Content warning: references to drugs, sex, and violence.
South Park: The Streaming Wars proves that there's still plenty of comedy left in the tank for the long-running animated series. The lasting popularity of the profane satire South Park lies in the creators' ability to speak to socio-political and cultural issues in an entertaining way that usually never comes across as didactic - and when a character does get on a soapbox, it's always played for a meta laugh.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone ranked their show for Entertainment Weekly, listing their 15 favorite episodes and the 53 they wish never happened (95% of those are all the episodes from Seasons 1-3). The following 12 episodes of those original 15 have the highest scores on IMDb, making them both creator and fan-approved.
Dances With Smurfs (8.1)
After the untimely death of the morning announcement reader, Cartman inserts himself in the role and automatically begins blaming everything wrong with the school on his greatest nemesis: Wendy Testaburger.
The episode parodies sensationalist talk-radio hosts like Glenn Beck. Cartman's hatred-fueled tangents come to a head when he falsely accuses Wendy of having a secret agenda to kill Smurfs, turning the rest of the student body against her. It is a head-shaking moment that speaks to an all-too-real problem in modern times.
Imaginationland Trilogy (8.4)
It's clear to see why Parker and Stone are proud of the Emmy-winning three-episode-arc-turned-movie that introduced the Council of Nine, brought back the Woodland Critters, and featured a vulgar bet between Kyle and Cartman.
South Park is known for pushing way beyond the accepted "rule of three" in comedy. The show keeps a joke going until the viewer is so over it that the joke becomes funny again. This is showcased perfectly during Kyle's telepathic discussion with Stan, Jesus, Luke Skywalker, Superman, et al.
Major Boobage (8.7)
This Kenny-centric South Park classic pokes fun at ridiculous and dangerous teenage trends; more importantly, how teens usually first hear about said trends when adults and/or the media warn them against doing it.
While this episode is satire at its finest, Parker and Stone probably ranked it so high due to the amount of work put into the animation, with Kenny's cat-pee-induced highs transporting him to a world that echoes the style of Heavy Metal. Satire aside, "Major Boobage" is also a great example of the show's frequent use of surreal humor.
With Apologies To Jesse Jackson (8.8)
Before Randy's rise to prominence in South Park, he proved his comedic worth in this Season 11 episode. While competing for $30,000 on Wheel of Fortune, he makes a botched attempt to solve the puzzle. The answer is "nagger," but that's not what Randy says on live air.
Token's story is the heart of the episode: all he wants is for Stan to stop saying he understands. He also has the best one-liner: "Jesse Jackson is not the emperor of Black people!" The episode proves that hidden behind South Park's scatological humor is shrewd and mindful writing.
Woodland Critter Christmas (9.1)
This Season 8 Christmas episode served as the introduction to Satan-worshipping forest-dwelling animals who enlist Stan to help them raise the Antichrist. Not only is this episode hilariously off-the-wall, but it also features some great writing.
The creators have used musical numbers often; here they use rhyming narration to tell the story. It takes a meta turn at the end with the reveal of everything being a story written by Cartman for a school assignment, who can't resist making fun of Kyle's Jewishness at Christmastime - a long-running gag.
Trapped In The Closet (9.1)
This infamous Season 9 episode features Stan being recognized by the Church of Scientology as the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard and consequently bombarded by devout followers including John Travolta and Tom Cruise.
There is much to praise here, like the biting satire, the enduring one-liners, and Cruise's histrionics. But the true spine of the episode is summed up by Stan in his customary speech at the end of the episode: "We're all looking for answers[...]But sometimes we want to know the answers so badly that we'd believe just about anything."
The Death of Eric Cartman (9.1)
The boys put up with a lot from Cartman over the years, but him eating the skin off of every piece of chicken in the KFC bucket was a dealbreaker. Cartman's ego won't allow him to admit his friends are angry; instead, he constructs a convoluted reason to explain why they start ignoring him - he's dead.
This was one of Butters' - and South Park's - best episodes, and showcased Cartman's destructive, manipulative, egomaniacal personality and his uncanny ability to find a way out of every sticky situation he puts himself in. The nonstop jokes are laugh-out-loud-funny from beginning to end.
Good Times With Weapons (9.1)
This fun episode is beloved by both fans and creators for its inventive use of two very different animation styles, crazed antics, and hidden satire. The best moment occurs when Kenny whips a shuriken into Butters' eye - it's the South Park version of Ralphie's misadventures with his air rifle in A Christmas Story, though the boys' attempt at covering up their faux pas is not.
Beneath the slick animation are metaphors for the hypocrisy of American society's simultaneous prudishness about sex and celebration of violence - and how easy it is to gain access to a gun.
AWESOM-O (9.2)
Fans were so well-versed in South Park's antics by Season 8 that this crafty episode doesn't bother with an introduction to the premise. It is also unique for having one of the only storylines in which Butters triumphs over Cartman.
Along the way, the show lampooned Hollywood, the U.S. military, Britney Spears, Adam Sandler, and sexbots. But the very best moment is when a worn-out and emaciated Cartman desperately eats a tube of toothpaste, which Stone called one of his favorite scenes in the entire series.
Make Love Not Warcraft (9.5)
This Emmy-winning Season 10 episode has the second-highest score on IMDb, with only "Scott Tenorman Must Die" ahead of it. The show's acclaimed imitation of World of Warcraft's animation style was created with help from Blizzard Entertainment, per SouthPark.cc.com.
Some of the best jokes in South Park are wordless, like the boys lamenting being beaten by "one tough badass," only for the next frame to silently show a middle-aged slob glued to his computer screen. The humor in this episode serves as a microcosm of the entire series: it's surreal, sharp, gross-out, and satirical.