The Best and Best of South Park -- My Retrospective

(This is going to have pictures -- as soon as I get blogger to accept them...)

One of my favorite shows on television is South Park. For 9 1/2 seasons, I have been thoroughly entertained and completely wowed by one of the most innovative shows on television.

With the release of the 8th season on DVD, muh wife and I were watching some of the episodes that we have loved the most... the 8th season was a re-invigoration of the show and cracked us up as it got smart and fun again.

In honor of the show that is scheduled to finish up its tenth season in October with the next batch of episodes, I wanted to make a list of my favorite episode from each season.

FIRST SEASON

Cartman Gets An Anal Probe -- There were a slew of great episodes in the inaugural season, but the first episode was the best. It was the most obscene and most shocking. It was the best one... period. Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride was great for its George Clooney guest star. Weight Gain 4000 was great because it generated "BEEFCAKE!!!" -- a classic line. And... how can we not mention the creation of Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo and Starvin Marvin... easily. The pilot episode is still one of the best episodes of all time.

SECOND SEASON

Gnomes -- Of the 18 episodes, I think that there is one that still permeates my current vernacular. (Did I just use a big word... ??? ) Gnomes -- an episode the dealt with the sensitive subject of big businesses such as Starbucks -- featrued a sub plot of gnomes that steal people's underpants. The boys capture and learn about big business through the Underpants Gnomes that have the greatest business strategy of all time... if only they could articulate it. We also were introduced to TWEEK.

THIRD SEASON

The Red Badge of Gayness -- The boys get involved in a drunk Civil War re-enactment that turns into a real war when Cartman manipulates the adults. The premise itself isn't that funny, but the show is a classic with Cartman's reading letters that he has written to his friends much like Ken Burns in the Civil War documentary. "I hate you guys... I hate you so very much."

FOURTH SEASON

Do the Handicapped Go To Hell? -- This season was one of the weaker seasons for the South Park fellas. I had trouble picking out which one was my favorite one. I chose this one because Saddam Hussein was a sub-plot where he returned to hell and tried to "dispose" of Satan's new boyfriend. It was just plain... wrong.

FIFTH SEASON

Scott Tenorman Must Die -- This is easily a top three episode and possibly the best episode of all time. It is also easily the most F*CKED up episode. Simple plot... Cartman plans an elaborate revenge plot against a bigger kid named Scott Tenorman. The ending is amazing and odd as hell. I loved this episode and I still and shocked by the ending.... INCREDIBLE EPISODE that also features Radiohead... yeah... Radiohead.

SIXTH SEASON

The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers -- This episode was in time to make fun of the Lord of the Rings phenomenon. The boys played Lord of the Rings and had to return a movie to the video store... little did they know that it was their parent's porn flick. Classic use of situational irony. Best line of the whole episode is when Token announced that he was done playing the game.

SEVENTH SEASON

Casa Bonita -- I almost picked the deranged Raisins episode where the boys discover a Hooters type restaurant for little kids, but I had to go with Casa Bonita as it was a Cartman episode. When Butters is invited to Kyle's birthday party instead of Cartman, Cartman kidnaps Butters and locks him in a bomb shelter. This sets off a chain reaction in town and Cartman is forced to lie and lie and lie in order to eventually get picked to go to Casa Bonita -- his favorite restaurant in the whole world. I really do love Cartman.

EIGHTH SEASON

AWESOM-O -- Cartman dresses up in a robot outfit to play a trick on Butters. Soon after dressing up, he discovers that Butters has a hidden video of Cartman doing embarrassing things. He is forced to remain a robot in order to find the video. I still giggle every time I think of Cartman saying... "Lame"

NINTH SEASON

Trapped in the Closet -- This is the famous episode that eventually led to Tom Cruise showing more of his crazy side and the voice of Chef quitting the show. This is a blantant mockery of Tom Cruise and should be watched over and over and over again.

TENTH SEASON

The Return of Chef -- Chef returns to town after joining a group called The Super Adventure Club. However, when he begins to express an interest in molesting children, the boys suspect that the club has brainwashed him. Then... they kill him and you can say goodbye to Isaac Hayes forever. What I liked most about the episode is that even though they brutally skewered Hayes for his real life antics, the ending was surprisingly sweet.

There you have it folks...

Allow me to sum it all up. I love Cartman.

(What are some of your favorites?)