Fish Sticks Taste the Best in South Park

For over a decade, “South Park” has been the premiere animated sitcom on cable television, pushing not only the limits for the medium but also cementing its rightful place in pop culture lore for generations. Smarter, wackier and just plain funny, season 13 of the show on DVD is easily one of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s wildest creations and proves that “South Park” is still running on a full tank.

From the first episode, which features both Mickey Mouse and the Jonas Brothers, to the last, which forces Kenny to deal with his phobia of urination in water parks, the show still maintains the same brevity that makes it so endearingly pompous and hilarious.

Simply put, if you’re in the public eye and Parker and Stone have an opinion on what you’re doing, you’ll be featured on the show. Seeing the duo parody both “Dark Knight” and “Avatar” during the season, as well as show Kanye West’s inability to get jokes and Carlos Mencia’s ability to steal them, “South Park” is a beacon of absurdity, wit, charisma and politically incorrectness that touches on a variety of levels.

For example, the episodes “Margaritaville,” “Fat Beard” and “Whale Whores” delve deep into Parker and Stone’s feelings on the state of American culture, youth and the economy and do so in a way that shows like “The Daily Show,” never can and never will. However, the duality of seeing Stan, Kenny, Kyle and Cartman deal with their daily lives [which includes playing “Rock Band” and basketball] is what makes the show so special. Everything and everyone around them is familiar and comfortable, not only because if you’ve watched the show from the beginning, you identify and relate to all the characters, but because of the writing in general.

Stone and Parker do an excellent job of channeling the little moments in adolescence, like your first kiss and your first wrestling show and making them come alive in a way that you don’t have to agree with their political opinions or insinuations to get a laugh out of them. As a matter of fact, if you’re open-minded enough, you might even realize the tag team is making fun of you and your beliefs, while you’re actually laughing.

This especially rings true if you’re someone who is “bike-curious.”

If you do agree with their sentiments and beliefs however, the show makes for a tasty duality, creating something not available anywhere else on TV.

Toilet humor with a message?

Damn skippy.

Seeing this trend continue and the formula behind the show continue to get tighter, more focused and gain even more luster is proof that “South Park” is still alive and kicking.

“Fish dicks” never tasted so good.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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