Oh god, how do I even start this?
South Park is one of those shows that you really can’t escape within modern-day media. You can try, but somehow, it will always find its way back to you. South Park has plenty to offer – but with so many seasons, some episodes are just purely and utterly outrageous for a variety of reasons – and today, we’re going to go over them.
“200” & “201” (Season 14, Episodes 5 & 6)
I mean, I don’t even think I have to explain why these two episodes of South Park are completely outrageous. These episodes were meant to be benchmarks for the series as a whole, but because South Park wanted to depict Muhammad, the Prophet of the Islamic religion, they were heavily censored, and the episode itself is nearly impossible to watch.
“Kenny Dies” (Season 5, Episode 13)
South Park is pretty much known for its running gags, and one of the most popular ones was watching Kenny, one of the central four boys, get killed off in different ways in each episode. But it seemed the creators back in Season 5 got sick of it and permanently killed Kenny off for a bit – which is just outrageous. Eventually, however, he does come back way down the line in the show.
“All About Mormons” (Season 7, Episode 12)
The episode itself follows the boys as they meet a new kid who moves into South Park, whose family is Mormon. The show, created by the same guys who made the modern musical The Book of Mormon, humorously tackles the complexity of religion. However, the Mormon Church still was not a massive fan of the portrayal, which makes it outrageous.
“Trapped In The Closet” (Season 9, Episode 12)
“Trapped In The Closet” is one of the most iconic episodes of South Park for so many reasons, but the biggest one that makes it outrageous is that this episode really introduced the idea of Scientology to the general public and made jokes about it for a half hour. It’s impossible to watch this episode and not think of how many controversies it stirred up—which means it deserves its rightful place on this list.
“Gnomes” (Season 2, Episode 17)
Leave it to South Park to make the hilarious episode about something so trivial like gnomes stealing underpants and how it’s all a secret business plan that can somehow make them profit:
“Phase 1: Collect Underpants. Phase 2: ? Phase 3: Profit.” Yes, this joke has lasted for this long, and it’s still just as funny.
“Medicinal Fried Chicken” (Season 14, Episode 3)
I…don’t even want to get into why this is outrageous. If you’ve seen the episode, you know. If you haven’t, let’s say, um…Randy and a bunch of other men bounce around the town with…enlarged body parts. That’s all I’ll say. That’s the most I can describe.
“The List (Season 11, Episode 14)
“The List” is outrageous in a different way, mainly because it’s just so funny, and people often forget about it. When the girls of South Park Elementary post a list of the cutest boys in school, some take it way too seriously, while others lose their minds over it. And it’s so freaking hilarious.
“Bloody Mary” (Season 9, Episode 14)
Alright, “Bloody Mary” is outrageous for a few reasons. It’s funny, don’t get me wrong. Still, it certainly makes fun of yet another religion that caused the Catholic Church to speak out against it for its profane imagery of the Virgin Mary as a statue and excreting a bodily fluid onto Randy in the hope it’ll cure his alcoholism. Yeah, let’s leave it at that.
“Dead Kids” (Season 22, Episode 11)
As someone who grew up in modern-day school and has seen the impact that mass violence has left on students today, “Dead Kids” takes a humorous look at the issue and shows that some children are just so used to it now that it’s almost funny. Obviously, it’s not, and seeing Stan’s mother still freak out about it is how we all should feel, but it’s a great way to show how society is slowly becoming numb to topics like this.
“Tsst” (Season 10, Episode 7)
The earlier seasons of South Park were not afraid to make drastic comparisons for how crazy these main four kids were. In “Tsst,” they compare Cartman to a dog when his mother decides to bring in a supposed “dog whisperer” Cesar Millan to curb his bratty behavior. That’s right, Cartman is treated like a dog, and it's hilarious for all the right reasons.
“The Death Camp Of Tolerance” (Season 6, Episode 14)
The entirety of this outrageous South Park episode targets homophobia, but what really makes it stand out is the gerbil that goes on a parody adventure of The Hobbit as he…travels through the body of someone. And we won’t say how it got there.
“Put It Down” (Season 21, Episode 2)
South Park almost felt like a fever dream during the Trump administration, and this episode was personally one of my most outrageous favorites because it focuses on Twitter. Specifically, it focuses on the tweets that confident political leaders put out that cause panic and deals with that topic in a great and hilarious way.
“Fishsticks” (Season 13, Episode 5)
I can’t tell you how many times I have heard this joke in my life. “Fishsticks” has cemented itself into pop culture literally just because of the joke it’s about, and has probably made an entire generation, such as mine, laugh and have a particular image of pop star Kanye West.
“Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo” (Season 1, Episode 9)
As someone who loves watching the best Christmas movies or Christmas specials, I will say that when I first watched South Park, I was not expecting “Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo” because what’s more outrageous than a Christmas special focusing on a piece of fecal matter who is somehow the embodiment of Christmas spirit? I can’t even fathom this.
“The Return Of Chef” (Season 10, Episode 1)
I feel like “The Return of Chef” is outrageous for a few things, mainly because the voice actor behind Chef left the show thanks to the depictions it made of the Church of Scientology, but what makes it worse is that it’s not even the actor doing the voice role. It’s just a bunch of clips that are edited together for Chef’s final exit.
The Whole Game Of Thrones Parody Trilogy (Season 17, Episodes 7-9)
Look, I am a massive fan of Game of Thrones. I watch the shocking moments of Game of Thrones, and I love the Game of Thrones cast. I am a big advocate for anything ASOIAF. But this parody is so outrageously funny that I have to put it here. I have to.
