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96-410: Trey Parker and Matt Stone considered alternative storylines, but decided it would be best if the show "reset" back to normal. They both noted that doing the opposite would have put too much emphasis on drama, rather than comedy. The writers had the idea to center an episode on the "Ass Burgers" pun for several years, but did not think discussion and awareness of the disorder had entered pop culture to

192-631: A Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album . The production has since expanded to two national tours, a Chicago production, UK production, and as of 2014 Parker and Stone had confirmed that a film adaption was in pre-production. With sufficient funds from their work on South Park and The Book of Mormon , the duo announced plans to create their own production studio, Important Studios, in January 2013. The studio will approve projects ranging from films to television to theatre. On April 13, 2016, Universal Pictures announced Trey Parker would voice

288-598: A Grammy Award for The Book of Mormon , and an Academy Award nomination for the song " Blame Canada " from the South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut movie, co-written with Marc Shaiman . Parker was born in Conifer, Colorado , the son of insurance saleswoman Sharon and geologist Randolph "Randy" Parker II. He was a shy child who received "decent" grades and was involved in honors classes. He idolized Monty Python , which he began watching on television in

384-465: A $ 900 million deal with Paramount Global to make six additional seasons of South Park and 14 movies in the South Park universe for streaming. In September 2021, Parker and Stone reached an agreement to purchase Casa Bonita for $ 3.1 million. A group named "Save Casa Bonita" filed an objection to Parker and Stone's purchase, pointing out that they had in fact made an offer first. Their objection

480-488: A 2014 video game based on the series that received positive reviews and for which they shared (with Eric Fenstermaker) the 2014 Writing In A Comedy and Parker won the Performance in a Comedy, Supporting award by National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers (NAVGTR). Broadcast syndication rights to South Park were sold in 2003, and all episodes are available for free full-length on-demand legal streaming on

576-576: A Japanese porn company called Kuki, who wanted to feature its performers in mainstream Western media. Independent distributor October Films purchased the rights to the film for one million dollars after its screening at the Toronto International Film Festival . The film received an NC-17 rating from the Motion Picture Association of America , which resulted in the poor box office performance of

672-706: A September 2006 edition of the ABC News program Nightline , Parker expressed his views on religion, stating that he believes in "a God " and that "there is knowledge that humanity does not yet possess" while cautioning that it would take a long time to explain exactly what he meant by his belief in God. Parker believes all religions are "silly". He stated: "All the religions are super funny to me... The story of Jesus makes no sense to me. God sent His only Son. Why could God only have one son and why would He have to die? It's just bad writing, really. And it's really terrible in about

768-454: A career in film and music. He made short films on the weekends with a group of friends, beginning when he was 14. His father had purchased him a video camera and the group continued making films until graduation. He became interested in pursuing music at 17, but only comedy-centered songs; he wrote and recorded a full-length comedy album, Immature: A Collection of Love Ballads For The '80's Man , with friend David Goodman during this time. As

864-407: A comment on the show's long run and its creators exhaustion with producing episodes. They wrote the episode without a conclusion in mind, resolving to figure it out upon their return to producing episodes in the fall. The first pieces of animation completed for the episode were its opening scenes, in which normal South Park events are played out while Stan stands depressed. Parker summarized the tone of

960-587: A construction paper animation technique on American History (1992), a short film made for his college animation class. It became an unexpected sensation, resulting in Parker's first award—a Student Academy Award. Parker recalled sitting in the auditorium in front of students from animation schools such as CalArts , saying, "And there are all these Cal Arts kids behind me who had submitted these beautiful watercolor and pencil things. And here's my shitty construction-paper thing, which makes South Park look like Disney , by

1056-399: A conversation between him and Kyle over the ingredient, but when Kyle tells Stan that only Cartman knows the secret ingredient, the restaurant agents storm the stand before the severely drunk freedom fighters arrive and gun them down. Stan, however, refuses to drink any more whiskey, and realizes that although he may no longer be with both of his parents and Kyle is no longer his best friend, he

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1152-414: A feature film out of the experience of making that movie because it was just two dudes from college suddenly directing Steven Spielberg," Parker later remarked, noting that the experience was difficult for the two. During the time between shooting the pilots for Time Warped , Parker penned the script for a film titled Orgazmo , which later entered production. Half of the budget for the picture came from

