The first two were actually on par with my expectations. They weren't amazing, but they definitely got a few laughs out of me. "Faith Hilling" just left me looking at my TV like WTF for a quarter of an hour before I realized it just wasn't going to get any better.
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Film & TV Moderators: ghostfreak
Television South Park
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The first two were actually on par with my expectations. They weren't amazing, but they definitely got a few laughs out of me. "Faith Hilling" just left me looking at my TV like WTF for a quarter of an hour before I realized it just wasn't going to get any better.
Bill
Bluelight Crew
The fuck, I think they were a little late doing a meme episode
But yeah wtf happened to my beloved South Park
I had high hopes for this new season to not suck as bad as the last two, which I thought surprised me, cause the first episode of this season was pretty fucking funny imo but not the last two... :[
But yeah wtf happened to my beloved South Park
I had high hopes for this new season to not suck as bad as the last two, which I thought surprised me, cause the first episode of this season was pretty fucking funny imo but not the last two... :[
lazylazyjoe
Bluelighter
The was one line I liked from last night.
Cartman says, "I guess the only thing that doesn't change, is everything always changes"
I think the way they make the show, i think, is part of why a lot of episodes are falling flat. I know the 1 week 1 show method has helped make some good shows, but sometimes, even more so now, it seems like they just scramble for anything to get done on time.
Trey even said himself that wednesday comes, they hand the show in sometimes even he thinks it's bad.
Cartman says, "I guess the only thing that doesn't change, is everything always changes"
I think the way they make the show, i think, is part of why a lot of episodes are falling flat. I know the 1 week 1 show method has helped make some good shows, but sometimes, even more so now, it seems like they just scramble for anything to get done on time.
Trey even said himself that wednesday comes, they hand the show in sometimes even he thinks it's bad.
^^I didn't know they handed in shows a week before they air... That doesn't sound like too good of an idea to me. I mean, yeah, it keeps them in touch with current events but if they can't make quality episodes with current events they should fall back on not-so-current events.
^It's been that way since the beginning actually as far as I know. That is why they usually have no problem lampooning current events. Honestly though I think they are just losing creative steam. It has got to be tiring to keep churning out episode after episode. You can't expect all of them to be of the same quality with the amount of work they have to do.
Also sweet 1000th post!!
Also sweet 1000th post!!
I don't know how I never knew that... Been a South Park fan since the first season and never knew they did the show that way.
You and a lot of other people are probably right, though, they're running out of good ideas for shows... I don't think it's at the point where they just don't care, though. That Faith Hilling episode is probably the show's lowest point.... I just hope it all improves from here. I'll keep watching, but if the shows are similar in the future I won't be there for the whole episode, that's for sure.
You and a lot of other people are probably right, though, they're running out of good ideas for shows... I don't think it's at the point where they just don't care, though. That Faith Hilling episode is probably the show's lowest point.... I just hope it all improves from here. I'll keep watching, but if the shows are similar in the future I won't be there for the whole episode, that's for sure.
Well they did the very first episode with cutout animation, which is extremely time consuming. I think it took them like several months to make the first episode. After that they got software to emulate that style.
Yeah honestly I am surprised that South Park has been good for this long. Seriously keeping this pace up must be exhausting for anybody.
lazylazyjoe
Bluelighter
They hand it in the DAY it airs. Every new show is started the day they hand in the current show. They throw around ideas for future shows, but for the most part every show is created in a week.
I think they started doing it around 4th season. Im not positive on that tho.
boardsofcanada
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2010
- Messages
- 118
Jewpachapbra was a decent episode, but is cartman going to be Jewish from now on? That would REALLY change everything. IMO for the worst. But I guess like he said in the episode last week, "I guess the only thing that doesn't change is that things change."
psood0nym
Bluelighter
Those who believe the one week to produce a show philosophy is failing the show should voice their opinions on southparkstudios.com or other more official sites that the employees of the show might be expected to frequent. It's entirely possible that fan opinion can influence corporate practice. Internet based opinion (in concert with DVD sales) brought back both Family Guy and Futurama after cancellation. Money is now invested in response to internet voiced fan opinion when it comes to cult-ish animated shows.