Taking place over three episodes, the series perfectly parodies Game of Thrones and teaches the audience a valuable, comedic lesson about today’s consumerism and the need for the next new thing. I love it so much.
“It Hits The Fan” (Season 5, Episode 1)
You know…it hits the fan. The singular word that I can’t say here is uttered a total of 162 times throughout the episode, and the amount of gore is on display for twenty-two minutes. Yeah…this is about as outrageous as it can get.
“The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs” (Season 14, Episode 2)
“The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs” is possibly one of the funniest episodes, in my opinion, because the boys try to write the dirtiest, nastiest book ever, and they accomplish that and more. The amount of times I have seen cartoon characters vomit in this episode is enough for me never to see it again.
“The Worldwide Privacy Tour” (Season 26, Episode 2)
Later seasons of South Park feel a lot tamer. Still, I have to put this outrageous episode here because, of course, the creators take a shot at one of the most powerful families ever – London royals, and how they want “privacy” but are promoting their book and TV show and everything else. And yes, it’s honestly hysterical.
“Tegridy Farms” (Season 22, Episode 4)
In Season 22, Randy decides to move his family out to a farm – hence the title, “Tegridy Farms” – to become a farmer for a specific plant that is used for recreational purposes. The idea itself isn’t outrageous, as it’s legal in many more parts of the world and country now, but it’s the fact that he still lives on the farm several seasons and specials later. He doesn’t want to give “Tegridy” up.
“The Losing Edge” (Season 9, Episode 5) (because of Randy)
Randy is hands down one of the funniest characters in South Park, and I have to put “The Losing Edge” here because I solely remember this episode because of him. The boys join a Little League in a parody of sports films, but Randy takes it too seriously, gets drunk at every game, and literally fights other dads.
“Crème Fraiche” (Season 14, Episode 14)
Randy has had some great moments but, uh…let’s just say his obsession with the best cooking shows during “Crème Fraiche” takes the cake and makes me literally never want to cook again thanks to the implication. That, along with his wife using a shake weight that lets out a puff of water that looks awfully close to something NSFW, makes this outrageous.
“Member Berries” (Season 20, Episode 1)
At this point in my life, South Park Season 20 feels like a distant memory when it came out during my freshman year of college. But let me tell you, I still quote these stupid member berries. I still say, “Member when we had” and add in whatever after because this episode cemented itself in my brain just like the Member Berries did for the people of South Park.
“The China Problem” (Season 12, Episode 8)
I literally could have gone my entire life without seeing “The China Problem." The term ‘outrageous’ almost doesn’t feel like a good enough way to describe this episode. It's also just incredibly offensive to Chinese individuals and is just really, really bad - it's funny, but also bad.
“Cartoon Wars” (Season 10, Episodes 3 & 4)
“Cartoon Wars” is an excellent example of how sometimes, even South Park can’t get away with things when Comedy Central refused to broadcast some of their episodes thanks to trying to show an image of Mohammed. The episode itself is nearly impossible to find online nowadays, thanks to how controversial these two are.
“Woodland Critter Christmas” (Season 8, Episode 14)
So, fun fact – this was actually the first South Park Christmas special I ever saw, and I watched it with my mom. Yeah…that happened. And I never watched it again because I could go my whole life without seeing those cute little creatures turning into the monsters that become later on in the episodes.
“Ginger Kids” (Season 9, Episode 11)
Outrageous for funny reasons, “Ginger Kids,” which cemented the idea that “gingers have no soul,” became iconic for so many reasons. Not only is it funny, but it was a huge moment for pop culture, and it makes me snicker every single time I watch it.
“You’re Turning Old” (Season 15, Episode 7)
“You’re Turning Old” isn’t controversial, but it is outrageous for a few reasons. One, one of the boys actually gets older, which never happens in South Park, but the other reason is that when Stan gets older, everything he likes starts to sound like something he doesn’t like, and it’s a metaphor for when we get older, we grow out of things. It’s almost sad – which makes it outrageous in specific ways.
“Krazy Kripples” (Season 7, Episode 2)
I could go into a thousand different reasons as to why “Krazy Kripples” is outrageous, but let’s say that it takes a look at the disabled community and gangs in a way that is most offensive and hilarious.
“Scott Tenorman Must Die” (Season 5, Episode 4)
I think “Scott Tenorman Must Die” is one of those episodes that forever lives with you, where Cartman makes it his mission to get revenge on Scott Tenorman, his older half-brother, and does so in the most vile way possible that it makes the rest of Cartman’s friends never want to anger him – for fear of what Cartman did to Scott.
“Imaginationland” (Season 4, Episodes 10-12)
These three episodes are outrageous for many reasons. The gore, the story, the fact that Butters is the person who has to “save the realm” when the world of imagination breaks into the real world – it’s perfect for so many reasons, which is why it needs to be on this list, and I find myself.
“Grounded Vindaloop” (Season 18, Episode 7)
There’s nothing quite like a great sci-fi parody, and “Grounded Vindaloop” is that and more. The episode follows Butters getting tricked into wearing a fake VR headset, and everything he sees is a virtual reality, but things take a turn when Cartman is thrown into the loop and he’s in an actual virtual reality – yeah, it’s almost too much to get in here and hilarious in so many ways.
This honestly makes me want to watch the best South Park episodes again and again – and probably get disgusted by even more outrageous ones that aren’t even on this list. Pray for me.