1248-485: A food stand with Kyle called Cartman Burger, at which he will sell hamburgers that had their flavor enhanced by being placed inside his underwear. While intoxicated, Stan unsuccessfully attempts to make amends with Kyle, who explains that things have irreversibly changed and he must remain with Cartman Burger. The next day, Stan is sent armed to a secret meeting being attended by corporate representatives of America's most popular fast-food chains, which have lost business due to

1344-417: A funnier show. Although initial reviews for the show were negative in reference to its crass humor, the series has received numerous accolades, including five Primetime Emmy Awards , a Peabody Award , and numerous inclusions in various publications' lists of greatest television shows. Though its viewership is lower than it was at the height of its popularity in its earliest seasons, South Park remains one of

1440-515: A hint that Trey and Matt were sick of their own antics and ready to usher in a new era of exciting changes, the boldest guys in the biz appear to be going back to what's safe and comfortable and familiar." Trey Parker Randolph Severn " Trey " Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, writer, producer, director, and musician. He is best known for co-creating South Park (since 1997) and The Book of Mormon (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone . Parker

1536-412: A light purple jacket, yellow pants, navy blue gloves/mittens, and a pink beret . In the rare instances where Wendy is seen without her hat, she has long black hair with uneven bangs. While Mary Kay Bergman, Eliza Schneider and Mona Marshall originally voiced Wendy without any computer manipulation, April Stewart now speaks within her normal vocal range while adding a childlike inflection. The recorded audio

1632-670: A list entitled "The Top 20 Best South Park Characters" and praised her for her oppositions of the politically incorrect portrayal of society. TVOvermind ranked her #8 on a list entitled "Ten of the Best Non-Lead South Park Characters", praising her utilization of realism and political voice-of-reason, also criticizing her lack of prominence in the more recent seasons of South Park . Wendy appears in many South Park -related media and merchandise, such as its 1999 musical comedy adaptation South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut and its video games South Park

1728-568: A musical centering on Mormonism during the production of Team America . Lopez, a fan of South Park and creator of the puppet musical Avenue Q , met with the duo after a performance of the musical, where they conceived the idea. The musical, titled The Book of Mormon: The Musical of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , was worked on over a period of several years; working around their South Park schedule, they flew between New York City and Los Angeles often, first writing songs for

1824-460: A nameless background character in Trey Parker and Matt Stone 's 1995 college short film The Spirit of Christmas , and made her first appearance on television when South Park initially premiered on Comedy Central on August 13, 1997, with the episode " Cartman Gets an Anal Probe ". She is currently voiced by April Stewart , and has previously been voiced by three different voice actors in

1920-460: A prequel to Dumb and Dumber , which was never completed. Parker and Stone signed a deal with Comedy Central in April 1998 that contracted the duo to producing South Park episodes until 1999, gave them a slice of the lucrative spinoff merchandising the show generated within its first year, as well as an unspecified seven-figure cash bonus to bring the show to the big screen, in theaters. During

2016-507: A semester at Berklee College of Music before transferring to the University of Colorado Boulder . Parker majored in both film and Japanese . During his time there, he took a film class in which students were required to collaborate on projects. In the course, he met Matt Stone —a math major from the nearby town of Littleton —and the two immediately bonded over provocative, anti-authoritarian humor and Monty Python. Parker's first film

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2112-527: A small cable network...the economics of it were just not going to work." Comedy Central continued the show in reruns, considering it a creative and critical success. Parker believed the show would not have survived after the September 11 attacks anyway, and Stone agreed, saying the show would not "play well". During this time, the duo also signed a deal with Shockwave.com to produce 39 animated online shorts, in which they would retain full artistic control;

2208-602: A stepson through this relationship. Their daughter was born in 2013. The couple divorced in 2019, citing irreconcilable differences. While they remain divorced, they have since reconciled to co-parent their child. Parker resides in Los Angeles, California . He owns properties in Steamboat Springs, Colorado ; Kauai, Hawaii ; Seattle, Washington ; and Midtown Manhattan in New York City . In

2304-610: A teenager, Parker developed a love for musical theatre and joined the Evergreen Players, a venerable mountain community theater outside of Denver. At 14, he performed his first role as chorus member in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and Flower Drum Song and went on to also design sets for the community theater's production of Little Shop of Horrors . In high school, he also played piano for

2400-473: A time, a lifestyle that involved partying with women and "out-of-control binges" in Las Vegas . Their philosophy of taking every deal (which had surfaced as a result of their lack of trust in the early success of South Park ) led to their appearances in films, albums, and outside script deals. Among these were BASEketball , a 1998 comedy film that became a critical and commercial flop, and rights to produce