ForEverAfter
Ex-Bluelighter
I hear what you're saying but - in this case - Trey Parker has creative control, full stop. And, clearly, he doesn't give a fuck. So, sending shit to Comedy Central as a middle man for communication between yourself and Trey seems pointless. He's not going to seriously consider the opinions of intelligent fans amongst the constant influx of the opinions of idiots. The problem is that we, the people who actually appreciate his work, blend into the ignorant masses - from his perspective - and cease to exist. Collectively, South Park fans become idiotic by definition. Therefore we are idiots and not worth his time. That is how I would look at it, if I was him. Send complaints in, by all means, but I don't think that it is going to do anything. At this point, the show is beyond salvaging; it has gathered too much momentum towards mediocrity. There has never been a show, in the history of television, that has sunk so low and managed to emerge. Don't expect anything different from South Park.
South Park is dead.
South Park is dead.
CoffeeDrinker
Bluelighter
South Park aint dead you drama queen. It's institutionalized, but it's still got the same funny template as ever. They can have a few clunkers given all the ridiculously funny stuff they've produced.
ForEverAfter
Ex-Bluelighter
It is dead to me. If it was just a case of "a few clunkers" I'd keep watching. The show has been consistently bad for over two years. I stopped watching The Simpsons a couple of years ago. Kept tuning in way after the show became a piece of shit. I was in denial. I wanted to believe that it was just a rut they were in. The same thing goes for South Park. It's difficult for me to accept that the show has gotten as bad as it has. More difficult than it was with The Simpsons. Call me a drama queen if you like, and deny the state of the show. That is to be expected. I can relate.
34-dihydroxyphen
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2007
- Messages
- 2,362
^Meh, I agree that South Park is for the most part finished, as it has been ever since that awful HumanCentI-Pad episode came out, but I don't believe Trey and Matt are malicious about their fans. They just signed a contract that was way too long for them, and South Park has pretty much run its course. People just burn out and grow and evolve, but I do not believe that in that evolution they have moved to despising their fans. They just lost all sense of funny in relation to the show, have other ideas in minds like Book of Mormon, and want it to end. That is my best guess, anyways. Come (2013?), when the contract ends, I imagine we will see a series finale (unlike The Simpsons), and after reading a Trey interview referenced a couple pages back in this thread it appears the South Park crew all feels that way. If he signs a new contract for a shit ton of money even though the show has lost his interest then you are correct, but I seriously believe this isn't happening.
The man isn't malicious, he's just bored, and he has found new ways to make money with his comedy, allowing him the psychological freedom to feel as though moving on is possible without full retirement. It sucks that it happened so long before the contract ends, but it happens.
The man isn't malicious, he's just bored, and he has found new ways to make money with his comedy, allowing him the psychological freedom to feel as though moving on is possible without full retirement. It sucks that it happened so long before the contract ends, but it happens.
ForEverAfter
Ex-Bluelighter
There is an ethical responsibility.
For example, McDonald's has established a quality standard. If they compromise that standard and start producing lower quality products for the same cost, we are entitled to object. Let's say, for the purpose of illustration, that they start using goat meat instead of beef, and remove all of the written assurances on their products that what you are consuming is "100% beef". People will still buy their burgers, out of loyalty, and assume that they are eating beef.
The difference between the McDonald's analogy and South Park is subjectivity. The only reason television shows with established fan bases can get away with lowering the quality of their productions and not facing ethical questions is because you cannot deny that a goat is a goat and a cow is a cow.
George Lucas sincerely believed that his prequel trilogy was just as good as his original trilogy. He did not neglectfully produce a sub-par continuation of his legacy and knowingly disappoint his fans. It is not his fault; his intentions were good. Yet, it has become popular to call the man a monster. Lucas did not breach his ethical responsibility.
Trey Parker is worse than George Lucas. He is not acting out of malice. I never said he was. What he is doing is neglecting and insulting his fans. If he cared about South Park, he would make more of an effort. I know people who work seventy hours a week; people who do double shifts in hospitals; taxi drivers who work all night for nothing. Trey doesn't have any excuse. What, he accidentally signed a contract? Fuck him. If he's doing a job, he should do it properly. There is no excuse for incompetence. He, personally, is being paid over one million dollars per episode; and he doesn't even try. Because, like the McDonald's goat burgers, people will keep eating his shit. He doesn't have to try any more. There is no threat of being fired. There is no motivation for him to produce quality television. No motivation, aside from a non-existent respect for his fan base.
As someone else said, he can hire other writers. Aside from Matt Stone and Trey Parker, there have been twenty-five staff writers working for South Park at different times. If it's so difficult for him to come up with ideas, and he's so busy, boo hoo, then why the fuck doesn't he get some other writers a chance?
