User:Mr. Garrison/Sandbox

South Park is an American animated series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone that is broadcast on Comedy Central in America and various other channels in other countries. The series began in 1997 is on its eleventh season with a total of 160 episodes, 1 movie and a number of shorts. It has also won two emmy awards and has been nominated for various other awards.

The series revolves mainly around four schoolboys; Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick, but in later years it has introduced a number of other characters. The show has also caused a number of controversies from its contents, as will as how it tends to parody people and events.

History
The show's roots go as far back as 1992 when Trey Parker and Matt Stone were still at college. They created an untitled short video In 1995, Brian Graden, an executive of FOX, saw the film and commissioned Parker and Stone to make another. The next one, "The Spirit of Christmas" resembled the animation style of the later series and the characters resembled their later selves. The video became increasingly popular and the creators went into talks with FOX. After this, they went to Comedy Central who commissioned the series, and it debuted on August 13, 1997.

The first season relied on shock-value, with rather weird and unusual plotlines such as the breeding of elephants and pigs and a giant mechanised version of Barbara Streisand. As the series progressed, the episodes tended to revolve mostly around the characters up until Season Seven. In this season there was a noticable increase in satirical episodes, which remain the most popular to this day. The series began to parody celebrities, such as Michael Jackson, Paris Hilton and Al Gore. It also parodied real life events such as homosexual marriages, global warming and use of the word 'nigger'. The creators also tend to parody (or pay homage to) television shows and films. The parodies also allow the creators to voice their opinions through episodes. The quick production on the show allows the programme to respond quickly to current events, such as the capture of Saddam Hussein. The parodies of course, start controversies; in particular the episode "Trapped in the Closet" which mocked Scientology.

In September 2007, Parker and Stone signed a contract for three more seasons (after the current contract which runs up to the end of 2008 runs out) which will take the show up to 2011 with fifteen seasons and a total of 223 episodes at least.

Main Characters
The main characters on the show consist of Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny. Later episodes have tended to replace Kenny with another character, Butters Stotch. Stan is the straight guy of the group, he is caring and thoughtful. Kyle is the smartest, and the only Jew in town which causes him to be mocked by Cartman. Cartman is the self-centred overweight child who is spoilt at home, he is evil and scheming and intolerant of most races and types of people. Kenny is nearly always depicted in his orange parka, which muffles his speech and hides his appearence. Kenny was killed off in nearly every episode up until Season Five, in which he was 'permanently' killed in the episode "Kenny Dies". He returned in the episode "Red Sleigh Down" but is less prominent than he was before. Butters is a goody-goody who is brought up in a strict household, a running gag for most episodes he is in involve his parents grounding him for ridiculous things.

Family Members
Main article: List of Family Members.

The families of characters tend to feature prominentely as well. Family members are characters such as Randy Marsh (Stan's overreactive father), Liane Cartman (Cartman's mother who spoils him despite his evil ways) and Sheila Broflovski (Kyle's interfering mother). Not so prominent characters also have families as well.

Townsfolk
Main article: List of Townsfolk.

Many of the various townsfolk are considered prominent characters. Townsfolk such as Mayor McDaniels, Officer Barbrady and Priest Maxi have been in the show since the start. There also a number of minor townsfolk that appear as background characters or one-off characters.