2496-450: A toll on both filmmakers, as did various difficulties in working with puppets, with Stone, who described the film as "the worst time of [my] life", resorting to coffee to work 20-hour days and sleeping pills to go to bed. The film was barely completed in time for its October release date, but reviews were positive and the film made a modest sum at the box office. Parker and Stone, alongside writer-composer Robert Lopez , began working on

2592-409: A video Christmas card that he could send to friends. In turn, the duo created the aforementioned sequel. Wendy is portrayed as more level-headed and mature than her peers, often getting good grades and protesting world issues. For example, in the episode " Breast Cancer Show Ever " she writes an essay in regards to breast cancer and expresses her condolences to the disease's patients. However, Wendy

2688-530: A video greeting card (for which he paid with his own money) that he could send to friends. Both Jesus vs. Frosty and Jesus vs. Santa had The Spirit of Christmas as opening credits. Graden sent the film on VHS to several industry executives in Hollywood; meanwhile, someone digitized the short film and put it on the internet, where it became one of the first viral videos . As Jesus vs. Santa became more popular, Parker and Stone began talks of developing

2784-488: A year because he could not afford to purchase a mattress. They unsuccessfully pitched a children's program titled Time Warped to Fox Kids , which would have involved fictionalized stories of people in history. The trio created two separate pilots, spaced a year apart, and despite the approval of Fox Broadcasting Company development executive Pam Brady , the network disbanded the Fox Kids division. David Zucker , who

2880-539: Is also shown to be rather narcissistic, especially when confronted with a female who she perceives to be higher than her in the social hierarchy. Examples of this can be found in the episode " Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society ", in which the attention Bebe is receiving from boys prompts Wendy to get breast enhancement surgery, as well as in the episode " Tom's Rhinoplasty ", in which Wendy pays to have an attractive new teacher killed. Due to her liberal views, Wendy frequently comes into conflict with Eric Cartman . For instance, in

2976-416: Is greeted by a doctor who introduces him to the other patients, all exhibiting an assortment of odd behaviors. When left alone, however, all the people quickly drop their act, and the false doctor reveals that not only do none of those present have the condition, they do not even believe that it exists. Stan learns that the center is actually a front for cynical self-perceived freedom fighters who believe that

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3072-633: Is now excited by the prospect of change rather than scared of it, claiming this could be the start of new, original adventures for everybody. However, Randy appears and announces that he and Sharon have worked out their differences and are reconciling. This surprises and upsets Stan, and he relapses into depression as, in a montage, which is once again set to Fleetwood Mac's song " Landslide ", everything returns to normal. The Marshes move back into their home together, Stan reconciles with his girlfriend Wendy , and Kyle breaks off his friendship with Cartman and gets Cartman Burger shut down after finding out what

3168-446: Is portrayed to give the impression that the show still uses its construction paper technique. In tradition of the show's animation style, Wendy is composed of simple geometrical shapes and colors, and she is not offered the same free range associated with most hand-drawn characters; her character is typically shown from one angle and animated in an intentionally crude fashion. Wendy is usually depicted wearing winter attire consisting of

3264-493: Is then edited with Pro Tools , and the pitch is altered to make the voice sound more like that of a fourth grader. Fellow co-creator Stone has stated that Wendy's name is based on that of Wendy Westaburger, the wife of a friend from his childhood. Wendy first appeared in the 1995 sequel to Stone and Parker's 1992 film The Spirit of Christmas , Jesus vs. Santa , which was developed after Fox executive Brian Graden paid Stone and Parker $ 1,000 to make another animated short as

3360-569: The Broadway musical The Book of Mormon . To dissuade any critics from believing their newfound acclaim on the Great White Way would somehow make South Park more mature, they titled the episode "Ass Burgers," a pun on Asperger syndrome . They had the idea to center an episode of the disorder's name several years prior, but it had not entered the pop culture consciousness in a way that Parker and Stone felt enough people would be aware of

3456-566: The left as we do on the right. People on the far left and the far right are the same exact person to us. Wendy Testaburger Tolkien Black ( ex-boyfriend ) Wendy Testaburger is a fictional character in the adult animated television series South Park . She is the primary female character in the show, and has an on-again, off-again relationship with her boyfriend Stan Marsh . Being more intelligent and mature than most children her age, Wendy finds expression in her activism , environmentalism and feminism . Wendy debuted as

