodes: and luckily, there’s no shortage of great ones.

The best “South Park” episodes stand out for different reasons. Some are memorable as major milestones for the show and its characters, while others caused significant ripples across pop culture. Some are format-breaking and visually inventive events, and others are regular episodes with the funniest, laugh-a-minute scripts in television. “South Park” will probably be around as long as Parker and Stone are alive — so there’s really no better time to start watching than the present.

Here are the 15 best “South Park” episodes of all time, from “Casa Bonita” to “Awesom-O.” Plus, we’ve called out the MVPs for every episode.

15. “Black Friday,” “A Song of Ass and Fire,” “Titties and Dragons” (Season 17, Episodes 7-9)

Every so often, “South Park” will devote an episode to the large cast of kids playing make-believe, whether that’s going on a Tolkien-esque adventure or forming their own superhero society. The best is easily the three-part Console War trilogy, which parodies major arguments that spawned during the launch of the PS4 and Xbox One, as well as Season 3 of “Game of Thrones.”

As Black Friday looms over South Park, the boys role-play as medieval knights and wizards (and in Kenny’s case, the gorgeous Lady McCormick), planning their attempts to purchase one of the new video game consoles. But when a divide between those who want Xboxs and those who wants PS4s becomes apparent, factions form in a battle of the Console Wars: a conflict that might seem ridiculous, but is only slightly exaggerated from real-life gamers.

Were these episodes likely made to advertise the release of the South Park “The Stick of Truth” video game the very next year? Almost certainly. But that doesn’t mean they don’t rock.

Episode MVP: Kyle and Stan’s bromance is often the closest thing to an emotional core in “South Park,” and their friendship breakup over the opposite sides they find themselves on in the Console Wars gives the trilogy some real stakes and gravitas.

14. “The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs” (Season 14, Episode 2)

There’s a slight meta quality to “Scrotie McBoogerballs,” which questions how much controversial and “edgy” art has real meaning, and how much it’s simply edgy for edgy’s sake. Enraged after reading “The Catcher in the Rye” for English class and finding its controversial content too passé, the boys write their own insanely vulgar book that makes everyone who reads it puke. They pass it off as Butters’ work when Stan’s parents find it, but to their surprise, the adults love it: finding meaning and satire where there is none. The book soon becomes a massive, critically-acclaimed bestseller that the boys try desperately to ban.

It’s one of the meaner “South Park” episodes — among other targets outside of J.D Salinger, it viciously mocks Sarah Jessica Parker, which the star took issue with — but it’s also a sharp story about authorial intent. Even if you don’t agree that “The Catcher in the Rye” is just “some whiny annoying teenager talking about how lame he is,” there’s still a lot to love from this episode.

Episode MVP: Butters, whose reaction to reading “The Catcher in the Rye” is to pick up a knife and repeat “Kill John Lennon, kill John Lennon,” in the single-funniest moment from the episode.

13. “Major Boobage” (Season 12, Episode 3)

After Kenny’s iconic once-per-episode deaths were mostly dropped from the series, Parker and Stone had some difficulty keeping the silent star relevant. So it’s always a treat when Kenny gets elevated from the background to the lead of his own episode, and “Major Boobage” is perhaps the perfect use of him.

The episode sees Kenny become addicted to the newest drug trend: getting high off cat urine (it’s called “cheesing,” because it’s “fon to due”). Kenny gets hooked because the high gives him trippy hallucinations of a big-breasted woman in space. The animation, inspired by horny ’80s classic “Heavy Metal,” is absolutely gorgeous, and effectively takes the, well, piss out of anti-drug crusades and Very Special Episodes when the adults of South Park ban cats from the town in order to prevent more cheesing.

Episode MVP: Gerald, Kyle’s dad, who leads the anti-drug crusade, but hides some major secrets that are best left unspoiled.

