History

s early episodes tended to be shock value-oriented and featured more Pythonesque humor than later episodes. Although satire had been used on the show occasionally in its early and middle years, it became more evident around the seventh season. Episodes have parodied Michael Jackson (in "The Jeffersons"), Paris Hilton ("Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset"), The Passion of the Christ (in "The Passion of the Jew"), and American immigration policy ("Goobacks").

The pilot episode ("Cartman Gets an Anal Probe") required three months to produce using construction paper and traditional cut-out animation techniques. However, the version that aired was different from the original version. Current episodes duplicate the original, amateurish look using modern computer animation tools — first PowerAnimator and then Maya, which Parker and Stone described as "building a sandcastle with a bulldozer". This allows for a shorter production schedule, enabling the creators to respond quickly to current events. The December 17, 2003 episode "It's Christmas in Canada" depicted the capture of Saddam Hussein a mere three days after the actual event, even referring to the "spider hole" in which he was found. In this instance - as with the Elián González episode ("Quintuplets 2000") - the creators changed the production of an episode at the last minute to focus on the new world event.

In 2002, the episode "Free Hat" aired. In this episode - inspired by Kyle's comment on Ted Koppel's Nightline that changing E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial would be like changing Raiders of the Lost Ark - George Lucas and Steven Spielberg decide to alter the first Indiana Jones film. Soon after the episode aired, Lucas and Spielberg announced that contrary to rumors they would not be altering Raiders of the Lost Ark for DVD release. Parker and Stone jokingly suggested that the episode prevented any alterations from happening. On August 26, 2007, Parker and Stone committed to three more seasons of South Park, so the show will run until at least 2011. They will continue to write, direct, and edit every episode of the show, bringing the series total to 223 episodes by the end of its fifteenth season. ^[4] Edited versions of South Park episodes, with the TV-14 rating, began broadcasting in syndication on September 19, 2005 on various local channels around the U.S.