One of the most endearing traits of the raunchy cartoon comedy known as South Park is its large cast of zany, often over-the-top characters. Whether reoccurring or recently introduced, adult or child, there's a seemingly endless array of these memorable characters, which provide tons of laughs and often act as the personification of caricatures and societal spoofs.
Given that South Park has now been airing for over two decades, there are bound to be some players that have worn out their welcome, lost their luster, or just feel somewhat dated. Yet, this also means that some of the older characters may have gotten lost in the shuffle. Maybe they've been cruelly killed, phased out, or relegated to the status of "background extra."
With that said, let's go down to South Park and reexamine 5 of these old characters we miss, along with 5 that could probably be done away with.
We Miss: Ms. Crabtree
There's something that just feels very old-school, nostalgic "South Park" about the boys getting on the bus every day for school in the early days to the screaming tirades of Veronica Crabtree. This constantly agitated bus driver was so emphatic in her shouting and constant anger at everything, that you just couldn't help but laugh - even if the shtick did get a bit old after awhile.
While she wasn't exactly one of the most likable SP characters ever, she certainly deserved a longer run than the handful of seasons she featured in. This is especially the case given the harsh way in which she went out, murdered during the season 8 episode, "Cartman's Incredible Gift." Officer Harrison Yates said it best - "she may not have been in any recent episodes, but dammit she deserved better than this!"
Phased Out: Mr. Hankey
This somehow lovable talking piece of Christmas poo seems to have sort of worn out his welcome, and we're not just referring to his being cast away from the town of South Park after sending angry tweets.
While he certainly had his charm, he seems to exist for little more purpose other than the "go-to" reoccurring character during Christmas episodes of SP. On top of this, he's just not that funny. Mr. Hankey largely represents a more subdued, crude, and more juvenile era of South Park in its first 4 or 5 seasons, before it really blossomed in terms of nuance and cleverness. You could say this character, well, just sort of stinks.
We Miss: Saddam
You might say this hilariously cartoony portrayal of the brutal dictator of Iraq is pretty absurd and goofy even for South Park standards. Yet, the show thrives best when it embraces these off-the-wall traits, and this wacky love interest to Satan has them in spades.
Debuting during the hilarious South Park movie from '99, he's popped up in various episodes including "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" and "It's Christmas in Canada," providing much of the humor for each. Since then, we really haven't seen much of him. This is a shame, considering how crude and zany this prototypical South Park caricature can be.
Regardless of how many times he's killed, he can always come back. After all - "where's he going to go, Detroit?"
Phased Out: PC Principal
One of the lynchpins of a new era of South Park going full-throttle in mocking political correctness, PC Principal hit the scene in the episode "Stunning and Brave," the season 19 debut. He's provided many laughs in his over-the-top spoofing of the excesses of PC culture; a topic that can certainly provide some fodder for comedy.
Though South Park is often a show that prides itself on topical humor, and the PC thing is getting a bit old hat at this point, as is the in-show representation of it. You can say there was a time this stuff was on a major upswing and could use a good mocking, but years later, it just feels a bit too easy; like beating a dead horse.
If anything, PC Principal now is better left as a quick callback to a throwaway gag, much like his brief rant about certain costumes in the recent Halloween special. But as a major character and central focus? Not so much.
We Miss: Dr. Mephesto
There's a reason the South Park game, The Fractured But Whole, built up to such a funny and climactic end scene - it centered around an old friend who's essentially gone MIA these days. Once a staple character who's engaged in keys acts like helping Cartman find out who his father is, he's now barely even seen. Even in recent seasons, we only get the occasional episode like "Bike Parade," which briefly shows him amongst a crowd sans dialogue.
Maybe Mephesto wasn't the funniest character ever, but regardless, the crazy scientific exploits of this mad doctor provided plenty of entertainment, and by this point, a feeling of nostalgia that's been missed in the show.
Phased Out: Tweek
Aside from his fitting role as the hyperactive, paranoid youth having fits over the current state of American society, and being essentially peer-pressured into being a companion of Craig's, there just hasn't been much point to Tweek lately. His quirky, somewhat geeky demeanor is turf that's already well-covered by the even quirkier and naive Butters, and his constantly agitated, caffeinated state just gets irritating rather quick.
It's certainly not a requirement that every character on South Park should be hilarious, but at the very least, they shouldn't be a source of frequent irritation.
We Miss: Pip
As we've established, the amusingly dimwitted Butters has largely usurped the role of the "punching bag" character that gets picked on. Still, there's a unique quality to this uptight, goodie-goodie English character that Butters can't quite fulfill. Sure, Pip wasn't a laugh riot, but we can't help but feel that this chipper, downtrodden child's character was far too neglected and unrealized, given how fast he met his end in season fourteen's "201," getting squashed by Mecha-Streisand.
Even before this, Pip only played a predominant role in a handful of early South Park episodes, usually just existing as the butt of the joke for our 4 lead characters.
Phased Out: Mr. Mackey
In fairness, we do love this quirky, big-headed school guidance counselor; or at least we did. After all, he's one of the funnier characters with his sternness and obliviousness, and he's been with us pretty much since the beginning.
Still, despite the countless laughs Mr. Mackey's given us - beyond just his tick of adding "m'kay" after everything - he's beginning to feel like a joke that's lost its impact. Even some of the funniest characters can be overdone, and you can certainly count Mackey in that group. As he's been prominently featured in dozens of episodes, he's just beginning to feel worn out and dated at this point.
We Miss: Chef
Yes, the late great Isaac Hayes and the SP showrunners had parted ways following the episode, "Trapped in the Closet," which poked fun at Scientology - leading to Chef being phased out. Still, the violent way he was killed in the show probably wasn't too necessary...
Regardless of the reason, we still miss this cheery, musical school chef, who was always ready to hit the kids with some wisdom, often in the form of a soulful, jaunty song. While the show has certainly evolved in certain ways, it has never quite felt the same without this longtime major player in the town of South Park.
Phased Out: Towelie
Even before his frequent appearances in recent episodes with the "Tegridy Farms" motif, this odd towel character felt "worn out and dry" in terms of humor. But now that he's made such an emphatic return, he just feels all the more lame and pointless. His new dynamic with Stan's dad as they try to run Tegridy Farms together has provided bouts of amusement, though this mostly stems from the far funnier Randy.
For a character whose "shtick" is that he's always high on marijuana, Towelie sure isn't that funny.