For 21 years, 22 seasons, and 288 episodes (and counting), South Park has remained one of the most consistently hilarious & intelligent shows on television — cartoon, live-action, or otherwise.
However, a large portion of the show’s humor and intelligence is due to their willingness to push boundaries and make jokes that the average comedy show wouldn’t dare ever make. And because of that comedic fearlessness, in addition to being regarded as one of the funniest shows of all time, South Park has also earned a reputation of being one of the most offensive shows of all-time.
In fact, scratch that: South Park has earned the reputation of being THE most offensive show of all-time. Two decades of making fun of every religion, gender, and societal construct insight can have that effect.
Family Guy, Jerry Springer, All In The Family, and Married With Children rounded out the top five.
via Uproxx:
According to a new study, it’s not just Baby Boomer church-going folks who are offended by Cartman’s antics.
Senior Living spoke to “1,000 people from various generations,” with “participants ranged in age from 18 to 89,” to discover the most offensive TV show of all-time.
With 30.7 percent, South Park easily came in first, followed by Family Guy (10.5), Jerry Springer (7.1), All In the Family (6.4), and Married… with Children (2.7). The long-running Comedy Central animated series also fared well in the “most offensive TV character/personality” poll, with Cartman’s 18.7 percent topping Archie Bunker’s 14.5 percent (other notable finalists: Roseanne Barr in fourth place, Donald Trump in sixth, and Bart and Homer Simpson in 12th and 13th; Beavis finished in 14th, but partner-in-frog baseball Butthead was nowhere to be found).
And of course, to top it off, Cartman was named the most offensive TV character of all-time, which is more than deserved.
The 22nd season of South Park premiered on Wednesday, September 26.