3552-401: The only child and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Testaburger . In the episode " Tom's Rhinoplasty ", it is revealed by Principal Victoria that her grandmother died during the events of the episode, in reference to the scene in the 1986 John Hughes film Ferris Bueller's Day Off , where the nurse informs Sloane of the same news. During the show's first 58 episodes – "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" to

3648-459: The season 4 episode " Fourth Grade " – Wendy is a third-grade student in Mr. Garrison's class. Starting with the aforementioned "Fourth Grade", Wendy's grade, along with all the other major child characters', transfers to the fourth and remains as such due to the floating timeline of the series. In the future, beginning with the film South Park: Post Covid , Wendy now had a husband named Darwin. At

3744-577: The third grade . His later ventures into animation would bear considerable influence from Terry Gilliam . In the sixth grade, Parker wrote a sketch titled The Dentist and appeared in his school's talent show. He played the dentist and had a friend play the patient. The plot involved what can go wrong at the dentist; due to the amounts of fake blood involved, Parker's parents were called and were upset, with Parker later recalling that "the kindergartners were all crying and freaking out". Parker has described himself as "the typical big-dream kid" who envisioned

3840-499: The aforementioned "Breast Cancer Show Ever", Wendy engages in a violent fight with Cartman due to his mockery of the subject of breast cancer. Wendy tends to be outcast by her girlfriends for not giving into peer pressure: In " Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset ", she refuses to participate in the trend of emulating notorious celebrity Paris Hilton , deeming her a bad influence towards the female youth, which leads to betrayal by her female peers. One of Wendy's most defining traits over

3936-411: The box office. Parker and Stone continue to write, direct, and voice most characters on South Park . Over time, the show has adopted a unique production process, in which an entire episode is written, animated and broadcast in one week. Parker and Stone state that subjecting themselves to a one-week deadline creates more spontaneity amongst themselves in the creative process, which they feel results in

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4032-464: The chorus and was president of the choir counsel. As Evergreen was nationally known for its choir program, Parker was a very popular high school student, connected to his position as the head of the choir. He was typically the lead in school plays and was also prom king. While in school, Parker had a part-time job at a Pizza Hut and was described as a film geek and music buff. Following his graduation from Evergreen High School in 1988, Parker spent

4128-415: The course of the series is her on-again, off-again relationship with Stan Marsh . Despite the problematic elements of their relationship, Stan is still shown to have feelings for Wendy whenever the two break up; in the episode " Raisins ", he is left devastated for weeks after she dumps him in favor of Tolkien Black and joins an alliance of goth children as a result. The two reconcile their relationship at

4224-426: The end of " Deep Learning ". Time featured Wendy on a list entitled "The Top 26 Best Female TV Cartoon Characters". IGN ranked the character #22 on "The Top 25 Best South Park Characters" and described her as the " Courtney Love of the series" stating that "if she wasn't the girlfriend of someone important, we probably wouldn't have initially paid any attention to her at all." PasteMagazine ranked her at #12 on

4320-476: The end of " The List ". After a second breakup (initiated by Stan in " Go Fund Yourself ") and reconciliation during Season 18, she breaks up with him a third time at the end of " Skank Hunt " after giving in to pressure from her girlfriends. In the video game South Park: The Fractured but Whole , Wendy and Stan are shown together as their respective superhero alter egos, Call Girl and Toolshed, with flirtatious dialogue. Wendy and Stan resume their relationship at

4416-436: The end of the film South Park: Post Covid: The Return of Covid , she reunites with Stan, hinting at a future relationship. In the 1995 short The Spirit of Christmas and South Park ' s debut episode, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", Wendy is composed of construction paper and animated through the use of stop motion . Starting with " Weight Gain 4000 " onwards, she is animated via computer software, though her appearance

4512-402: The extent that enough people would understand the joke. The episode received mixed reviews from television critics, who either praised the show's return to form or criticized it for becoming formulaic. In its original American broadcast, "Ass Burgers" was watched by 2.941 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research . "Ass Burgers" was released on DVD and Blu-ray along with the rest of

4608-721: The festival. They intended to sell video rights to the film for $ 1 million and spend the remaining $ 900,000 to create another film. The film was instead sold to Troma Entertainment in 1996 where it was retitled Cannibal! The Musical , and upon the duo's later success, it became their biggest-selling title. It has since been labeled a " cult classic " and adapted into a stage play by community theater groups and even high schools nationwide. We were sleeping on floors thinking, Wow, another two weeks and we're going to be fucking rich. And pretty soon two weeks turns into two months, and two months turns into two years, and you definitely stop listening. Parker on his early career Following