I'll tell you why. Because he wants the money for writing every episode.
Writing a television show is a dream job. He is squandering it. Pissing on it. So many people would love to write episodes of South Park and they'd do it better than a jaded uninterested Trey Parker. If I hire someone to build an extension on my house, and they sign a contract, I expect them to build a good fucking extension. That is the deal. That is what they are being paid for. There are no excuses. Especially not if you're being paid one million dollars for one week's work.
Fuck Trey Parker, fuck South Park; he is worse than George Lucas, and the current South Park episodes are worse than Star Wars Episode One through Three.
For example, McDonald's has established a quality standard. If they compromise that standard and start producing lower quality products for the same cost, we are entitled to object. Let's say, for the purpose of illustration, that they start using goat meat instead of beef, and remove all of the written assurances on their products that what you are consuming is "100% beef". People will still buy their burgers, out of loyalty, and assume that they are eating beef.
The difference between the McDonald's analogy and South Park is subjectivity. The only reason television shows with established fan bases can get away with lowering the quality of their productions and not facing ethical questions is because you cannot deny that a goat is a goat and a cow is a cow.
George Lucas sincerely believed that his prequel trilogy was just as good as his original trilogy. He did not neglectfully produce a sub-par continuation of his legacy and knowingly disappoint his fans. It is not his fault; his intentions were good. Yet, it has become popular to call the man a monster. Lucas did not breach his ethical responsibility.
Trey Parker is worse than George Lucas. He is not acting out of malice. I never said he was. What he is doing is neglecting and insulting his fans. If he cared about South Park, he would make more of an effort. I know people who work seventy hours a week; people who do double shifts in hospitals; taxi drivers who work all night for nothing. Trey doesn't have any excuse. What, he accidentally signed a contract? Fuck him. If he's doing a job, he should do it properly. There is no excuse for incompetence. He, personally, is being paid over one million dollars per episode; and he doesn't even try. Because, like the McDonald's goat burgers, people will keep eating his shit. He doesn't have to try any more. There is no threat of being fired. There is no motivation for him to produce quality television. No motivation, aside from a non-existent respect for his fan base.
As someone else said, he can hire other writers. Aside from Matt Stone and Trey Parker, there have been twenty-five staff writers working for South Park at different times. If it's so difficult for him to come up with ideas, and he's so busy, boo hoo, then why the fuck doesn't he get some other writers a chance?
I'll tell you why. Because he wants the money for writing every episode.
Writing a television show is a dream job. He is squandering it. Pissing on it. So many people would love to write episodes of South Park and they'd do it better than a jaded uninterested Trey Parker. If I hire someone to build an extension on my house, and they sign a contract, I expect them to build a good fucking extension. That is the deal. That is what they are being paid for. There are no excuses. Especially not if you're being paid one million dollars for one week's work.
Fuck Trey Parker, fuck South Park; he is worse than George Lucas, and the current South Park episodes are worse than Star Wars Episode One through Three.
34-dihydroxyphen
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2007
- Messages
- 2,362
^Watching a bad episode of South Park is not like eating a nasty ass goat burger when I believed I was eating a cheeseburger. The only thing I feel is a slight depression that one of the greatest comedies of all time has finally reached the place all comedies eventually get to. Comedy is nothing like any of the jobs you mentioned. If you run a factory that produces burgers, you aren't going to all of a sudden go in there and forget how to do the job you've had for 10 years. You may hate it, but you are going to know how to produce those burgers.
Likewise, a builder isn't going to forget how to build and pilot isn't going to forget how to fly and an accountant isn't go to forget how to do books. None of these are art forms (don't get builder confused with architect). Comedy is an art form, but unlike painting or music you either posses some sort of innate talent for it, be it writing or acting or stand-up, or you are simply not cut out to be a comedian. Sure, you can polish your stand-up technique and look around for inspiration and write and rewrite jokes for hours on end, practice 50 different styles of delivery, but if you aren't innately talented at comedy you won't succeed.
While going into some professional form of comedy is very different than getting some laughs in a group setting, everybody in the world experiences what a comedian does every once in a while: one day you are the center of the goddamn party cracking jokes and everybody is laughing their ass off, having a good time, and the next day you try it again and you just aren't funny. Your jokes comes across as mean when they were for some reason acceptable yesterday, or you sound corny and insecure this time, or you find yourself trying to hard to live up to set expectations and become so self-aware that you fail miserably.
