r/southpark • u/Megalitho • 20h ago
Question What is the absolute best season of South Park?
Looking to do a South Park marathon. Help me out, bros.
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u/KrukzGaming 20h ago
It'll be between seasons 5-9.
I'm a huge enjoyer of the later seasons and the specials, but early-mid 00s South Park had that perfect balance of traits that earned the show its staying power.
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u/ReggieEvansTheKing 18h ago
It’s interesting that this is the case for pretty much most long-running comedy shows. Simpsons, Family Guy, Always Sunny all hit their stride in seasons 5-10. I think there’s a point where the main and side character personalities have all been developed that it makes it easy to generate good ideas for plot.
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u/OnlyBrownPlayer_ 20h ago
Season 13 was pretty epic, butters being a pimp, kanye fishsticks
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u/redditgolddigg3r 18h ago
13 is always the right answer. Margaritaville is still my favorite episode of all time.
You could also binge 11-14 and be in great shape if you wanted to really make it a marathon.
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u/Hidalgo321 17h ago
I’d argue for Season 9. Best soundtrack and ends with Bloody Mary and Randy carrying Stan into a sunset on his shoulders after a serious life lesson for both of them.
The entire seasons soundtrack is sublime and in that moment, the finale of the season, it is perfection.
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u/PuzzleheadedLink89 Southpark Fan 19h ago
I really liked 19
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u/GarmonboziaBlues 19h ago edited 18h ago
I had really lost interest from S8-17. S18 started to get me back into the show, but 19 absolutely blew me away. The semi-serialized episode arc plus tasteful skewering of PC culture made this the most coherent and fun overall season for me.
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u/PuzzleheadedLink89 Southpark Fan 19h ago edited 19h ago
The gentrification storyline was great and went pretty in-depth with it. It made me actually look up about it and educated myself on it. It was also pretty consistently good with no actually standout bad episodes which I can't really say for most of South Park's best seasons from 7-14 as they usually have some episodes that I can really point to and say they're bad or aren't that great like Douche vs Turd, Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina, A Million Little Fibers, Grey Dawn, I'm a little bit Country, and Red Man's Greed. Season 8 might come the closest to being continually great but Douche and Turd just ruins that streak for me by being my least favourite episode in the show by far.
I've only just started season 10 so I haven't seen season 11 which I have heard to be actually amazing with some of the highest quality episodes.
Even "Safe Space", my least favourite episode of season 19 has actually aged a whole lot better in recent and I have turned around on the episode. Also PC Principal was a great addition and Tweek x Craig is probably one of the best episodes of the series. It's probably one of the best character choices they have made as apparently Put it Down is one of the other best episodes of the show despite it being in an really bad season.
Tweek x Craig in particular has one of my favourite moments in the show with Craig's Dad talking to Craig about being gay and it's a really nice moment.
I also really did enjoy the criticism of some of the extremism of PC culture as someone who I guess qualifies as PC and pretty left-leaning. I really like how PC Principal is also somewhat of a hero in the finale despite his previous antagonistic role earlier in the season which made for a nice twist.
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u/TinaVeritas 17h ago
South Park is an interesting show with an interesting fandom. All the shows you listed as being bad are among my favorites, and the one you love is one of the ones I skip. I guess that’s life in South Park.
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u/PuzzleheadedLink89 Southpark Fan 17h ago
It's funny since Sonic fans are the same way except are way more toxic about it. South Park fans aren't perfect but they seem to be way more respectful about different opinions and preferences.
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u/thought_not_spoken 19h ago
Season 10 was where it became I had to watch weekly.
Stanley’s Cup is still a favourite episode
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u/RyanWhittaerFE16 19h ago
I did a marathon during Lockdown before they did the specials, and my Top 5 (best to 5th best) were 8, 6, 13, 5 and 14
This was years ago so my opinion might’ve changed
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u/Fluxoteen 17h ago
Season 10 is my pick.
The Return of Chef
Smug Alert!
Cartoon Wars Part I
Cartoon Wars Part II
A Million Little Fibers
Manbearpig
Tsst
Make Love, Not Warcraft
Mystery of the Urinal Deuce
Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy
Hell on Earth 2006
Go God Go
Go God Go XII
Stanley's Cup
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u/ThatTallGuy11 19h ago
15 is goated, imo. All killer, no filler
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u/ThatTallGuy11 19h ago
17 is also great, but it's the first season they shrink down to 10 episodes a season, so 15 is still higher.
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u/TremendouslyRegarded 20h ago
S13 for me, that whole range for about 5 years in the 12-17ish range was the golden era of South Park imo
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u/Ecstatic_Proof_2732 20h ago
5-10 were awesome. 27 is turning out epic so far, but I don't know if it'll age super well. It'll still be funny, but i think a lot of it is just the fact that it's so current and we all need to laugh at the absolute absurdity of everything that's going on right now.
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u/eternalwood 19h ago
One of them shows where they all have their ups and downs. Neither and all of them are the best.
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u/Luckyandunlucky2023 18h ago
I don't know if a single episode can elevate a season, but if so, Death Camp of Tolerance (aka Lemmiwinks) would do it. Season 6. That episode is...almost beyond description.
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u/SGT-JamesonBushmill 18h ago
Don’t know if it’s the best, but the 3-season arc that featured Caitlyn Jenner running over people is some of the greatest satire ever.
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u/AtomicYoshi 18h ago
6 easily. The last time I did a whole-show watch, I ranked every single episode in a spreadsheet and calculated the average score per season - 6 and 8 were tied for the top spot. 6 ultimately comes out on top for me though for the season-long storyline around Kenny being dead and then him possessing Cartman.
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u/Free_Tie2019 17h ago
Season 18 Go fund yourself The cissy Handicar Freemium isnt free Cock magic All some of the better episodes
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u/ColoOddball 15h ago
Season 8 doesn’t miss and it centered around the boys just doing kid shit. Seasons 5-13 are the best but 8 is easily the peak.
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u/delfinareckless22 Southpark Fan 7h ago
ooohhh hard question, my personal favorites are 13, 14, 15, & 16, but for ABSOLUTE BEST season i’m gonna have to go with 14 for sure
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u/UnfairHistorian7852 20h ago
The first.
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u/KrukzGaming 20h ago
Damn, first comment and one of the only wrong answers you could have chosen.
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u/UnfairHistorian7852 20h ago
It reminds me of being 18 and getting stoned when it felt subversive.
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u/KrukzGaming 20h ago
Yeah, early seasons are great for the late 90s stoner absurdism nostalgia, only goes so far tho
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u/UnfairHistorian7852 20h ago
I can remember the carpet and the books on the shelf and the smell of smoking spliffs with my coworker Ana from Serbia. It's a time machine to the time when madeleines tasted like pink.
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u/GlassesgirlNJ 20h ago
See, this is what the movie used to remind me of, since I saw it at a house party.
I must have gone to the kitchen and missed a scene or two at some point? Anyhow I came away with the idea that Gregory and Ze Mole were the same person, Bruce Wayne/Batman style. Didn't realize I was wrong until I saw it again, like 20 years later
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u/WakkoTheTTTEFan Southpark Fan 20h ago
If you’re gonna vote for one of the early seasons I’d go for Season 2 or 3 instead, they have a lot more standout episodes than Season 1 did (I’m a big Season 2 fan myself - even if I know it’s objectively not the best one)
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u/Alternative_Pair_924 17h ago
If the final few episodes are as funny as the first three, I'm going to have to say this current one will take the crown imo
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u/EyedOmally 20h ago
Season 8. Every episode is solid. Some of the best episodes of the series.