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This is a South Park Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page written by me. It was written to provide people with info about South Park, either introducing them to the show, or letting them know more about it. If you wish to distribute this FAQ at your own site, please email me and i'll see what i can do :)


Written by Steven
stevo@starkspond.com
Last Revised: 18th April 2000

1. What is South Park?
'South Park' is an animated television show, aimed at older teenagers and young adults. The very first South Park episode made for TV (Episode 101 'Cartman gets an anal probe'), was first aired on cable TV network Comedy Central on Wednesday, August 13th 1997. South Park has since transformed from being a small cult comedy into a worldwide hit.

2. Where in the world is South Park?
The town considered to be the 'Real' South Park is Fairplay, a small mountain town in the US state of Colorado, and the town that Trey Parker grew up in. The region in which the town resides is called 'South Park', and we can assume that this was where they borrowed the name from. Many of the characters in the show appear to have been inspired by some residents of Fairplay, such as the town's former Mayor and current Police chief.

3. Who creates the show South Park?
There has always been a very devoted team behind 'South Park', and that team is currently alot larger than in the good ol' cardboard cut-out days. The story began with two talented guys, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. They produced a bunch of short-films in their college years together, including the rare Jesus vs Frosty video, and cult movies such as 'Cannibal! The Musical'. But it was in 1995 when they created what was probably the birth of South Park as it is today, The spirit of christmas. (ref. part 4) Matt and Trey still produce the show today, leading the team of devoted and talented staff behind the show's production.

4. What is 'The Spirit of Christmas' (Jesus vs Santa)?
In 1995, FOX executive Brian Graden asked Matt and Trey to make a video Christmas card which he wanted to send out to his friends, handing them a $2000 budget to do so. $750 of it went to the movie, and they kept the remainder for themselves. 'The Spirit of Christmas' was a short clip made by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who of course, went on to make the TV series 'South Park'. It was based in a small mountain town named 'South Park' (ring a bell?) and featured a fight between Jesus and Santa Claus for the ownership of Christmas. The four boys (Cartman, Kyle, Kenny and Stan) are introduced, and with the help of Brian Boitano, they break up the brawl and save Christmas. The short was sent out to 80 friends of Brian Gradin's (who would've probably passed it on to another friend, and so on), and it got a big response. If you were after the original 50mb copy of soxmas.mov, you may be interested in visiting the official distribution site at http://www.killfile.org/soxmas, or for more info on the short-film, and a smaller version of the movie file and the transcript, you could visit our Spirit of Christmas subpage.

5. When is South Park on TV?
Assuming that you live in the United States in the Eastern or Pacific timezones, South Park airs every Wednesday night at 10:00pm (usually the headlining episode of the week) and then again at 1:00am, Saturdays at 10:00pm and again at 2:00am, and Sundays at 11:00pm. In Australia, two South Park episodes air back-to-back on SBS TV on Monday nights at 8:30pm. In Canada, you can catch it on Friday nights at 12am on Global. If you live in the United Kingdom and have Sky one, you can watch South Park at 11:00pm on Sunday nights.

6. When will South Park end?
South Park won't be packing up for at LEAST another two years. Matt Stone mentioned in early 2000 that there were 27 episodes remaining on their contract with Comedy Central, which includes a 17 episode-long 4th season (now complete), and a 10 episode-long 5th season. Matt admitted that South Park was getting in the way of their hectic schedule ("It just took away from the main thing we were working on", Matt said). The comedy duo's latest brainchild is a live action sit-com titled That's my Bush!, which is a sendup of US President George W Bush and life in the White house. For more news and info on it, check out the fansite mybush.org.

7. How Popular is South Park?
I'm not sure of it's exact following, but South Park is Comedy Central's most popular show. According to Nielsen ratings, the premiere episodes in late season one scored around 6 million viewers each on average, out of the 45 million subscribers to Comedy Central. South Park CDs, videos, DVDs, games and merchandise have always sold well, and there still is a steady and large show fanbase, with literally thousands of South Park websites to be found on the internet.

8. Okay Okay, so what's the show about?
The cartoon is based around a pissant, redneck, white-bread Colorado mountain town named South Park. The majority of episodes are revolved around four eight-year old boys (namely Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman, Kenny McCormick and Kyle Broflovski). Almost every episode contains a subdued but important message, which usually takes a stab at certain social or political problems (eg. the pokémon craze and racial prejudice). As well as that, South Park can also deliver cleverly concepted comedy at the same time (although different people's sense of humour can vary), and brings them across in a way that will make you both laugh and think at the same time. The Town's basic social infrastructure includes people like Police Officer Barbrady, Mr Garrison, the crazy teacher with a homosexual puppet, Mayor McDaniels, Dr Doctor, and a range of other very different characters. The town has faced oddities such as a destructive Giant Snake, Mutant thanksgiving turkeys, an Alien kidnapping, a flood of crap, and a giant Godzilla-sized Barbara Streisand. Not your everyday mountain town.

