Goin' down to South Park

The boys of South Park are back for an eighth season in their quiet mountain town. Seven more new episodes are sure to bring heartwarming tales of love, friendship, and morality.

Comedy Central's raunchy, irreverent animated series is still despised by many adults and loved by legions of (mostly) teens. The show's obsession with humor mocking racial differences, handicapped people, religion, and history shows no signs of changing. The biggest question about South Park is how long it can continue to draw an audience after the shock effect of its humor has died.

The new season kicks off with a bang that quickly fizzles. Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny all return to their familiar roles as the foul-mouthed little kids of South Park. However, the premier finds their quiet mountain town succumbing to a fad of metrosexuality, inspired by the show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. All the men of the town, except for Kyle, are turning into metrosexuals – straight men who act in a stereotypically gay manner and get lots of manicures. Its up to Kyle and his teacher, the flamboyant Mr. Garrison, to save the world from the metrosexuality fad, which turns out to be a ploy by evil crab people to weaken the earth's men so they can take over. Yes, another typical day in South Park.

This first episode brilliantly skewers the current craze of shows featuring gays as humorous stereotypes. Sadly however, most of the devices used thus far in South Park's eighth season have been used before. There have been many episodes where the boys save the world from destruction and where Kyle turns out to be the lone kid who can't seem to follow a fad. Not even the crab people's theme song (Crab people…taste like crab, talk like people…) saves this premier from becoming a touch too hackneyed and unoriginal. Furthermore, this week s episode appears to be a rehash of a past plot that the boys have to get rich by starting a band. For a show that shattered the limits of TV comedy before, it is certainly going to take a lot to top previous seasons.

Seriously, there isn't much new territory for South Park to explore. Based on the experiences of creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the show has already spent plenty of episodes probing the curiosities of small town life; it has made fun of Jesus, David Blaine, the KKK, Japanese animation, infomercials, Jews, obesity, and a myriad of other aspects of American culture.

South Park has turned into a modern day Mark Twain of sorts, parodying and mocking those parts of our culture that often seem ludicrous. Doing all that and a movie spin-off, using only paper cutout animation and four little kids who swear more than drunken sailors, is quite an accomplishment. Perhaps most importantly, the show usually manages to carry positive messages, such as tolerance, if one can look past the cursing and insults.

There are still seven new episodes coming up this fall, more than enough time for the show's writers to show their inane comic genius. They most likely will manage to, given their past record. South Park will continue to be as irreverent, unapologetic and brilliant as ever.

New South Park episodes are airing Wednesdays at 10 PM on Comedy Central. Although animated, this show contains mature content not suitable for kids.