This doesn't just happen to people like us at social occasions, this happens to all of the best comedians in the world. There isn't a comedian in the world who absolutely knows that he isn't going to bomb his next show. Even a musician has the luxury of being able to at least play their songs with no major variations from the recorded version when they are psychologically too worn out to manage any creative jamming or soloing. Comedians even fuck up routines that they have done before, all month on a tour, telling the same jokes to different crowds, and for some reason totally fucking up their delivery. While the best comedians do have an uncanny ability to kill it more often than not, there is not a single one who is done bombing.
So Trey Parker managed to keep South Park funny and fresh for over 10 years. Now, he burns out and his contract is a long way from being over. He simply cannot make it funny anymore, and while polishing jokes is important, if you can't even come up with the inspiration for a valid starting point then you are just polishing a turd, which is exactly what these last few episodes have looked like. There is sure to be a financial penalty should he ask for a release, and if a company dicked me around like that I would sit around and take their money until my contract expired as opposed to having to give some of my old paychecks back.
Why is this Trey's fault and not the networks? If I were a comedy writer who had run out of material for a show, and didn't want to run any more episodes unless I found inspiration of some sort, only to be threatened into a lawsuit for breach of contract by some network douche bag who is more concerned with revenue than long term success or personal reputation, I would put crap on the airwaves too. There are always staff-writers available to take over your toughest responsibilities for a small cut, but that is how shows continue to operate as shadows of their former glory several years past their time. It is an even worse way to sell out, to offer something that looks like your product, and promote it, even though you aren't going to have anything to do with it besides reading a copy of every script and rubber stamping it through for the next 10 years. It's better to just give the fans a fair warning interview, complain about your contract as much as you legally can, and leave that bad situation behind you as soon as possible.
At the end of the series, I won't even remember the bad episodes, I'll remember how fucking good it used to be, and how much I grew up with it. There will never be a truly genius comedy like South Park or The Simpsons that manages to remain funny and original forever. I'm honestly overjoyed that South Park remained funny for as long as it did. I have never in my adult life imagined that South Park would remain funny forever. This decline is inevitable in all shows, so when the next show as revolutionary as South Park comes along, be prepared for this day, or worse yet, another Never-Ending-Simpsons situation.
Likewise, a builder isn't going to forget how to build and pilot isn't going to forget how to fly and an accountant isn't go to forget how to do books. None of these are art forms (don't get builder confused with architect). Comedy is an art form, but unlike painting or music you either posses some sort of innate talent for it, be it writing or acting or stand-up, or you are simply not cut out to be a comedian. Sure, you can polish your stand-up technique and look around for inspiration and write and rewrite jokes for hours on end, practice 50 different styles of delivery, but if you aren't innately talented at comedy you won't succeed.
While going into some professional form of comedy is very different than getting some laughs in a group setting, everybody in the world experiences what a comedian does every once in a while: one day you are the center of the goddamn party cracking jokes and everybody is laughing their ass off, having a good time, and the next day you try it again and you just aren't funny. Your jokes comes across as mean when they were for some reason acceptable yesterday, or you sound corny and insecure this time, or you find yourself trying to hard to live up to set expectations and become so self-aware that you fail miserably.
This doesn't just happen to people like us at social occasions, this happens to all of the best comedians in the world. There isn't a comedian in the world who absolutely knows that he isn't going to bomb his next show. Even a musician has the luxury of being able to at least play their songs with no major variations from the recorded version when they are psychologically too worn out to manage any creative jamming or soloing. Comedians even fuck up routines that they have done before, all month on a tour, telling the same jokes to different crowds, and for some reason totally fucking up their delivery. While the best comedians do have an uncanny ability to kill it more often than not, there is not a single one who is done bombing.
So Trey Parker managed to keep South Park funny and fresh for over 10 years. Now, he burns out and his contract is a long way from being over. He simply cannot make it funny anymore, and while polishing jokes is important, if you can't even come up with the inspiration for a valid starting point then you are just polishing a turd, which is exactly what these last few episodes have looked like. There is sure to be a financial penalty should he ask for a release, and if a company dicked me around like that I would sit around and take their money until my contract expired as opposed to having to give some of my old paychecks back.