12. “The Losing Edge” (Season 9, Episode 5)

A brilliant inversion of sports film tropes, “The Losing Edge” sees the boys competing in the post-season state tournament for their little league baseball team. The problemis that they all hate baseball, and desperately want to lose so they can stop playing: a feat that proves harder than expected when every other team in the league is also attempting to throw their matches. Anyone who has ever been forced by their parents into an extracurricular will be able to relate.

Episode MVP: Randy is a character that would eventually come to dominate “South Park,” but works best as a supporting character. His subplot in “The Losing Edge” — training to fight the dads at his kid’s little league games — is maybe his finest (half) hour on the show, especially when it merges brilliantly with the boy’s main plot at the very end.

11. “Awesom-O” (Season 8, Episode 2)

One of the reasons why Butters, the corny and innocent outcast of the school, became the defacto fifth main character of the show is because he and Cartman’s polar opposite personalities make for ace comedic situations.

One of their best episodes is “Awesom-O,” in which Cartman disguises himself as the titular robot to play a prank on Butters, only to be forced to keep the charade up when he learns Butters has an incriminating video tape on him. Like a lot of “South Park” episodes, the situation spirals out of control until the U.S. military is hunting down Awesom-O. But the comedic chemistry between Cartman and Butters keeps “Awesom-O” on rock-solid story foundation.

Episode MVP: Britney Spears, Cartman’s muse and the inspiration behind his incredibly embarrassing blackmail tape.

10. “Member Berries” (Season 20, Episode 1)

Season 20’s story arc, which parodied the 2016 election, ended up going majorly off the rails after Donald Trump’s surprise real-life victory. Parker and Stone had to retool the entire episode the night before it hit broadcast, but the season started out with one of the best latter-era episodes in the show’s history, which expertly parodies the election, the Colin Kaepernick national anthem protests, online trolling, and the “Star Wars” sequels and other reboots.

While the South Park Elementary girls stage a volleyball game protest against a sexist online troll, Mr. Garrison (a parody stand-in for Trump) runs for president with no real plans. Meanwhile J.J. Abrams is recruited to “reboot” the National Anthem and bring America back together. It’s a lot going on at once, but the overstuffed nature of the “Member Berries” makes it a perfect time capsule for 2016 itself, when the election was in full swing and America felt more out-of-control than ever.

Episode MVP: The titular Member Berries: bizarre talking grapes that plead for their eaters to remember random pop culture detritus like “Alien Nation” and “Akira,” before revealing a decidely not cute racist and homophobic streak.

9. “Trapped in the Closet” (Season 9, Episode 12)

Of all the episodes of “South Park,” “Trapped in the Closet” has arguably had the most real-world impact: single-handedly introducing many viewers to the Church of Scientology and playing a massive role in shaping the religious organization’s public image in pop culture.

After projects like “Going Clear” further investigated Scientology, the “South Park” Season 9 storyline — in which Stan is recruited to Scientology after its officials claim he is the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard — feels as if it’s not going hard enough. But Parker and Stone were bold tackling the subject then, before Church teachings like Xenu were even common knowledge, and the show’s depiction of Church leadership and its mocking of the group’s legal and business practices (down to naming only “John” and “Jane Smith” in the closing credits) is one of the most biting parodies “South Park” has ever done.

It’s pretty much impossible to watch the episode and seperate it from the numerous controversies it spawned: most prominently the exit of late Chef voice actor Isaac Hayes. Hayes left teh show after the Church of Scientology allegedly forced the decision on him while he was recovering from a stroke. That’s kind of the point of the episode, and if there’s any installment that proves that the topical humor of “South Park” isn’t just edgy for edgy’s sake, it’s this one.

Episode MVP: Tom Cruise was reportedly unhappy with this episode, potrayed as a simpering syncophant who literally can’t get out of the closet. But the titular bit is one of the funniest gags in the episode, and the way it escalates until it involves Nicole Kidman, John Travolta, and R. Kelly (one joke that definitely feels gross now) is a sight to behold.