9. Who is Stan?
Stanley Marsh is an 8 year old resident of South Park. He is considered by many to be the 'Leader' of the 4 boys in the group. He wears a Brown Coat, and a Blue hat with a Red Pom-Pom. He gets very nervous around Girls, and he usually pukes whenever a girl talks to him! Stan's Family Consists of his father, Randy Marsh, his mother, Sharon marsh, and his big sister, Shelly Marsh. He is voiced by Trey Parker, and Trey sees Stan as a cartoon version of himself.

10. Who is Kyle?
Kyle Broflovski is another boy who calls South Park home. He is Stan's best friend, but doesn't get along too well with Cartman. He wears an Orange Jacket with Pockets, and a Green Hat with Ear-Flaps on the side. His Family is of a Jewish Background, and Cartman is always the first one to take the piss out on him for it. Kyle's family includes his dad Gerald, who is a Lawyer, and his mother Sheila, who is a bitch! Matt Stone does the voice of Kyle.

11. Who is Cartman?
Eric Cartman, or 'Cartman' as the other boys call him, is the Fattest of his group, even though he keeps saying that he is only big-boned. He is the troublemaker in the group. He'll always take the opportunity to make fun of his peers, Stan for Puking, Kyle for Being Jewish, and Kenny for being Poverty-Stricken. Physically, he is chubbier than the rest of his friends, and he wears a red jumper, with a light blue hat and a yellow pom-pom. Cartman Comes from a totally f**ked up family Life. His Mother, err, Father, Lianne Cartman, is a hemaphorodyte, meaning that she has both Male and Female Genitalia. She is also the town slut, and has slept with basically everybody in the town! Cartman wasn't neccesarily based on anybody, Matt said "Cartman is the Rubbish in Everyone's Soul". Cartman is voiced by Trey Parker.

12. Who is Kenny?
Kenny is the unfortunate one in the group. He has a habit of being horribly killed every single week, and his family is poor as hell. Kenny wears an orange parka with a hood, which muffles his voice. His Father is an alcoholic, and his mother is a trailer-trash no-hoper. He also has a brother named Kevin. Matt Stone is the one who mumbles the voice of Kenny. For info on Kenny's Deaths, please visit the Kenny's Deaths section, and for the only up to date 'What Kenny Says' guide on the internet, visit the Kenny Says page!

13. Who is Chef?
Chef is a true lady's man. He's the Chef at the School cafeteria, and he wears a red shirt, wears a white apron with 'Chef' written on it, wears a traditional Chef's hat, and is from an african-american background. He is also the Coach of the South Park Cows Football and Dodgeball Team. He Loooves women, and he's a fan of UFOs and extra-terrestrials. His parents turned up in Episode #303 and made us all laugh with their stories and their fears that the Lochness Monster was stalking them. Chef is voiced by legendary Soul Singer, Isaac Hayes.

14. Who is Mr Garrison, and what's the deal with that Puppet?
Mr Garrison is the Elementary School Teacher, and he teaches the 3rd grade, in while Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny are part of. He teaches along with his hand puppet, Mr Hat. Mr Hat is more than just a puppet though.. he has been known to have a bad temper, getting into a fight with Mr Mackey on the schoolbus and almost convincing Mr Garrison to assassinate Kathie-Lee Gifford. In episode 208, Mr Hat ran away, and was replaced by 'Mr Twig' for a few episodes. Dr Katz, who made a cameo appearance in the episode when Mr Hat dissapeared, told him that Mr Hat was his only gay side. However, in Ep #412, he is trapped inside the large tree with his imaginary twin (a la The Empire Strikes Back), and he then admits to himself that he is in fact gay.

15. How many episodes have appeared on TV?
Season one of South Park, which began in August 1997 and concluded in February 1998, contained 13 episodes in total. Season 2, which began in April 1998 and finished in January 1999, contained a total of 18 episodes, including 'Not without my anus'. Season 3, which began in April 1999 and finished in early January 2000, was made up of 17 episodes altogether, as was the latest Season (Season 4). These add up to a total of 65 South Park Episodes which have aired since the show's beginning. (66 if you include 'Behind the Apron', the episode-length behind the music spoof that followed the original airing of the 1998 'Chef Aid' episode)

16. Who sings the South Park Theme Song?
Les Claypool from Primus Sings the South Park theme song. Matt and Trey were big fans of Primus in their college years, and they thought it'd rock if they could get him to sing the theme song for South Park. They sent the original unaired version of 'Cartman gets an anal probe' to them, and waited. One day, they recieved a phonecall from Les Claypool, and he agreed to sing the theme song for them. Here are the words:
"I'm goin' down to South Park, gonna have myself a time
Friendly faces everywhere, humble folks without temptation
Goin' down to South Park, gonna leave my woes behind
Ample parking day or night, People spouting 'Howdy neighbour!'
Headin' on down to South Park, gonna see if i can't unwind
<mrph mrph mrrpph mrrph, mph mrrpph mrrpphh mrpph!>
So come on down to South Park, and meet some friends of mine"

