Best 'South Park' TV Seasons Ranked

From the creative genius of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, using construction paper and irreverent humor, South Park has become an iconic and sometimes polarizing fixture of modern television comedy. The series, which follows the antics of four boys in the fictional town of South Park, Colorado, has been running since 1997 and has produced an impressive 26 seasons (and counting). With 18 Emmy Awards from 92 nominations, the show has delivered some truly brilliant seasons of comedy television.

South Park is at its best when it mixes sharp social commentary with crude humor to address the hard truths of American society in the most controversial ways possible. From early seasons full of episodes targeting celebrities and entertainment to more recent seasons with overarching political stories, these are the best South Park seasons, ranked.

The Evolution of South Park

A Brief History of South Park

South Park debuted on August 13, 1997, and quickly became a cultural phenomenon. Known for its crude animation and equally crude humor, the show immediately set itself apart from other animated series. What started as a simple story about four boys—Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny—soon evolved into a show that tackled complex social issues with biting satire.

The Best South Park Season Debate

Over the years, fans have passionately debated which is the best South Park season. Each season has its unique flavor, reflecting the societal and political climates of its time. Whether it’s the early seasons with their more straightforward humor or the later seasons with their sophisticated, serialized storytelling, every fan has their favorite era.

Season 15 (2011)

Introspection and Social Commentary

Season 15 of South Park is noted for being more introspective than previous seasons. It reflects on the show’s impact on its audience and the world. A standout episode is “You’re Getting Old,” which follows Stan as he turns ten and starts seeing everything around him as literal crap. This episode, with its poignant scene of Stan’s parents’ separation set to Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide,” marks a departure from the show’s usual comedic chaos.

Despite its introspective tone, the laughs are still plentiful in Season 15. “The Last of the Meheecans” features the boys playing a border patrol game that spirals into a biting social commentary on immigration. The episode masterfully balances humor and sharp wit, with Butters’ absurd transformation into “Mantequilla” becoming an instant fan favorite. This episode exemplifies South Park at its best—equal parts outrageous and thought-provoking.

Season 3 (1999)

Early Triumphs

By the time Season 3 premiered in 1999, South Park had already solidified its reputation as a groundbreaking animated series. This season continued the show’s trajectory of irreverent humor and satirical flair. A particularly memorable episode is “Rainforest Shmainforest,” which sees the boys joining a choir group and flying to Costa Rica. The episode satirizes environmental activism and cultural ignorance, featuring the unforgettable musical number “Don’t Cut Down the Rainforest.”

“Sexual Harassment Panda” is another gem from Season 3. It tackles the issue of sexual harassment in schools by introducing a mascot named Sexual Harassment Panda and exploring the subsequent legal battles. The episode’s humor and relevance resonate even today, showcasing the timeless nature of South Park.

Season 7 (2003)

Return of Kenny

In Season 7, Kenny, the gang’s perpetually doomed friend, returns from his cosmic hiatus. His absence in Season 6 left fans clutching their Cheesy Poofs in existential despair. Culturally, South Park was a reflection of the early 2000s, a time marked by political upheaval and rapid technological advancements. The show mirrored these changes, often skewering the absurdities of contemporary life.

One of the most celebrated episodes from Season 7 is “Casa Bonita.” This episode follows Cartman’s elaborate scheme to secure an invitation to Kyle’s birthday party at the beloved Mexican restaurant Casa Bonita. A masterclass in character-driven comedy, the episode highlights Cartman’s manipulative nature. It climaxes in an unforgettable scene where he finally arrives at Casa Bonita, his dream destination, only to be immediately apprehended.

Season 6 (2002)

Evolution of Humor

The early seasons of South Park featured an overabundance of toilet humor and corporeal comedy. While this remains a defining characteristic, there was a noticeable maturation in the writing and the manner in which it targeted subjects for satire. Season 6 marks a significant point in this evolution, maintaining South Park’s gross-out comedy and shock value gags while boasting some of the series’ most brilliant episodes.