8. “Good Times with Weapons” (Season 8, Episode 1)

It’s always a thrill when “South Park,” with its intentionally crude animation, adds a bit of visual florish to an episode. “Good Times with Weapons” is one of the most well-known examples, mixing the paper-cut art style of the show with various sequences portrayed in stiff but undeniably awesome anime flare.

The episode expertly undercuts the awesomeness of these sequences with a ridiculous story where the boys acquire martial arts weapons to play ninja, only to immediately injure Butters with a shuriken and be forced to hide him. It’s a simple setup outside of the art shifts, but the sight of the kids as badass martial artists whining about their parents grounding them never stops being funny.

Episode MVP: Professor Chaos, Butter’s adorably incompetent supervillain alterego, whose attempts to be the sworn enemy against the boys ends in catastrophic failure.

7. “Cartoon Wars” (Season 10, Episodes 3-4)

“South Park” is not shy about ribbing its adult animation peers; see “Simpsons Already Did It,” about how the iconic show has done every single storyline under the sun. But the show really went after “Family Guy” in “The Cartoon Wars,” the series’ first two-parter.

The episodes focus on Cartman’s quest to get the Fox animated series (which he despises) canceled, by protesting the show’s upcoming depiction of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Although Stone and Parker’s dislike of “Family Guy” shines through — the Quahog-set series’ signature cutaway gags gets thoroughly roasted — the episode is surprisingly nuanced. It essentially argues that censorship shouldn’t occur even if the thing being censored sucks.

“Cartoon Wars” is unfortunately one of the three episodes unavailable on streaming due to the depiction of Muhammad (the others are “Super Best Friends” and the two-part “200” and “201” storyline), which makes its censorship parody sting even harder.

Episode MVP: The manatees on the “Family Guy” writing staff, one of the most savage jokes in the show’s entire history.

6. “You’re Getting Old” (Season 15, Episode 7)

There are tons of “South Park” episodes where the youth of the protagonists is somewhat irelevant, but the storylines that really dig into the highs and lows of growing up are among the show’s best. Few capture the experience of aging more relatably than “You’re Getting Old,” which succintly argues: it’s shit.

Shit is pretty much all Stan experiences when he turns 10, as his favorite music genre (“tween wave”) starts sounding like farts. Then his favorite food starts tasting like poop, and eventually even his best friends look like literal walking turds to him. Elsewhere, Randy — desperate to prove he’s still hip with the kids — engages in another ill-advised stunt by becoming a tween wave artist, but this time, his antics have genuine consequences for him and his wife Sharon.

The episode ends on a surprising downer that gets completely erased an episode later, but that doesn’t take away its effectiveness as a stand-alone story. “You’re Getting Old” is one of the few “South Park” episodes that will make you tear up from emotion instead of laughter.

Episode MVP: Stevie Nicks, for the warm dulcet tones of “Landslide.”

5. “The Death of Eric Cartman” (Season 9, Episode 6)

This is the twisted “South Park” take on “It’s a Wonderful Life.” “The Death of Eric Cartman” sees the title character in disarray after he becomes convinced that he’s died and is now a ghost that only Butters can see. In reality, all of his other friends have decided to ignore him after he ate the skin off their KFC chicken.

Desperate to “pass on,” Cartman recruits a reluctant Butters on a mission to atone for his misdeeds, which could be moving if he showed any real remorse for his heinous actions. Filled with callbacks to Cartman’s greatest hits, the episode’s central misunderstanding gets mined for a ton of humor, and puts him and Butters to perfect use as a comedic duo.

Episode MVP: Of all the “South Park” parents, Butters’ are by far the most screwed up, and their solution to their son apparently seeing ghosts (putting him in an abusive asylum) is the perfect darkly comedic cherry on top of this episode.

4. “Imaginationland” (Season 11, Episodes 10-12)

This Emmy-winning trilogy of episodes is “South Park” at its most utterly deranged. When the boys discover a leprechaun in the forest, they’re whisked away to Imaginationland: a special world where all beings from fiction live and prosper. But when terrorists attack, the border between good and bad characters in Imaginationland is broken, and the kids are forced to go on a quest at the behest of the U.S. government — while Butters is handpicked by Aslan from “The Chronicles of Narnia” as the chosen one to save the realm.