17. Have there been any Unaired Episodes?
Neither of the Spirit of Christmas movies have appeared on TV, and the original Pilot Episode (Cartman Gets and Anal Probe) was heavily edited and remade before hitting the TV. The original plot was very different, and the quality varied because they didn't have a full crew to produce a polished episode for them. There were various things cut in the episode, one of them being that a kid gave Cartman a Burrito which created Cartman's Flaming Farts, rather than the plot about the analprobe doing it. There were also alot of scenes featuring pip that were cut. One of them was in fact moved to episode 105 in the cafeteria scene, where Pip asks them what's for lunch, and the boys tell him to go away, followed by cartman saying 'Ugh, French people Piss Me off!' You can notice in the aired TV version of Episode 101 that the quality changes in various parts of the episodes, which were due to the newer parts made by the whole team being added in over the old version which Matt and Trey did themselves. To the best of my knowledge, there is no place where you can download this episode online. However, copies of this rare episode have appeared for sale for VHS on auction sites such as eBay more than once.

18. What's The Deal with Cartman's Mom?
Liane Cartman is Eric's Single Mother. At first glance, she is the perfect old-days mother. She takes good care of Eric and bakes him almost every kind of food he could imagine. However, One day, Eric begans a search to find his true father in episode #113, and on the way, he finds out that his mom has slept with every single guy in town, minus the legless guy. Mephesto Reveals Eric's Father to be.. Liane Cartman. You see, she is hemaphoroditic, which means that she has both male and female genitalia. Hemaphoroditic women cannot bear children, so it means that Ms Cartman is actually his father, and she had another woman pregnant at the 12th drunken barn dance. So who's the Mother? "Aaah, forget it!" he says..

19. Are there any South Park Video Games?
There have been 3 South Park Video Games released so far, and unfortunately, none of them so far have lived up to expectations of the reviewers, or more importantly, the consumers. The first one was a fairly mediocre South Park shoot-em-up, simply called 'South Park', which appeared on the PC, Nintendo 64, and PlayStation. It wasn't exactly regarded as the most innovative shooting game.. hauling in the 'Worst shoot-em-up of the year' awards from various PC and console magazines. Acclaim have released two new videogames in the past 1-2 years, 'Chef's luv shack' and 'South Park rally', which were also rated poorly by gamers and reviewers, especially in the all important area of gameplay.

20. Are South Park Episodes available on DVD or VHS?
Yes, South Park VHS tapes and DVDs should be available from where-ever you usually buy your videos or DVDs. There have been 4 'waves' of South Park VHS/DVD volumes released so far, with each video usually containing two episodes, and each DVD usually containing four episodes. As an added bonus, the early volumes on DVD or VHS contain dinky little episode intros by Matt and Trey, such as the 'Fireside Chats'. For more up-to-date info on VHS/DVD releases, visit the South Park Scriptorium.

21. How did the South Park internet community begin?
There was probably no exact pinpoint as to when the South Park internet community began, but in the end, it all boils down to one man - Mr. Taison Tan. Taison's South Park site (later known as 'A South Park Information Center') was up one week before the show premiered, being a fan of the Spirit of Christmas and expecting big things for the show. Just days after the show began, a small bunch of new sites appeared such as Mr Hat's Hellhole, Ray's Southpark Zone, and The South Park Cows, some of which still exist today. Taison had established himself as 'the king of news', providing the most frequent South Park news updates, usually before any other site. It wasn't long before Taison, Shannon 'blackbart' Greene and Jonathan 'Elvis' Davis had collaborated their sites together to to form the Beef-cake family, which was located at http://www.beef-cake.com. Almost two years later in September 1999, the three sites on the server combined to form one big mega-site, simply known as Beef-Cake.com. The images, sounds, guides and scripts were re-organised into hierarchical format (which made things easier to find), and frequent news and updates continued. In the early weeks of April 2001, rumours had been circulating about a brand new official South Park website, which was later confirmed by Beef-Cake.com. On the 17th of April, the opening day of the new official site, Beef-cake.com closed it's doors forever (read their final message for the full story). However, almost all of beef-cake's content was moved over to the new official website (located at http://www.southparkstudios.com), almost making it an 'official blessing', and expansion, of the legendary former South Park fansite Beef-cake.com. Taison is now working at the new official website as a Content expert.

22. Which South Park CD's have been put on the market?
There have been 3 full length South Park Albums released in South Park's Lifespan. The First of them was titled 'Chef Aid: The South Park Album', and was released in the 4th quarter of 1998 along with an episode of the same name. It featured a bunch of new and extended songs from (Isaac Hayes) and the South Park Townspeople, and some contributions from big name artists like Meatloaf, Wyclef and Elton John. The 2nd SP CD was the Soundtrack to the 'South Park: Bigger Longer and Uncut' Movie. Released a few weeks before the movie itself, it featured classic SP songs from the movie, and a few extra album exclusives. The 3rd was Mr Hankey's Christmas Classics, which came out in November '99. It arrived along with an episode (#315) showcasing some of the South Park Xmas Songs that appear on the album.