Seemingly no one and nothing has been exempt from Parker and Stone’s sometimes savage satire. That’s a result of the show’s famously nimble approach, which allows it to produce some episodes in as quickly as three or four days. The show has been praised and condemned in equal part for its handling of current events and social issues ranging from Scientology to China to Osama bin Laden to virtually anything that’s appeared in the headlines in the past two decades. South Park, however, aims to be more than kids being kids and unearthing new obscenities (though that was certainly a large part of its early appeal).

Robin Williams, an Acid Trip, and Moral Panic: The Story of “Blame Canada” at the Oscars But they’re just 10 years old, and South Park consistently reminds us of that, whether it’s through their love of World of Warcraft, or Stan getting his heart broken for the first time, or their inability to understand words best suited for the bedroom. They’re often the smartest people in a reactionary town frequently visited by vapid celebrities. (Of course, the episode’s title, “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe,” also signaled much of what was to come.) The children are our eyes into the bizarre, titular Colorado town, which series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone use to dissect the world we live in. In the nearly 23 years since that pilot debuted on Comedy Central in August 1997, 306 additional episodes of South Park have aired, most blending the pure and profane in a way foreshadowed by that opening minute. But it doesn’t stop them from throwing the word around.

The boys-with the possible exception of Kenny, who’s muffled by his trademark orange hood-have no answers.

They’re interrupted by Kyle’s brother Ike, whom Cartman calls a dildo.

After the brief theme song performed by Primus and a gonzo credit sequence, we’re introduced to four crudely animated third-graders-Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and, of course, the demagogue child-tyrant Eric Cartman-as they sing “School Days,” an innocent song from 1907 about an older couple looking back on their youth. It’s all there in the opening scene of the first episode of South Park.

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