“The Simpsons Already Did It” showcases a refreshing self-awareness as the creators parody their own genre and acknowledge the genealogy the show both belongs to and diverges from. “The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers” remains one of South Park’s highest-rated episodes, while “Bebe’s Boobs Destroy Society” humorously explores the challenges of growing up. Season 6 also marked the first appearance of Butters’ now-famous alter-ego, Professor Chaos.

Season 10 (2006)

Mixed Bag of Gems

While a bit of a mixed bag, Season 10 of South Park undeniably features many episodes that exhibit the scathing social commentary the series is known for. “Smug Alert” makes fun of self-aggrandizing virtue signalers, while the award-winning “Make Love Not Warcraft” addresses the potentially dangerous appeal of online gaming, making it one of the series’ most beloved installments.

Other popular episodes include “Hell on Earth 2006,” which sees Satan throwing a Halloween party documented on an episode of MTV’s My Super Sweet 16, and the two “Cartoon Wars” episodes that take aim at fellow animated comedy Family Guy without missing a beat. This season also featured some of South Park’s surprisingly wholesome moments across its 14-episode run.

Season 9 (2005)

Daring and Controversial

Not dissimilar to Season 10, Season 9 is defined by its greatest and most daring episodes. It saw the series rise to a new level of controversy with “Trapped in the Closet,” which follows Stan as he is accepted into the Church of Scientology and revered as the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard. Despite generating significant backlash and even resulting in long-time star Isaac Hayes leaving the series, it has come to be viewed as a true classic within the series.

Season 9 also contains the Emmy-winning “Best Friends Forever” and “The Death of Eric Cartman,” another heralded South Park classic. Overall, the season is celebrated as one of South Park’s best for its unrelenting endeavor to take real-world issues of the time and flip them inside out with the show’s trademark sense of irreverent, pointed comedy.

Season 13 (2009)

Sharp Satire of Celebrity Culture

A constant target of South Park’s satire over the years has been celebrity personalities and the entertainment industry at large. Few seasons have been as sharp in this regard as Season 13. The premiere episode, “The Ring,” mocks The Jonas Brothers’ purity rings and depicts Disney as being led by a foul-mouthed and greedy Mickey Mouse. The defining episode of the season, “Fishsticks,” unapologetically derides Kanye West who misses the punchline of a talk show joke that becomes a national sensation.

Other notable episodes from the season include “The Coon,” which parodies superhero drama as it follows Cartman’s eponymous and problematic vigilante, “The F Word,” which tackles the way offensive language is viewed and used in the modern day, and “Pinewood Derby,” which brilliantly depicts the dangers of human greed. A season that honed in on contemporary American culture to great effect, South Park’s 13th season has come to be viewed as one of its best.

Season 14 (2010)

Pushing Boundaries

Defined by the episodes “200” and “201”—a banned two-episode arc that remains the single most controversial chapter in the show’s history—Season 14 represents Parker and Stone pushing the boundaries to the absolute limit. Featuring 200 celebrity personalities the series had ridiculed before, the arc progresses as Tom Cruise, having been called a “fudge packer” by Stan, gathers other aggrieved stars to bring a class action lawsuit against the town of South Park. The follow-up episode famously caused a stir when it depicted the prophet Muhammad.

Other noteworthy installments include “Sexual Healing,” which addresses the way the world responds to rich men caught cheating on their spouses, and “You Have 0 Friends,” which lampoons social media popularity. It also contains a three-episode arc centered on the boys’ alter-egos as Mysterion and The Coon made a return.

Season 11 (2007)

Imaginationland Arc

Featuring the three-part arc of “Imaginationland,” Season 11 provides a brilliantly executed parable that plays on the analogy that “terrorists have attacked our imagination, and now our imagination is running wild.” Racing to get their imaginations under control, the episodes feature some of South Park’s most hilarious cameos from Hollywood filmmakers and well-known fictional characters.