Why is this Trey's fault and not the networks? If I were a comedy writer who had run out of material for a show, and didn't want to run any more episodes unless I found inspiration of some sort, only to be threatened into a lawsuit for breach of contract by some network douche bag who is more concerned with revenue than long term success or personal reputation, I would put crap on the airwaves too. There are always staff-writers available to take over your toughest responsibilities for a small cut, but that is how shows continue to operate as shadows of their former glory several years past their time. It is an even worse way to sell out, to offer something that looks like your product, and promote it, even though you aren't going to have anything to do with it besides reading a copy of every script and rubber stamping it through for the next 10 years. It's better to just give the fans a fair warning interview, complain about your contract as much as you legally can, and leave that bad situation behind you as soon as possible.
At the end of the series, I won't even remember the bad episodes, I'll remember how fucking good it used to be, and how much I grew up with it. There will never be a truly genius comedy like South Park or The Simpsons that manages to remain funny and original forever. I'm honestly overjoyed that South Park remained funny for as long as it did. I have never in my adult life imagined that South Park would remain funny forever. This decline is inevitable in all shows, so when the next show as revolutionary as South Park comes along, be prepared for this day, or worse yet, another Never-Ending-Simpsons situation.
ForEverAfter
Ex-Bluelighter
The goat burger analogy is sound. Television is not art, it is art-business. Parker is not just a writer, he is also a producer. You have to separate the two. As producer, it is literally part of his job to maintain the quality of the show. As a writer, it is his job to produce the best scripts that he can. He doesn't do either.
If I hire a builder, I expect them to do their best. That is all. I am not insisting that Trey must do something beyond his capabilities. I am insisting that he should try, to the best of his ability, to produce what is contractually and ethically obligated to produce. I do not believe that Trey Parker is incapable of writing a decent episode, and - as I said - he has over two dozen other writers to turn to, if indeed he is. Your assertion that he has "forgotten" how to write, and "simply cannot make it funny" is incorrect. He produces the script within one week of it airing. While it is extraordinary that he has managed to do this for over ten years considering the high quality of the program, perhaps it is time to take a little bit longer. The amount of money he is being paid, it is not justifiable to just phone it in and cash the cheques.
If he is not willing to do what he has been paid to do, he should not be paid. The fact that you would also cash cheques that you don't deserve is irrelevant. Comedy Central is not at fault, at all. There is no evil corporation dicking him around. He is contractually obliged to produce a certain number of episodes. If he does not produce said episodes, he will not be paid. The contract is in place more for the artist than the network. Contracts are broken all the time, by both parties.
It is possible, however unlikely, that there would be legal consequences if Trey opted out of South Park at this point. If a law-suit took place, either way, Trey Parker would still be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Maybe over a billion. He is not "locked in" to a situation that he cannot escape. There is always a way out.
There have been over two dozen South Park writers over the years. South Park is not Trey Parker. He does have creative control, however, and can approve or disapprove any scripts that he is given weeks or months before they air. The assumption that anything written by anybody other than Trey is going to be unworthy of South Park doesn't make any sense to me.
The show already is a shadow of its former self.
I don't know why you're insisting that Trey is the good guy. He isn't. He's not in a tough situation. There is no reason to empathize. There are no imaginary Comedy Central conspirators who are threatening legal action.
Bullshit. It isn't fucking inevitable, man. Jesus.
There have been a lot of shows that ended on the right note. Hell, there have been a lot of shows that only ran for one or two seasons. People always insist that this is a British trait. Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, etcetera. But there are countless US examples too. Eastbound & Down is currently wrapping up it's final season. If they wanted to, they could produce twelve seasons and people would keep tuning in. Danny McBride said that he doesn't want to see the show turn to shit. John Cleese could have produced thirty seasons of Fawlty Towers. But he didn't. Because he didn't want to see the show turn to shit. Trey Parker clearly does not share this integrity, which is ironic considering how much he criticizes the integrity and quality of other television shows.
At the end of the series, I will not regard South Park to be a great show. Because it isn't any more. Neither is The Simpsons. They have written themselves out of the charts. Fawlty Towers is perfect. There is no decline. The same can be said for dozens of programs over the years. Unfortunately, South Park has taken a big shit on itself. You might be able to hose it off and forget about it, but I will always remember the excrement.