4704-425: The fifteenth season on March 27, 2012. Following the events of the previous episode , Stan is attempting to adapt to his parents' divorce while his cynicism causes him to explode in class out of frustration. Stan's depression is diagnosed as Asperger syndrome because he received a flu vaccination a year earlier, although the veracity of this claim is uncertain. Taken to an Asperger's Group Therapy Center, Stan

4800-473: The film's success, the group, sans Hardin, moved to Los Angeles . Upon arrival, they met a lawyer for the William Morris Agency who connected them with producer Scott Rudin . As a result, the duo acquired a lawyer, an agent, and a script deal. Despite initially believing themselves to be on the verge of success, the duo struggled for several years. Stone slept on dirty laundry for upwards of

4896-469: The film. It will be distributed by Paramount Pictures . The live-action film comedy, written by Vernon Chatman , addresses racial issues. Production is expected to begin in the spring of 2023. Parker married Emma Sugiyama in 2006. Their marriage was officiated by 1970s sitcom producer Norman Lear . The marriage ended in divorce in 2008. Parker subsequently began a relationship with Boogie Tillmon, whom he later married in 2014. Parker gained

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4992-572: The film. Parker and Stone attempted to negotiate with the organization on what to delete from the final print, but the MPAA would not give specific notes. The duo later theorized that the organization cared less because it was an independent distributor which would bring it significantly less money. Parker and Stone also made a short film called The Spirit of Christmas (although it is now usually called Jesus vs. Frosty ). Brian Graden (then at Fox) liked this short and asked Parker and Stone to produce

5088-516: The film. The film was shot on Loveland Pass as winter was ending, and the crew endured the freezing weather. Parker—under the pseudonym Juan Schwartz—was the film's star, director and co-producer. Alferd Packer: The Musical premiered in Boulder in October 1993; "they rented a limousine that circled to ferry every member of the cast and crew from the back side of the block to the red carpet at

5184-401: The first writers' meetings when they resumed production: "Now what the hell do we do?" One idea suggested was that Stan's parents remained separated and the show continues as normal; Parker and Stone rejected it as it would involve less Randy , one of their favorite characters on the show. Another idea would have involved Stan attempting to get his parents back together throughout the course of

5280-599: The fledgling network into "a cable industry power almost overnight". Due to the success of the series' first six episodes, Comedy Central requested an additional seven; the series completed its first season in February 1998. An affiliate of the MTV Network until then, Comedy Central decided, in part due to the success of South Park , to have its own independent sales department. By the end of 1998, Comedy Central had sold more than $ 150 million worth of merchandise for

5376-607: The highest-rated series on Comedy Central. In 2012, South Park cut back from producing 14 episodes per year (seven in the spring and seven in the fall) to a single run of 10 episodes in the fall, to allow the duo to explore other projects the rest of the year. The show's twenty-third season premiered on September 25, 2019. South Park has continued, becoming an enterprise worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The franchise has also expanded to music and video games. Comedy Central released various albums, including Chef Aid: The South Park Album and Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics , in

5472-530: The idea of resetting sad; staff writer Vernon Chatman suggested playing "Landslide" again as things return to normal. Stone later commented that although there was no choice, he disliked the idea of returning things to normal, as he felt viewers had made an emotional connection to "You're Growing Old" and simply "resetting" would be unsatisfying, story-wise. He felt as though the ending of the episode — in which Stan decides to accept that things are now different, only to be followed by everything returning to normal —

5568-481: The joke. It is the conclusion of a two-parter begun with " You're Getting Old ", the mid-season finale that involved Stan turning ten years old and beginning to view the world through a cynical lens. In addition, his parents separate, and the episode ends with a montage set to Fleetwood Mac 's " Landslide ", in which both situations end unresolved. The episode's abrupt and downbeat ending provoked media coverage following its broadcast, with some critics believing it to be

5664-533: The late 1990s. The song " Chocolate Salty Balls " (as sung by the character Chef) was released as a single in the UK in 1998 to support the Chef Aid: The South Park Album and became a number one hit. Parker and Stone had little to do with the development of video games based on the series that were released at this time, but took full creative control of South Park: The Stick of Truth ,

5760-487: The musical in 2006. Developmental workshops began in 2008, and the crew embarked on the first of a half-dozen workshops that would take place during the next four years. Originally, producer Scott Rudin planned to stage The Book of Mormon off-Broadway at the New York Theatre Workshop in summer 2010, but opted to premiere it directly on Broadway, "[s]ince the guys [Parker and Stone] work best when