While the strength of the season is propped up by the “Imaginationland” arc, it also contains other great episodes like “Le Petit Tourette,” in which Cartman fakes having Tourette Syndrome so he can say whatever he wants without consequence. “Cartman Sucks” was another strong episode from the season, while “With Apologies to Jesse Jackson” stands as one of the great Randy Marsh episodes with his mishap on Wheel of Fortune.

Season 12 (2008)

Consistent Brilliance

South Park enjoyed a continued run of success through the mid-to-late 2000s, with the show’s twelfth season being one of the most well-rounded and consistently brilliant of the era and, indeed, of the entire show. It started strong with Cartman contracting HIV when he has his tonsils removed in the premiere “Tonsil Trouble.” It followed it up with “Brittany’s New Look,” which, while characteristically crude and a dark South Park episode, surprisingly sympathized with Britney Spears and commented on the relentless media harassment she and many other celebrities often face.

The two-part “Pandemic” and “Pandemic 2: The Startling” used giant guinea pigs to mock the onset of found-footage horror cinema, while “Elementary School Musical” was a cathartic experience for those not admiring of tween musicals. Speaking of cathartic, “Breast Cancer Show Ever” proved to be one of the show’s most rewarding episodes as Cartman’s endless antagonism of Wendy results in a schoolyard beatdown.

Season 5 (2001)

Outgrowing Infancy

By Season 5, South Park was truly outgrowing its infancy and taking on bigger, more daring stories within its episodes. Perhaps no greater presentation of this was “Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants,” the first episode of the series released post-9/11, which follows the four boys as they end up in Afghanistan, face to face with bin Laden, after accidentally boarding a U.S. military plane. The episode was nominated for an Emmy and is still regarded as one of the most important and brilliant South Park episodes for the manner in which it embodied the national mood at the time.

Season 5 also boasts IMDb’s highest-rated episode of South Park ever in the form of “Scott Tenorman Must Die,” which features Cartman at his most warped and evil. Other noteworthy episodes from Season 5 include “Butters’ Very Own Episode,” “Cartmanland,” and “Kenny Dies.”

Season 19 (2015)

Modern Relevance

As times have changed across the 21st century, so too have the creators of South Park sought to keep the series’ ideas fresh and timely. While some more recent seasons haven’t been fantastic in this regard, Season 19 was a delightful return to form, running with a loose continuity throughout the season as Mr. Garrison becomes a presidential candidate after building a wall on the Canadian border while the boys’ school lives are dominated by PC Principal.

This season has a thematic focus on the pitfalls of enforcing political correctness, the harm of gentrification, and the over-saturation of advertisements, all while continually skewering the 2016 election campaigns of both presidential candidates. It proved to be a hit with audiences and critics alike, with Season 19 scoring 100% on Rotten Tomatoes while boasting a very strong audience score on the website as well.

Season 8 (2004)

The Pinnacle

While it was relatively early in South Park’s extensive run, the show’s eighth season remains the pinnacle of the series as a perfect mix of crude humor and razor-sharp satire. In fact, it is astounding how many of the series’ greatest-ever episodes appeared in Season 8, with the obvious highlight being the shockingly violent yet outrageously funny festive episode “Woodland Critter Christmas.”

Beyond that masterful episode, Season 8 also features “AWESOM-O,” where Cartman’s prank on Butters spirals out of control, and the anime-inspired classic “Good Times With Weapons,” in which the boys have a little too much fun with ninja weapons. “Goobacks” was yet another standout episode from the season that produced so many South Park classics and is rightfully regarded as the best South Park season and one of the greatest seasons in the history of television comedy, animated or otherwise.

Conclusion: The Legacy of South Park

South Park continues to be a vital part of the television landscape. Its ability to adapt and remain relevant through changing times is a testament to the brilliance of its creators. Whether you prefer the raw, unfiltered humor of the early seasons or the more sophisticated satire of the later years, there’s no denying the impact South Park has had on comedy and popular culture. As fans, we eagerly await what Parker and Stone will come up with next, confident that whatever it is, it will be provocative, hilarious, and undeniably South Park.