 
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 Stevo
stevo@starkspond.com
Last Revised: 1st July 2000
1. What is South Park?
'South Park' is an animated Television show, aimed at adults or young adults. The very first South Park Episode written for TV, #101: 'Cartman Gets an anal probe', was first aired on cable TV channel Comedy Central on Wednesday, the 13th of August, 1997, and South Park has since transformed from a small cult show to a runaway hit.
2. Where in the world is South Park?
Fairplay, a small Mountain town in the US state of Colorado, is considered to be the 'real' South Park. The Region that Fairplay is located in is actually called 'South Park', and we can assume that is what they named the town, and the Show, after. Fairplay is the town near where Trey Parker grew up, and alot of the characters in the show look to be inspired by the residents of Fairplay, such as the Mayor, and the Police Chief of Fairplay.
3. Who creates the show South Park?
There is a very devoted team behind producing the show these days, but it started off with two guys, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. They produced a range of Short Films in their college years together, including the rare Jesus vs. Frosty video, and also 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. (see question 4) Matt and Trey still produce the show today, although their is now alot more people working behind the scenes than there were when it began. For a full list, click here.
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 it. $750 of it went to the movie, and they kept the remainder. 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 big fight between Jesus and Santa Claus for the ownership of Christmas. The four boys, Cartman, Kyle, Kenny and Stan, are introduced, and they, with the help of Brian Boitano, stop the fight and save Christmas! The short was sent out as a Video Christmas Card to 80 people in the entertainment business, and it got a huge response. If you have plenty of time to download a 50mb original copy of soxmas.mov, please visit the official distribution site at http://www.killfile.org/soxmas. For more info on the Spirit of Christmas Movie, and your opportunity to download that piece of SP History in a smaller 7mb file, please visit out Spirit of Xmas Page.
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 Wwednesday night at 10:00pm (usually the main episode of the week, eg. Episode Premiere) and then again at 1:00am, Saturdays at 10:00pm and again at 2:00am, and Sundays at 11:00pm. In Australia, it airs on SBS TV at Monday 8:30pm, and 2 episodes are usually aired back-to-back. In Canada, you can catch it on Friday nights at 12am on Global. If you live in the United Kingdom and have SkyOne, you can watch South Park at 11:00pm on Sunday nights.
6. When will South Park End?
South Park is believed to be ending in about 3 years time. Creator Matt Stone stated that there are 27 episodes remaining on their contract with Comedy Central, which includes a 17 episode-long 4th season, 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", said Matt in an interview with FOX. Matt also hinted that once the series is over, they will be working on a second SP Movie.
7. How Popular is South Park?
I'm not sure exactly, but South Park is Comedy Central's most Popular Television show. According to the Nielsen Ratings, the average Late Season 1 Premiere raked in around 6 million viewers out of the 45 million subscribed to Comedy Central, which is huge in anyone's books. The South Park Audio CDs which have been released have all done well sales-wise, and there are literally thousands of SP fan tributes 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 main plot revolves around four 8-year old boys, namely Stanley Marsh, Eric Theodore Cartman, Kenny McCormick and Kyle Broflovski. Almost every episode contains a subtle but important message, which usually tackles certain social or political problems (eg. The Pokemon Craze and Racial Prejudice). As well as that, South Park also cleverly funny 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 Woman'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 visited South Park in one episode, and his dad is prone to calling $3.50 'tree fiddy'. 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, he is EVIL! :) In one episode, Mr Hat Jumped off Mr Garrison's hand and had a big fight with Mr Mackey, and in another episode, he made Mr Garrison attempt to Kill Kathie Lee Gifford! In episode 208, Mr Hat ran away, and was replaced by 'Mr Twig' for a few episodes. Some people say that Mr Garrison is gay, but according to Dr Katz: Professional Therapist, it is Mr Hat who is gay, not Mr Garrison.
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, contained a total of 17 episodes, and the current season has contained 6 episodes to this day. These add up to a total of 54 different South Park Episodes which have aired since the show's beginning in August 1997.
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 its Lyrics:
"I'm Going Down to South Park, Gonna Have Myself a Time
Friendly Faces Everywhere, Humble Folks without Temptation
Going 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
[I love girls with Big Fat Titties, I like girls with big vaginas]
So Come on Down to South Park, and Meet some friends of mine!"
17. What's this about an unaired 'Cartman Gets an anal probe'?
When Matt Stone and Trey Parker first created this episode before the series started, the plot was very different, and since they did it themselves the quality was not quite as good as the current show's. 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. As far as I know, there is no place where you can download this episode online. The best chance you'd have would be if you could find a VHS copy for sale on E-Bay, if you're lucky.
18. What's The Deal with Cartman's Mom?
To start us off, Lianne Cartman is Eric Cartman's Single 'Mother'. Cartman Endeavoured on a search to find his true father in episode #113, and on the way, he find out that his mom is the town slut. The only guy in the town who she hasn't screwed is the guy that has no legs! Mephesto Reveals Cartman's Dad, and it is... Ms Cartman! You see, Ms Cartman is a hemaphorodite, which means that she has both male and female genitalia. Hemaphoroditic women cannot fall pregnant, so it means that Ms Cartman is actually his father, and she had another woman pregnant at the 12th annual drunken barn dance. So who is Eric's Mother? "ARGH, FORGET IT!" says the annoyed little boy.
19. Are there any South Park Video Games?
There have been 3 South Park Video Games released so far. The first one was a fairly mediocre South Park Shoot em up, simply called 'South Park', which appeared on N64, PC and Playstation. It wasn't exactly regarded as one of the better shooting games, and it recieved a whole bunch of 'Worst shoot-em up of the year' awards from various magazines. Acclaim have released two videogames in the recent months, Chef's Luv Shack, and South Park Rally, which were released on N64, Playstation, PC, and Sega Dreamcast. I haven't had a chance to play either yet.
20. Are South Park Episodes available on DVD or VHS?
Yes, South Park Videos and DVD's are available! You could probably buy them online, or even better, from your local Best Buy or K-mart, or any other store which sells videos! There have been 4 'waves' of South Park videos / dvd's released, each video has 2 episodes, and each DVD contains 4 episodes. As an added bonus, every episode sold on DVD or VHS contains an episode intro by matt and trey, such as the 'fireside chats'!
21. How did South Park Start on the internet?
There has been much debate in the past over who was the first South Park Site on the internet, but in the end, it all comes down to one webmaster: Taison Tan. Taison's 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, we saw a bunch of other sites appear such as Mr Hat's Hell Hole, Ray's Southpark Zone, and The South Park Cows, some of which still exist today. It wasn't long before Taison was living up to his nickname, 'the king of news', providing most of the South Park news before any other site. It was soon that Taison, Shannon (webmaster of Blackbart's Sound Archive) and Elvis (webmaster of The Sound Archive) put their 3 sites on the one server to form the huge beef-cake family, which was located at www.beef-cake.com. The Site became a huge success, and went for a long time as the 3-site empire. It wasn't until September 1999 that Beef-cake changed hosts and melted the 3 sites together to form the Massive single site, with the Sounds, Images, Scripts, Synopsis's and other info organised into episode pages for easy reference. Today, Beef-Cake.com is the most popular South Park Site on the internet, followed by natural rival Mr Hat's Hellhole, and juz's famous wallpaper site sweeet.com.
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.
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