5856-471: The need for wait staff to earn tips, instead paying every employee $ 30 per hour, much higher than the Colorado minimum wage, $ 13.65. In January 2022, it was announced Parker will produce an untitled film with Stone through their now-renamed production company Park County and Kendrick Lamar and Dave Free 's multi-disciplinary media company PGLang . In March 2023, it was reported that Parker will direct

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5952-470: The official South Park Studios website. In 2007, the duo, with the help of their lawyer, Kevin Morris, cut a 50–50 joint venture with Comedy Central on all revenue not related to television; this includes digital rights to South Park , as well as films, soundtracks, T-shirts and other merchandise, in a deal worth $ 75 million. In August 2021, Parker and Stone signed a $ 900 million deal with ViacomCBS to renew

6048-415: The popularity of Cartman Burger. The representatives deduce that Cartman Burgers contain ingredients from all of their products, which are infused into Cartman Burgers via some type of gas. When Stan arrives and loses consciousness from the alcohol, the restaurant agents tie him up and interrogate him about the secret ingredient . As Stan does not know the ingredient, the representatives subsequently monitor

6144-490: The religious figure against Frosty the Snowman . The quartet created a three-minute trailer for a fictional film titled Alferd Packer: The Musical . The idea was based on an obsession Parker had with Alferd Packer , a real nineteenth-century prospector accused of cannibalism . During this time, Parker had become engaged to long-time girlfriend Liane Adamo, but their relationship fell apart shortly before production on

6240-499: The result, Princess , was rejected after only two episodes. In 2002, the duo began working on Team America: World Police , a satire of big-budget action films and their associated clichés and stereotypes , with particular humorous emphasis on the global implications of the politics of the United States . The film was inspired by the 1960s British marionette series, Thunderbirds . Starring puppets, Team America

6336-498: The second act." Parker further remarked, Basically... out of all the ridiculous religion stories which are greatly, wonderfully ridiculous—the silliest one I've ever heard is, 'Yeah... there's this big giant universe and it's expanding , it's all gonna collapse on itself and we're all just here just 'cause... just ' cause' . That, to me, is the most ridiculous explanation ever. A 2001 Los Angeles Times article described Parker as " not overly political " and quoted him as saying he

6432-453: The second half of the season, in a serialized fashion. As they continued pitching ideas, the duo found themselves more focused on the drama of the situation, rather than the comedy. Finding themselves constantly stuck on ideas, they decided there was no choice but to "reset" and make everything normal again. Parker noted that South Park , throughout its run, has been a cartoon comedy and he believed it should stay that way. One idea suggested made

6528-493: The secret ingredient is. After Stan wakes up on a subsequent morning, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman appear in his bedroom and invite him to the movies with them. Resigned to his fate, Stan reluctantly joins them, taking a swig of whiskey on his way out. "Ass Burgers" is the mid-season premiere of South Park 's fifteenth season and the first episode of the show's fall 2011 run. During the summer, co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone had won nine Tony Awards for their work on

6624-405: The series for six additional seasons and 14 projects on Paramount+. In 2000, Parker and Stone began plotting a television sitcom starring the winner of the 2000 presidential election . The duo were "95 percent sure" that Democratic candidate Al Gore would win, and tentatively titled the show Everybody Loves Al . Parker said the producers did not want to make fun of politics: the main goal

6720-433: The short into a television series called South Park . They first pitched the show to Fox, but the network refused to pick it up due to not wanting to air a show that included the talking poo character Mr. Hankey . The two were initially skeptical of possible television deals, noting that previous endeavors had not turned out to be successful, but then entered negotiations with both MTV and Comedy Central. Parker preferred

6816-484: The show be produced by Comedy Central, fearing that MTV would turn it into a kids' show. When Comedy Central executive Doug Herzog watched the short, he commissioned for it to be developed into a series. The pilot episode of South Park was made on a budget of $ 300,000 and took between three and three and a half months to complete; animation took place in a small room at Celluloid Studios, in Denver , Colorado, during

6912-475: The show's run: Mary Kay Bergman , Eliza Schneider , and Mona Marshall . In South Park ' s first 19 seasons, Wendy attends South Park Elementary as a third-then fourth-grade student of Mr. Garrison 's class – a position of his which is then replaced by Mrs. Nelson after Garrison becomes the 45th President of the United States starting with season 19 onward. She resides in South Park, Colorado as

