Lance Armstrong

[Luke]

South Park's writing is still witty and amusing, but it's not funny anymore. You can have a message with out being preachy, that's what many of the old episodes (and some other shows, like Duckman) did.

It's been hilarious, laugh out loud funny lately,

I'm a fan of The Critic, The Tick, and Dr.Katz, but Duckman is a bad reference as it tanked immediately. Comparing South Park to Duckman is like comparing Paris Hilton to a Monster Truck Race. Makes no sense.

[ZeroAX]

An athlete taking drugs? :O I had never imagined.

Seriously, anyone who thinks that athletes competing in the olympics (or in general professional sports) are not full of steroids is kidding himself.

Simply put there's waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too much money at stake. If you, for example, play football and are given the chance to play for a top rate club, you are not going to waste that opportunity when everyone else is already doing it. And the clubs and coaches push players to use them so they can score wins and get more sponsors (yata yata yata yata, you know how sports work).

Too much money involved, everyone is probably using them, and if he/she is not, they are probably not A-class athletes.

So I don't think this guy did anything particularly wrong when it comes to his achievements as an athlete. Now running the drug ring itself, yeah that's pretty illegal and loses him the "I did it for my dream" sympathy card.

[Menegrothx]

It's been hilarious, laugh out loud funny lately

Did you see that Hawaii episode? There wasn't a single joke that was even mildly amusing in that episode. The concept itself (tourists thinking they're native hawaiians) is amusing but it was poorly executed. That's the thing about modern South Park, it has good concepts but bad execution.

The Halloween episode did have some funny jokes (the part where people were trying to guess Cartman's costume)

I'm a fan of The Critic, The Tick, and Dr.Katz, but Duckman is a bad reference as it tanked immediately.

The first two episodes of The Critic were great, after that it was very mediocre. It was Family Guy before Family Guy.

I don't see how 4 seasons with 70 episodes equals "tanked immediately". The last season was horrible (by Duckman standards), but the first 3 (espescially the first 2) had absolutely brilliant writing. More intelligent and subtle jokes than what The Critic or South Park has. I haven't seen the Tick or Dr. Katz so I can't comment on those.

When has commercial success or popularity ever been an indicator of quality? Clerks: The Animated Series only lasted 6 episodes and it is easily one of the funniest animated sitcoms.

[Luke]

It's been hilarious, laugh out loud funny lately

Did you see that Hawaii episode? There wasn't a single joke that was even mildly amusing in that episode. The concept itself (tourists thinking they're native hawaiians) is amusing but it was poorly executed. That's the thing about modern South Park, it has good concepts but bad execution.

The Halloween episode did have some funny jokes (the part where people were trying to guess Cartman's costume)

I'm a fan of The Critic, The Tick, and Dr.Katz, but Duckman is a bad reference as it tanked immediately.

The first two episodes of The Critic were great, after that it was very mediocre. It was Family Guy before Family Guy.

I don't see how 4 seasons with 70 episodes equals "tanked immediately". The last season was horrible (by Duckman standards), but the first 3 (espescially the first 2) had absolutely brilliant writing. More intelligent and subtle jokes than what The Critic or South Park has. I haven't seen the Tick or Dr. Katz so I can't comment on those.

When has commercial success or popularity ever been an indicator of quality? Clerks: The Animated Series only lasted 6 episodes and it is easily one of the funniest animated sitcoms.

In your history of being wrong, this post may be your wrongiest.

You do understand some shows are ordered by the season, and no matter how shitty the show is writers still have to write it correct?

Clerks animated was okay, but soooo soooo far from being the funniest animated series (where did you get "sitcom" from this series?). Even during the commentary Kevin repeats "Not sure why we did that" over and over.

And you even call Duckman "horrible". Time to hit the brake and stop back peddling. South Park is as funny and clever as ever.

[brunoafh]

The Clerks animated series was completely hilarious and could have been gold if it grabbed hold. Heck, the first few eps that exist are pure gold and I've watched them over and over.

As far as South Park goes, this season has been pretty good stuff. The Halloween episode was an example of Matt & Trey's greatness. But, Season 12 has consistently proved to be the cut-off point between their days of comedy genius and their days of relative mediocrity. Not to say there hasn't been some great episodes in the past few years, but the quality and feel of the show in general is completely different than it was for the first 10 years. I'll always be a devout fan, but the glory days are long gone.

[Menegrothx]

You do understand some shows are ordered by the season, and no matter how shitty the show is writers still have to write it correct?

I'm not sure whether you're talking about South Park or Duckman

Clerks animated was okay, but soooo soooo far from being the funniest animated series (where did you get "sitcom" from this series?).

From Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerks:_Th ... ted_Series
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animated_sitcom

And you even call Duckman "horrible".

No, I called the fourth season of Duckman horrible when compared to the previous seasons of Duckman. You know, kind of like how Star Wars episodes 1-3 are horrible compared to Star Wars episodes 4-6. In any case the 4th season has a lot more of The Critic/Family Guy type of humor.

South Park is as funny and clever as ever.

Except it's not. That video I linked is a prime example of the kind of clever humor that earlier seasons of South Park had that is completely absent in the new South Park episodes.

[Luke]

Except it's not. That video I linked is a prime example of the kind of clever humor that earlier seasons of South Park had that is completely absent in the new South Park episodes.

Dude, you are being a complete moron.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-ep ... r-applause

Don't review stuff that you haven't watched. South Park is as clever as ever.

[Michi]

Except it's not. That video I linked is a prime example of the kind of clever humor that earlier seasons of South Park had that is completely absent in the new South Park episodes.

Dude, you are being a complete moron.

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-ep ... r-applause

Don't review stuff that you haven't watched. South Park is as clever as ever.

