south_park season season animated television series south_park ran episodes august february american network creators wrote season episodes credited writing episodes narrative revolves children unusual experiences titular mountain town south_park originated parker stone animated short jesus low budget film featured prototypes south_park main characters followed short film jesus santa popular widely shared internet led talks series representatives comedy central debuted initial run episodes success additional seven episodes quickly produced complete season released dvd november season ratings success nielsen ratings rose tenth episode episodes received award nominations including outstanding animated program programming hour award outstanding individual episode category episode big gay big gay boat ride season south_park won award best animated series nominated outstanding achievement animated primetime late night television program financial success comedy central helped network transform cable industry power overnight despite critics gave season mixed reviews rated offensive shouldn doesn push envelope knocks table critic thought coming pretty damn close perfect television series season episodes development idea south_park originated creators met film class students discussed filming minute short film involving boy befriended talking piece named short parker stone created christmas related animated short commonly known jesus crude low budget animation featured prototypes main characters south_park including stan kyle executive saw film commissioned parker stone create second short film send friends christmas video card titled spirit christmas known jesus santa short resembled style later series closely spirit christmas end winning award best animation bringing filmmakers attention industry representatives jesus santa video widely copied shared internet reported copies friends short subsequently regarded likely viral video shorts began generate interest possible television series parker stone conceived idea south_park like child characters planned featuring talking named main protagonist pitched idea rejected said according stone putting network parker stone adapted original idea revolving children south_park town dropping protagonist planning use character future minor supporting role later comedy central saw jesus santa short considered literally funniest thing seen requested parker stone develop network negotiations parker stone brought idea episode parker claiming asked thing know feel talking network executives receptive idea main reasons parker stone decided sign channel episode series gets anal probe debuted august debuted months later ninth episode christmas pilot episode received poor results test audiences parker later conceded language stone felt pressure live previous shorts tried push things maybe contrast allowed subsequent episodes natural focusing making fun topics considered taboo throwing bunch dirty words poor results test audience executives unsure wanted order additional episodes gets anal probe buzz began generate internet original shorts network commissioned parker stone write episode committing series seen script working film parker stone wrote script later episode weight gain duo sought executives idea series episode differ network liked script parker stone refused write script signing episodes executives agreed commit series comedy central originally ordered episodes proved successful requested additional seven parker stone produce quickly new episodes air october half months premiere holiday episodes christmas aired intervals weeks remaining aired later february gets anal probe episode animated completely traditional cut paper stop motion animation techniques subsequent episodes fully computer animated power animator maya eighth episode drawing animation responsibilities handled parker stone delegated team animators episode aside gets anal probe receive unsuitable children age rating instead customary unsuitable age parker stone credit fourth episode big gay big gay boat ride helping raise ratings early season felt official christmas special christmas brought south_park new level popularity parker said episode vaulted reception ratings south_park season ratings success comedy central gets anal probe earned nielsen rating translating viewers considered high cable program united_states time increased slightly episode volcano sixth episode death reached rating ratings continued rise rapidly christmas respectively corresponded increase million viewers million households season finale mom dirty received nielsen rating range gained viewers aired canada august south_park television series internet spirit christmas college students episodes season streamed online friends unable receive comedy central critics despite high ratings reviews television critics season mixed washington_post new_york_times articles mentioning usually terms class based taste arguments gets anal probe episode series received generally negative reviews airing founder president gave unfavorable review episode stating offensive shouldn doesn push envelope knocks table bruce entertainment_weekly thought poorly writing characters kids jokes fresh mouths help south_park kids personalities dimensional cut paste animation calling series gross orlando sentinel episode bad impression hard strange washington_post considered alleged humor premiere self conscious self jokes repeated use word literal sense general air weight gain aired writers mainstream media debating longevity overall quality south_park series earliest stages episode continued shock characters frequent use reviewers felt weight gain significant improvement gets anal probe felt went satirical direction media outlets described fifth episode season elephant makes love pig popular early episodes newsday said outrageous south_park episode christmas aired months later reviewers said mere title demonstrated originality south_park impact south_park cover rolling_stone february newsweek march discussed different new_york_times articles new_york_times mentions ability engage political topics far success obviously political shows considered faith family death politically correct incorrect different post ideological comic map altogether ign wrote dvd review rare television season perfect season south_park comes pretty damn close single episode disc set classic funny hell years scholar argued appeared reaction culture wars 1980s 1990s united_states issues sexuality simpsons family values extensively debated culture wars political particular driven belief relevant daily life explained south_park rude crude vulgar offensive potentially dangerous critics argued stan kyle kenny poor role models children supporters celebrated defense free speech impact comedy central fortune regarded launch south_park transformed funny network cable industry power overnight impact ended surprising everybody involved time cable network low distribution million subscribers comedy central marketed aggressively launch billing invented chip resulting buzz led network earning estimated million shirts sales episode aired south_park immediately popular shows cable television averaging consistently million viewers denver based largest cable operator time dropped comedy central south_park debuted denver newspapers radio stations heavily criticized operator carrying hit local filmmakers parker stone comedy central president time said public went nuts network received million new time affiliate decided success south_park independent sales department end sold million worth merchandise including shirts dolls years viewership largely south_park adding million new subscribers half allowed network sign international deals networks countries awards episodes season received nominations entertainment awards season fourth episode big gay big gay boat ride nominated outstanding animated program programming hour category lost simpsons episode trash episode nominated award outstanding individual episode category lost simpsons episode homer volcano season episode nominated episodic comedy category ended losing simpsons episode old man lisa series season south_park won award best animated program series nominated annie award outstanding achievement animated primetime late night television program category creators won nova award given promising producers television media release episodes gets anal probe volcano weight gain big gay big gay boat ride elephant makes love pig death released vhs set marking time south_park available video dvd releases came later year thirteen episodes released october compilation collections south_park volume volume volume episode season mom dirty released south_park volume december south_park complete season originally released disc region dvd box set november received rating season released june dvd releases featured bonus material introductions episode christmas short clip featuring jay_leno clip boys present awards produced commentaries episode requested pulled altogether found commentaries edited instead commentaries released set cds october south_park complete series released australia rating region christmas released november compilation dvd christmas time south_park distribution licenses episodes south_park season volcano elephant makes love pig purchased pittsburgh pennsylvania based company website site episodes available download day copy permanent copy experiments downloadable television videos making south_park shows legally internet march comedy central season episodes south_park episodes available legal streaming website later canada united_kingdom
South Park (season 1)