7008-517: The show, and have produced music and video games based on it. A film based on the series, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999), was well-received from both critics and fans. Parker went on to write, produce, direct, and star in the satirical action film Team America: World Police (2004), and, after several years of development, The Book of Mormon premiered on Broadway to positive reviews. Parker has received five Primetime Emmy Awards for his work on South Park , four Tony Awards and

7104-434: The show, including T-shirts and dolls. Over the next few years, Comedy Central's viewership spiked, largely due to South Park , adding 3 million new subscribers in the first half of 1998 alone, and allowed the network to sign international deals with networks in several countries. Parker and Stone became celebrities as a result of the program's success; Parker noted that the success of South Park allowed him to pursue, for

7200-559: The stakes are highest." After a frantic series of rewrites, rehearsals, and previews, The Book of Mormon premiered on Broadway at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre on March 24, 2011. The Book of Mormon received broad critical praise for the plot, score, actors' performances, direction and choreography. A cast recording of the original Broadway production became the highest-charting Broadway cast album in over four decades. The musical received nine Tony Awards , one for Best Musical , and

7296-424: The summer of 1996. Similarly to Parker and Stone's Christmas shorts, the original pilot was animated entirely with traditional cut paper stop-motion animation techniques. The idea for the town of South Park came from the real Colorado basin of the same name , where, according to the creators, a lot of folklore and news reports originated about "UFO sightings, and cattle mutilations, and Bigfoot sightings." At

7392-484: The theater's entrance." The group submitted the film to the Sundance Film Festival , who did not respond. Parker told McHugh he had a "vision" they needed to be at the festival, which resulted in the group renting out a conference room in a nearby hotel and putting on their own screenings. MTV did a short news segment on The Big Picture regarding the film, and they made industry connections through

7488-682: The time, Comedy Central had a low distribution of just 21 million subscribers. The company marketed the show aggressively before its launch, billing it as "why they created the V-chip ". The resulting buzz led to the network earning an estimated $ 30 million in T-shirts sales alone before the first episode was even aired. South Park premiered in August 1997 and immediately became one of the most popular shows on cable television, averaging consistently between 3.5 and 5.5 million viewers. The show transformed

7584-424: The time, the team was also busy writing the second and third seasons of the series, the former of which Parker and Stone later described as "disastrous". As such, they figured the phenomenon would be over soon, and they decided to write a personal, fully committed musical. Parker and Stone fought with the MPAA to keep the film R-rated; for months the ratings board insisted on the more prohibitive NC-17 . The film

7680-564: The trailer had begun. "Horribly depressed", Parker funneled his frustrations with her into the project, naming Packer's "beloved but disloyal" horse after her. The trailer became somewhat of a sensation among students at the school, leading Virgil Grillo, the chairman and founder of the university's film department, to convince the quartet to expand it to a feature-length film. Parker wrote the film's script, creating an Oklahoma! -style musical featuring ten original show tunes . The group raised $ 125,000 from family and friends and began shooting

7776-669: The villain Balthazar Bratt in Despicable Me 3 . The film, released in June 2017, was Parker's first voice role not scripted by either him or Matt Stone. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic , Parker, Stone, and Peter Serafinowicz created a web series, Sassy Justice . The series uses deepfake technology to insert unrelated celebrities and politicians into the fictional world of a television reporter. The first episode

7872-521: The way, and they're all fuming." He graduated with a double-major Bachelor of Arts degree in 1993. In 1992, Parker, Stone, McHugh, and Ian Hardin founded a production company named the Avenging Conscience, named after the D. W. Griffith film by the same name , which all four actively disliked. Parker again employed the cutout paper technique on Avenging Conscience's first production, Jesus vs. Frosty (1992), an animated short pitting

7968-451: The way. Hopefully, the show’s ability to combine puerile humor with sharp social commentary doesn’t disappear, whatever road it takes." Ramsey Isler of IGN felt differently, writing that "While some will surely see this as a good sign (" if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it "), I feel like this was a missed opportunity to propel the series forward. The show had fallen into a rut and become formulaic, and just when 'You're Getting Old' gave us

8064-403: The world and enjoys a screening of Jack and Jill . As this occurs, Cartman , upon mishearing the condition as " ass burgers ", attempts to fake this condition at school by stuffing his underwear with hamburgers. Although this fails, Cartman gives one of the hamburgers to Kyle , who declares them delicious without knowing that Cartman had them in his underwear. This inspires Cartman to start