If I hire a builder, I expect them to do their best. That is all. I am not insisting that Trey must do something beyond his capabilities. I am insisting that he should try, to the best of his ability, to produce what is contractually and ethically obligated to produce. I do not believe that Trey Parker is incapable of writing a decent episode, and - as I said - he has over two dozen other writers to turn to, if indeed he is. Your assertion that he has "forgotten" how to write, and "simply cannot make it funny" is incorrect. He produces the script within one week of it airing. While it is extraordinary that he has managed to do this for over ten years considering the high quality of the program, perhaps it is time to take a little bit longer. The amount of money he is being paid, it is not justifiable to just phone it in and cash the cheques.
If he is not willing to do what he has been paid to do, he should not be paid. The fact that you would also cash cheques that you don't deserve is irrelevant. Comedy Central is not at fault, at all. There is no evil corporation dicking him around. He is contractually obliged to produce a certain number of episodes. If he does not produce said episodes, he will not be paid. The contract is in place more for the artist than the network. Contracts are broken all the time, by both parties.
It is possible, however unlikely, that there would be legal consequences if Trey opted out of South Park at this point. If a law-suit took place, either way, Trey Parker would still be worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Maybe over a billion. He is not "locked in" to a situation that he cannot escape. There is always a way out.
There have been over two dozen South Park writers over the years. South Park is not Trey Parker. He does have creative control, however, and can approve or disapprove any scripts that he is given weeks or months before they air. The assumption that anything written by anybody other than Trey is going to be unworthy of South Park doesn't make any sense to me.
The show already is a shadow of its former self.
I don't know why you're insisting that Trey is the good guy. He isn't. He's not in a tough situation. There is no reason to empathize. There are no imaginary Comedy Central conspirators who are threatening legal action.
Bullshit. It isn't fucking inevitable, man. Jesus.
There have been a lot of shows that ended on the right note. Hell, there have been a lot of shows that only ran for one or two seasons. People always insist that this is a British trait. Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, etcetera. But there are countless US examples too. Eastbound & Down is currently wrapping up it's final season. If they wanted to, they could produce twelve seasons and people would keep tuning in. Danny McBride said that he doesn't want to see the show turn to shit. John Cleese could have produced thirty seasons of Fawlty Towers. But he didn't. Because he didn't want to see the show turn to shit. Trey Parker clearly does not share this integrity, which is ironic considering how much he criticizes the integrity and quality of other television shows.
At the end of the series, I will not regard South Park to be a great show. Because it isn't any more. Neither is The Simpsons. They have written themselves out of the charts. Fawlty Towers is perfect. There is no decline. The same can be said for dozens of programs over the years. Unfortunately, South Park has taken a big shit on itself. You might be able to hose it off and forget about it, but I will always remember the excrement.
34-dihydroxyphen
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Feb 14, 2007
- Messages
- 2,362
He is doing what he is getting paid to do. They pay him to create new South Park episodes, they don't pay him to be funny anymore. The sad truth is that I still watch the new episodes, even though I know they will suck, in the hope that I find a diamond in the rough somewhere. The execs know this, and I doubt they are losing ratings due to the incredible draw that South Park is. It has only been bad for about two years, it will take a lot longer than that for most viewers to give up watching new episodes, especially considering there are only about 16 a year. With DVRs being standard in most homes, it isn't even necessary to make a commitment to stay home on Wednesday night to watch it. No matter how bad it gets, the networks and Parker (whoever you blame) aren't losing any money for a long time. The brand is more important than the content inside of it.
I just looked up their current contracts and it turns out that Parker signed on until 2016, even after all that bitching about their contract ending in 2013. So yeah, that does change my opinion a little bit. I was truly holding out hope that at least the show would end with only a couple bad seasons under it, but it appears that like The Simpsons before it South Park will go on forever. Parker and Stone are admitted sellouts, as I believe I had previously mentioned somewhere in my tweaked out posts, but after that interview I felt there was a limit they had reached. If you combine the grand master asshole of parent companies that is Viacom with a couple of morally unscrupulous writers who have no motivation or inspiration besides the obscene levels of money they receive, this is what you get.
Additionally, it appears to me that Comedy Central isn't doing too well at finding new programming. The Daily Show and Colbert Report have really loyal and consistent followers, but other than those and South Park nothing they offer is truly a national hit. I enjoy Ugly Americans, but it isn't the next South Park or Chappelle for them. I would guess there are concerns that if South Park goes, the network will stagnate. As I said before, the South Park brand is more important than the content of the episode, as it is still a few years before people get so fed up or bored that they remove it from their DVR's and/or change the channel. So the creators of the show are being paid to churn out episodes, being funny is only an expectation from fans. A reasonable one, I know, but I still believe lack of inspiration was once the primary cause. Now they don't try because they got an extension after bitching about their lack of inspiration and airing a horrible season.
