Going South

If people here haven’t seen the season premiere episode of South Park, it’s something very special. No doubt many will hate it. (Though "hate" may be too gentle a word.) But that doesn’t mean it isn’t special. And I suspect that just as many, if not more, will love it. And be in awe of what they did. There also will be many who like parts of it, but turn it off, bothered – not by the political content, but – because it’s pretty profane and graphic.

While I know they can get away with much because it’s a cartoon and airs at 10 PM – what I watched was a repeat that aired at 4:30 PM!

I will also say that I’m a G-rated kind of guy. And while some of it was rough to watch, I nonetheless couldn’t help laughing. And amazed at what they attempted and did. And got on the air.

And I found it all the more joyous knowing that they not only made the show for Paramount -- who of course is the company that recently fired Stephen Colbert and settled a lawsuit with CBS for $16 million -- but that the South Park guys and Paramount had just had signed a $1.5 billion five-year deal.

My immediate reaction was when watching the episode, called “Sermon on the Mount” was – I can’t even imagine the reaction of Comedy Central, Viacom and Paramount when they saw the episode that was delivered. Especially knowing they had just signed a $1.5 billion, five-year contract with the show.

It was brutal, boggling, wonderful. And impressively up-to-date.

And in today's environment, even courageous. Though I suspect the South Park guys, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, probably considered a no-brainer.

Earlier in the day yesterday, the FCC gave it's approval for the purchase of Paramount Global by Skydance for $8 billion. But of course, the FCC giving approval does not mean it’s received the final OK. After watching the season premiere of South Park, the conglomerate and Skydance are probably filled with angst, and on pins and needles.

In a statement, the White House said, (and blunt as the episode was, there's something whimsical about the Trump White House commenting on a cartoon) -- "This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention." They said more, but that was about politics, and largely praising themselves.

For the record: South Park has been on the air for 27 years; networks don't keep series hanging on for two years, let alone 20; and (to repeat) Paramount just signed a contract with the show to produce at least five more years, paying $1.5 billion. So much for relevance and attention.

As I’ve mentioned here in the past, I worked with the South Park guys, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, during my dark days when I was in movie publicity and worked as the unit publicist on the movie BASEketball, which they starred in, co-written and directed by David Zucker, who made Airplane! and The Naked Gun movies, among others. I got to know the two fellows semi-well, but it was 27 years ago, and they wouldn't remember me. Although they had (and still probably sort of do for me) the reputation of being goofballs, they were probably the hardest-working people I’ve ever crossed paths with in the entertainment industry. This is what I mean --

When they signed to be in BASEketball, I don’t think that South Park had even been on the air yet. They said they were sure the show would be cancelled after 10 episodes, so they’d be free to make the movie. But did it ever take off – it still hadn’t been on very long, but while we were in production, they were on the covers of both Time and Newsweek! (It may have been the same week, but I don’t remember for sure.) The number of calls I fielded from the press who wanted to interview them was astronomical. The guys said that if they’d known it would be a hit, they never have done the movie. That wasn’t a case of arrogance, but physical reality – you see, while they were starring in BASEketball, a full-time, 12-hour job each day, sometimes longer, they were also writing, producing, directing and starring in their South Park TV series!

Basically, each day, they’d show up at the set at 6 AM for their day of filming. And when they finished a scene, rather than go back to their trailers to rest and prepare for their next scene (and they were in most of the scene of the movie), instead they would go to a special production-and-editing trailer we set up for them on whatever location we were at. And there, they would work on South Park – until they were needed for their next scene. They’d do that…and then, when finished, go back to the South Park production trailer. And this would go on until filming wrapped for the day – no earlier than 6 PM, sometimes later. And at the end of the day…no, they wouldn’t be driven home, but back to their South Park offices, where they’d work until at least midnight, maybe later. And then finally back home – until they got up in time to be ready to be at the filming location at 6 AM. And this went on almost every day. (Some days they weren’t needed the first thing, or in the day’s final scenes, so they could leave early, though not for home, but to keep working at their offices.

So, whatever their reputations were for being unfocused goofballs, it was about as far from the truth as one could imagine. What they did – make a movie and TV show at the same time was seriously, deeply awe-inspiring. They were incredibly committed to their work, whatever their work would be at the time.

And South Park has lasted for 27 years. During which time they made other movies, and made the hit Broadway musical Book of Mormon. And just signed a contract for at least five more years of South Park.

It was the focus and dedication and attention to detail that brought them to their “Sermon of the Mount” episode of South Park. Or better put, their brutal, boggling, wonderful, scathing, profane, inventive, offensive, noble, sacrilegious, funny, smart, risky, crude, remarkable “Sermon of the Mount” episode of South Park.

And the thing is, looking back at the film set 27 years ago, although they weren't "conservative," I found them more conservative than liberal. In fairness, they were young guys who liked ridiculing pretty much everything. So, they would chide both sides – and most things in the middle. Though they did have plenty that they thought highly of. Mainly, from what little I could tell – and again, I didn’t know them well at all, and we didn’t talk about this ever, so it’s just a perception from sitting in on occasional conversations -- they seemed to like to knock things off of what they perceived to be on pedestals, and appeared to most-appreciate things that had no pretense. It’s just that, at least at the time, my sense (rightly or wrongly) was that they shaded more conservative than liberal. At the very least, they were in no way flaming woke liberals.  How much that's changed over the years – keeping in mind how very different “conservative” and liberal (or progressive) were 27 years ago -- I don't know. But however much they've changed, assuming so, I just greatly appreciated this episode for that perspective even more.

South Park has released a few clips from the episode, which was written and directed by Trey Parker. This first, most especially, is not for everyone. It is definitely not for children...and not for many adults. If such a rating system existed for TV, it would be "EM" -- Exceedingly Mature.

And there's one more.  I hesitate to post a link to it (South Park made it only available on YouTube, where it's "age-restricted") -- but not because of its content, rather because it comes at the end of the episode, and if you plan to watch a  repeat, then skip watching it.  But then, for that matter, skip it, too, if you're not interested in anything rated "OM-IRMI" -- Overwhelmingly Mature - I Really Mean It.  Or live in MAGA World, but I don't think many are here, even on visas.  But all are welcome!

You can find the video here.

But just as a bonus, since I can't embed that previous video, here's the TV teaser that was released for the episode.