Clever it may be (and it is, I'm not disputing that), but I'm with Menegrothx. The current seasons just aren't as funny for me the way the earlier seasons were.

Now, I'd never say I've always been a huge South Park fan like some other people I know, but with the earlier seasons I'd say I enjoyed probably about 80% of the season, while feeling "meh" about other 20% of them. Recently though, those percentages seemed to have reversed for me.

Now I'm not saying they're bad. For the most part I can appreciate what they're doing. But I just don't find the current stuff as funny as I do the earlier seasons. Take the Cthulhu episodes a couple years ago. I loved those and thought they were great, but I didn't find them all that funny.

Perhaps my tastes have just shifted a bit over the years.

[Luke]

Now, I'd never say I've always been a huge South Park fan like some other people I know, but with the earlier seasons I'd say I enjoyed probably about 80% of the season, while feeling "meh" about other 20% of them. Recently though, those percentages seemed to have reversed for me.

I don't think I've ever missed an episode. Honestly.

The few first seasons still make me chuckle, but the humor was usually based on either being over the top or something completely irrelevant (Patrick Duffy). Some of that remains, but this season has probably been the smartest season of South Park I've ever watched.

There's nothing wrong with liking Kenny having explosive diarrhea (thought for sure I would have needed to use spell check for diarrhea) but I prefer when Matt and Trey set up a plot and then go completely in a different direction. Not to say there haven't been some lackluster seasons in the past few years, but this season has great three act writing, great humor, and is wicked clever.

As with movies and other tv shows, I'm not watching it as just "South Park", I'm watching it as if it were any other tv show. In other words "If this wasn't South Park, would I be watching this?". And the answer is a HUGE yes. I can't say the same for some of the past and earlier seasons.

[Menegrothx]

http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-ep ... r-applause
Don't review stuff that you haven't watched.

I've seen that episode. I never said that it's a bad episode, I said that there isn't anything even midly amusing in the Hawaii episode. 1 Good episode (2 if next week's episode will be good) in a season with 14 episodes isn't exactly an achivement.
I think S16E13 was the best episode since "You're getting old" and "Assburgers" in season 15.

The few first seasons still make me chuckle, but the humor was usually based on either being over the top or something completely irrelevant (Patrick Duffy). Some of that remains, but this season has probably been the smartest season of South Park I've ever watched.

There's nothing wrong with liking Kenny having explosive diarrhea (thought for sure I would have needed to use spell check for diarrhea) but I prefer when Matt and Trey set up a plot and then go completely in a different direction.

I've never been a fan of the juvenile humor in the first few seasons of South Park (Mr Hankey, Kenny's violent deaths and so on). But it had more clever humor that wasn't plot related (or "irrelevant", as you put it), the boys were still acting like 3/4th graders and most importantly the show didn't take it self so seriously which why it used to be a lot more funny. That drunken "we dont take kindly" guy in the bar is a good example of that. The joke plays with stereotypes, as you're not expecting a drunken redneck to be all factual and educated. The "nigger guy episode" in season 11 has a very similiar joke when the "gang of socially progressive rednecks" try to attack Randy.

I dont see why you hate "irrelevant" humor so much anyways. There are countless examples of funny and clever jokes in classics movies and TV shows that aren't in any way related to the plot. The stoning and "mad jailer" scenes in Life of Brian for example. Jokes like that are a problem only if they've done in a poor/lazy manner, like the countless flashback jokes in Family Guy.

I already explained to you in the South Park thread what's the problem with the way South Park is now handled.
1. Because the show's plots and humor rely so heavily on (mostly unimportant) current time events, it will never become the kind of timeless humor that Monthy Python and The Simpsons are. A very large part of the humor has an expiration date.
2. Because often practically all of the jokes are in some way related to the central plot, it feels like the show is constantly asking "GET IT???!!???" from the viewer. Since each episode has some clever parallel to a recent event and since most jokes stem from that analogue, the show is constantly rubbing it in your face and asking "Hey, arent we clever?". Yeah, we get it already.

Remember the ending in the Halloween episode? That's a good example of what I mean on a smaller scale. They prolonged the final joke to the point of shameful awkwardness. Stan putting an iPad in Randy's hands can't be the punchline of that joke.
It's as if the show is underestimating the viewers' intelligence by "making sure that every one gets it". That is neither good nor clever writing.

this season has great three act writing, great humor, and is wicked clever.

I dont see this as a positive thing. When all the episodes follow such an obvious formula, it feels like the show is being "manufactured". The show seems less like a product of creativity and looks and feels more like a "corporate product".

As with movies and other tv shows, I'm not watching it as just "South Park", I'm watching it as if it were any other tv show. In other words "If this wasn't South Park, would I be watching this?". And the answer is a HUGE yes. I can't say the same for some of the past and earlier seasons.

There have been a few standout episodes, but for the past few years I've felt like a Sonic fan, waiting for that one new game that isn't horrible. I'm still going to each new individual episode with an open mind, but 9 times out of 10 I end up being dissapointed. There have been a few nice episodes here and there, but nothing that would be as funny as some of the older stuff. I'm still waiting for that South Park equivalent of Sonic Generations. If it wasn't South Park, I wouldn't bother with these new episodes. I know many old South Park fans have given up hope and just stopped watching the new stuff.

South Park is as clever as ever.

Sonic games are still as good as back in 1990s. Grunge and Glam metal are still as popular as ever.

There's a difference between clever writing and clever+funny writing. Like I said, the ideas behind new South Park episodes are clever. The actual episodes just aren't funny. The show doesn't know how to implement those good ideas. Nowadays it feels like the show is here to give a statement, not to make people laugh. Being amused and laughing aren't the same thing.