South Park:Still brilliant after all these years

Last week was South Park's 200th episode which they aptly titled "200" (Trey Park and Matt Stone are not the most subtle guys in the world). The episode, not their best work, was more of a "thank you" to the fans by bringing in references from a large number of their past episodes ranging from Mecha-Streisand to Tom Cruise's "In the Closet" episode to Al Gore's "Man/Bear Pig" and even hinted that we would find out who Cartman's dad was (it turns out that Cartman's mom WASN'T his dad after all).

What amazed me wasn't so much the episode but, realizing how long the show has been on. As of now, it has been on for 14 seasons. The only prime-time fictional network shows on the air currently that can claim a longer life are The Simpsons (22 seasons) and Law & Order (20 seasons). That's a severely impressive feat to achieve.

What is even more impressive is that the show is still as relevant, if not more so, than it was in the beginning. While it still sometimes relies a little heavily on scatalogical humor (a recent episode about the legalization of marijuana was more concerned with crude sight gags than anything else), it still manages to attack some very worthy targets. Just in recent seasons they have been spot on with some of their best satires ever:

• "Margaritaville" -- they managed to combine their commentary on the failing economy, the inability to truly explain what caused it, the publics reaction to it, the resurrection of Christ and a Margarita maker into a story that SOMEHOW made sense (the scene where we discover how the government determines how to save companies is blissfully brilliant)
• "You have 0 Friends" -- I have personal affection for this one because my long-time reluctance to join Facebook and this episode poked holes at the public's obsession with social networking. The fact that they managed to work in an extended Tron reference makes it all the sweeter.
• "Woodland Critter Christmas" -- the episode that dares you to become offended with images you truly wonder how they got past Comedy Central but done with such smart humor (it sounds and plays out just like a cheesy Christmas special) that you sit there in wonderment.
• "The Passion of the Jew" -- another one I have personal affection for because it echoed my feelings about "The Passion of the Christ" perfectly (the movie WAS a glorified snuff film) and the public's knee-jerk reaction to it ("well, that guilt tripped me back into religion").

While the show might not get as much attention as it used to, when they can still crank out episodes like those above as well as others, it makes me hope that Parker & Stone never grow up and keep picking apart worthy targets for another 200 episodes to come.