Meh, I would likely do what they did too, if the network essentially gave them the OK to not even try anymore. If the star writer/director/producer of a show is having difficulty meeting deadlines with quality material, you find out what they need in order to get back to their old stride. Networks typically have to be more flexible with comedians than any other group, because many really do lose their edge if they are under too much pressure to produce too much content. And on the other end of the spectrum if you enable them by signing them to a longer contract after their absolute worst season ever, guaranteeing they get a steady paycheck (or at least a hefty buyout should the absolute worst case occur for them) through 2016 no matter what, what incentive do they have to return to making quality episodes, when they have proven they can turn in processed sewage for a season and the network will not bring up any complaints? It seems to me someone in upper management should have the insight to realize that while ratings are still going to be outstanding this year, and probably next year and the year after that, they will eventually begin to plummet when fans stop giving a fuck.
And when I was referring to the inevitable decline of television shows it should be obvious, based on the context of my previous posts complaining about South Park being on too long, that the inevitable decline refers to shows that are on for longer periods of time. If a show creator has the wisdom and integrity to wrap-up a show while it is still on top, then obviously they are exempt from declining. All of the creators who do this are aware that no matter how outstanding a show may be to begin with, if they attempt to keep it on the air forever it will decline. It appears to me that most show creators either believe they are for some reason exempt from declining in quality or they feel that the money they make by keeping a show going long after burning out is well worth the damage to their own artistic integrity and reputation(combine this with studio pressure encouraging them in these beliefs).
I just looked up their current contracts and it turns out that Parker signed on until 2016, even after all that bitching about their contract ending in 2013. So yeah, that does change my opinion a little bit. I was truly holding out hope that at least the show would end with only a couple bad seasons under it, but it appears that like The Simpsons before it South Park will go on forever. Parker and Stone are admitted sellouts, as I believe I had previously mentioned somewhere in my tweaked out posts, but after that interview I felt there was a limit they had reached. If you combine the grand master asshole of parent companies that is Viacom with a couple of morally unscrupulous writers who have no motivation or inspiration besides the obscene levels of money they receive, this is what you get.
Additionally, it appears to me that Comedy Central isn't doing too well at finding new programming. The Daily Show and Colbert Report have really loyal and consistent followers, but other than those and South Park nothing they offer is truly a national hit. I enjoy Ugly Americans, but it isn't the next South Park or Chappelle for them. I would guess there are concerns that if South Park goes, the network will stagnate. As I said before, the South Park brand is more important than the content of the episode, as it is still a few years before people get so fed up or bored that they remove it from their DVR's and/or change the channel. So the creators of the show are being paid to churn out episodes, being funny is only an expectation from fans. A reasonable one, I know, but I still believe lack of inspiration was once the primary cause. Now they don't try because they got an extension after bitching about their lack of inspiration and airing a horrible season.
Meh, I would likely do what they did too, if the network essentially gave them the OK to not even try anymore. If the star writer/director/producer of a show is having difficulty meeting deadlines with quality material, you find out what they need in order to get back to their old stride. Networks typically have to be more flexible with comedians than any other group, because many really do lose their edge if they are under too much pressure to produce too much content. And on the other end of the spectrum if you enable them by signing them to a longer contract after their absolute worst season ever, guaranteeing they get a steady paycheck (or at least a hefty buyout should the absolute worst case occur for them) through 2016 no matter what, what incentive do they have to return to making quality episodes, when they have proven they can turn in processed sewage for a season and the network will not bring up any complaints? It seems to me someone in upper management should have the insight to realize that while ratings are still going to be outstanding this year, and probably next year and the year after that, they will eventually begin to plummet when fans stop giving a fuck.
And when I was referring to the inevitable decline of television shows it should be obvious, based on the context of my previous posts complaining about South Park being on too long, that the inevitable decline refers to shows that are on for longer periods of time. If a show creator has the wisdom and integrity to wrap-up a show while it is still on top, then obviously they are exempt from declining. All of the creators who do this are aware that no matter how outstanding a show may be to begin with, if they attempt to keep it on the air forever it will decline. It appears to me that most show creators either believe they are for some reason exempt from declining in quality or they feel that the money they make by keeping a show going long after burning out is well worth the damage to their own artistic integrity and reputation(combine this with studio pressure encouraging them in these beliefs).