8160-401: The world really has turned into feces, and that some kind of supernatural force is preventing the rest of the world from noticing. The leader, who is a parody of Morpheus from The Matrix , gives Stan a glass of Jameson Irish Whiskey as a "serum" so he can interact with the "illusion world", and charges him with convincing others to see the world as they do. While drunk, he cheerfully embraces

8256-454: Was "a registered Libertarian ". In 2004, Parker summed up his views with the comment: What we're sick of—and it's getting even worse—is: you either like Michael Moore or you wanna fuckin' go overseas and shoot Iraqis. There can't be a middle ground. Basically, if you think Michael Moore's full of shit, then you are a super- Christian right-wing whatever. And we're both just pretty middle-ground guys. We find just as many things to rip on on

8352-475: Was a fan of Cannibal! , contacted the duo to produce a 15-minute short film for Seagram to show at a party for its acquisition of Universal Studios . Due to a misunderstanding, Parker and Stone improvised much of the film an hour before it was shot, creating it as a spoof of 1950s instructional videos. The result, Your Studio and You , features numerous celebrities, including Sylvester Stallone , Demi Moore , and Steven Spielberg . "You could probably make

8448-475: Was an acceptable conclusion, considering how it appears to trump traditional sitcom conventions, only to embrace them moments later. In its original American broadcast on October 5, 2011, "Ass Burgers" was watched by 2.941 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research . Ryan McGee of The A.V. Club graded the episode a B+, stating, "We may end up down the road far from where we started, only to realize we moved so incrementally that we didn’t notice along

8544-553: Was interested in film and music as a child and at high school and attended the University of Colorado Boulder , where he met Stone. The two collaborated on various short films and co-starred in Parker’s feature-length musical Cannibal! The Musical (1993). Parker and Stone moved to Los Angeles, and Parker made his second feature-length film Orgazmo (1997). Before the premiere of the film, South Park premiered on Comedy Central in August 1997. The duo possess full creative control of

8640-407: Was later withdrawn, and the sale was completed by November 19. They spent $ 40 million renovating the restaurant and hired Chef Dana Rodriguez to update the menu. The restaurant had a soft opening on May 26, 2023. In early June, Casa Bonita began taking reservations although a formal opening date had not been set. Parker and Stone amended the employee compensation system at Casa Bonita, removing

8736-531: Was only certified an R rating two weeks prior to its release, following contentious conversations between Parker/Stone, Rudin, and Paramount Pictures . Parker felt overwhelmed and overworked during the production process of the film, especially between April and the film's opening in late June. He admitted that press coverage, which proclaimed the end of South Park was near, bothered him. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut opened in cinemas in June 1999 and received critical acclaim while grossing $ 83 million at

8832-457: Was posted to YouTube on October   26, 2020. The team was originally assembled for a film project that was interrupted due to the pandemic, who made the video based on a series of impressions that Serafinowicz developed of a "sassy" Donald Trump . The creators have a handful of shorter videos alongside a 15-minute first episode that may be turned into an ongoing series, film, or other type of project. In August 2021, Parker and Stone signed

8928-421: Was produced using a crew of about 200 people, which sometimes required four people at a time to manipulate a marionette. Although the filmmakers hired three dozen highly skilled marionette operators, execution of some very simple acts by the marionettes proved to be very difficult, with a simple shot such as a character drinking taking a half-day to complete successfully. The deadline for the film's completion took

9024-434: Was the first time Parker and Stone shot a show on a production lot. Although That's My Bush! , which ran between April and May 2001, received a fair amount of publicity and critical notice, according to Stone and Parker, the cost per episode was too high, "about $ 1 million an episode." Comedy Central officially cancelled the series in August 2001 as a cost-cutting move; Stone was quoted as saying "A super-expensive show on

9120-467: Was titled Giant Beavers of Southern Sri Lanka (1989), parodying Godzilla -style rampages with beavers; fellow student Jason McHugh later remarked that the idea nearly got him laughed out of class. Parker and Stone wrote and acted in many short films together, among those First Date , Man on Mars and Job Application . Parker later remarked that he and Stone would shoot a film nearly every week, but he has since lost most of them. Parker first used

9216-483: Was to parody sitcom tropes, such as a lovable main character, the sassy maid, and the wacky neighbor. They threw a party the night of the election with the writers, with intentions to begin writing the following Monday and shooting the show in January 2001 with the inauguration. With the confusion of whom the President would be , the show's production was pushed back. The show was filmed at Sony Pictures Studios , and

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