Although it’s often compared to Family Guy, due to both shows’ crude sense of humor, a more thoroughly developed cast of characters, and a stronger command of story structure.
As a result, the latter series is a bigger hit with Emmy voters, despite the fact that Trey Parker and Matt Stone have lampooned the vanity of the Emmys on the show itself. South Park has five Emmy-winning episodes out of 17 nominations. Here is Every Emmy-Nominated South Park Episode, Ranked.
It’s Christmas in Canada
South Park really loves to lay into Canada, and after a while, the joke becomes tiresome. In “Christmas in Canada,” Ike’s birth parents take him back to the Great White North, and Kyle ventures off to save him. On the weekend before the episode aired, Saddam Hussein was captured in Operation Red Dawn, conveniently providing the episode with the perfect ending. Still, the parody of The Wizard of Oz is a little basic for this show.
Crack Baby Athletic Association
In a sharp lampoon of the NCAA’s refusal to compensate its players, “Crack Baby Athletic Association” sees Cartman setting up an athletic league to exploit the labor of crack-addicted infants. He later gets a taste of his own medicine when EA does the same to him.
The scene in which Cartman infiltrates the NCAA and jokes that “stoo-dent ath-o-letes” is a euphemism for “slave” is really biting. Plus, the depiction of Guns ‘n’ Roses guitarist Slash as a mythical, Santa Claus-like figure was hilarious.
Member Berries
The residents of South Park fall under the spell of a nostalgia-inducing fruit in the Season 20 premiere “Member Berries.” The parallel drawn between the success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the rise of Donald Trump doesn’t quite land. The scene in which J.J. Abrams is approached to reboot the national anthem and he communicates from his window with a lamp is brilliant, though.
Chinpokomon
This searing critique of the Pokemon franchise sees the kids of South Park being brainwashed by a Japanese corporation and trained to fight in a military force as they collect Chinpokomon toys and video games. The same basic plot would be recycled by The Simpsons a couple of years later in an episode called “New Kids on the Blecch,” but “Chinpokomon” is still the finer episode of television.
200/201
The show’s double-barrel 200th episode was nominated as a pair. This is easily the show’s most controversial installment to date — even more controversial than the one that got South Park banned in China — as it still can’t be found online or in syndication. It’s not even on the home media release for the season.
The main source of controversy was its image of the prophet Muhammad, which led to Trey Parker and Matt Stone receiving death threats. As a milestone episode, “200/201” was pretty spectacular.
Freemium Isn’t Free
Trey Parker and Matt Stone decided to do a South Park episode about “freemium” gaming when they were offered the chance to license the show as such a game. As they looked into the “freemium” business model, they realized it was just a scam, playing on addictive personalities to bilk players out of a ton of cash, a little at a time.
This is one of those South Park episodes where the message is more important than the story.
Raising the Bar
In “Raising the Bar,” the residents of South Park decry the death of culture as Honey Boo Boo becomes the flagship star of a network called The Learning Channel. Meanwhile, Cartman enjoys the lowering of society’s bar and uses it to get himself a rascal mobility scooter and a reality show. This is the episode with James Cameron’s catchy seafaring theme song (“James Cameron / the bravest pioneer!”).
Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride
The Season 1 episode “Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride” tackled the issue of queer acceptance at a time when TV shows were avoiding it. When Stan finds out his dog is gay, he learns about homosexuality at Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Animal Sanctuary and tries to get the town to accept it.
The episode was praised by GLAAD and became one of the early episodes that really defined what the show was. For good measure, George Clooney guest-stars as Stan’s dog, Sparky.
Imaginationland: The Movie
Terrorists attack our imagination in “Imaginationland: The Movie,” a three-part episode that Trey Parker and Matt Stone considered making as a second feature-length South Park movie. It’s a really well-developed story that, despite not technically being a movie, still feels like a movie.
Put It Down
This episode is best-ed for its titular musical number, done in the style of a preachy protest song, suggesting that the U.S. President shouldn’t be allowed to use their smartphone. Tweek fears an attack by North Korea and tries to extend an olive branch, but President Garrison keeps taking to Twitter to make matters worse.