It’s a true epic filled to the brim with references, action, and a copious amount of gore against beloved characters. Plus, because “South Park” will always be “South Park,” Cartman spends the entirety of “Imaginationland” attempting to force Kyle to suck his balls over a bet. Perfect television.

Episode MVP: There are so many cameos, jokes, and characters jammed into these three episodes that it’s impossible to choose a stand-out. But the Mayor of Imaginationland’s theme song, which is just the word “Imagination” sung over and over again, is a gag that doesn’t get old.

3. “Make Love, Not Warcraft” (Season 10, Episode 8)

“World of Warcraft” isn’t quite the cultural behemoth it was back in 2006, but “Make Love, Not Warcraft” hasn’t aged a day. The Emmy-winning episode is one of the best depictions of video games in all of TV, capturing everything that makes gaming fun, enraging, and, above all else, addicting.

Featuring incredible machinima graphic recreations of the actual “World of Warcraft” game, created with assistance by the game’s publisher Blizzard, the quest of the kids to defeat a troll in the MMORPG that kills every player he comes in contact with takes the form of both a fantasy epic and an underdog sports movie — complete with a training sequence where the foursome painfully grind their levels up by killing wild boars, to catastrophic effects for their health.

Not many episodes of “South Park” can be deemed “loving,” but “Make Love, Not Warcraft” is as full as love as it is with snark for its subject.

Episode MVP: Cartman, whose final line — “What do you mean? Now we can finally play the game!” — is the perfect ending to a perfect episode.

2. “Scott Tenorman Must Die” (Season 5, Episode 5)

It took a long time for “South Park” to really figure its characters out, and that especially goes for Cartman, who was simply a run-of-the-mill brat during the show’s first several years. “Scott Tenorman Must Die” is the episode that introduced audiences to the Cartman that came to dominate the show: a remorseless, hateful, sociopathic schemer.

Beyond its importance for the series though, “Scott Tenorman Must Die” is also a perfectly plotted and paced sitcom episode: building up slowly before the final gut-punch reveal. Cartman’s revenge plot against the the titular character, a teen who bullies and humilates him, has long been spoiled for most, but it’s still shocking in its cruelty even by the show’s standards — which is the main reason why it’s so incredibly funny.

Episode MVP: Thom Yorke and the rest of the Radiohead bandmembers, who voice themselves in a cameo appearance that amounts to a kick at Scott’s already bruised ego.

1. “Casa Bonita” (Season 7, Episode 11)

“Casa Bonita” isn’t the most unique episode of “South Park,” or the most topical, or the most controversial, or the most significant. Instead, it’s number one because it’s maybe the single funniest in the show’s history.

Focusing on Cartman’s frantic quest to dine at the titular establishment — “The Disneyland of Mexican restaurants,” as the show coins it – after Kyle disinvites him from his birthday party, “Casa Bonita” is pretty much one constant comedic escalation after another. First Cartman tries to play nice with Kyle; then he beats up Jimmy while pretending he’s defending Kyle’s honor; soon, he’s trapping Butters in a bomb shelter and convincing him that a meteorite is on the verge of destroying the world so he can take his spot at Kyle’s birthday dinner.

The writing for Cartman, Butters, and Kyle has never been sharper, and the finale is the perfect coda after the episode’s buildup of Casa Bonita as a mystical promised land. If it wasn’t so gut-bustingly funny, the episode’s lack of frills might lead to accusations of being boring. Instead, it winds up feeling effortless.

Episode MVP: Casa Bonita itself, a real-life Colorado restaurant that Trey Parker and Matt Stone both dined at as children (“South Park” is many things, but it’s also often a deeply local show about two men’s memories of growing up in Colorado). The two went on to purchase Casa Bonita 18 years after the episode it inspired aired, when it was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the joint is set to reopen this May. “South Park:” a force for good!