South Park season 3
South Park | |
---|---|
Season 3 | |
No. of episodes | 17 |
Release | |
Original network | Comedy Central |
Original release | April 7, 1999 January 12, 2000 | –
Season chronology | |
The third season of South Park, an American animated television comedy series, aired on Comedy Central from April 7, 1999, to January 12, 2000.[1] The season was headed by series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who also served as executive producers along with Anne Garefino. The season continued to focus on the exploits of protagonists Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny in the fictional Colorado mountain town of South Park.
The season consisted of seventeen 22-minute episodes, which aired mostly in two groups separated by a three-month gap. Continuing their practice from previous seasons, Parker and Stone wrote and produced each episode within the week before its broadcast date. They produced the first half of the season simultaneously while working on the show's film adaption, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. The show's creators considered the third season an improvement on the previous season, due to a heavier focus on strong storytelling structure and character development, as well as increased creative control. In the second half of the season, the show was dealt a heavy blow with the death of voice actress Mary Kay Bergman, who provided many of the female voices on the show. The remaining three episodes in the season are mostly absent of female voices for this reason.
The third season satirized such topics as the
Voice cast
This is the final season to feature Mary Kay Bergman as a series regular, who provided many of the female voices on the show. Bergman committed suicide on November 11, 1999. The remaining three episodes in the season are mostly absent of female voices for this reason.
Main cast
- Phillip
- Jesus
- Sharon Marsh, Mrs. McCormick and Wendy Testaburger
- Sharon Marsh, Ms. Crabtree & Various
- Isaac Hayes as Chef
Guest cast
- Jennifer Aniston as Miss Stevens ("Rainforest Shmainforest")
- Jonathan Davis, James Shaffer, Brian Welch, Reginald Arvizu and David Silveria as themselves ("Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery")
Background
Development
After the second season of South Park, show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone began to take more creative control of the show back, which they had delegated in the previous season to a writing staff.[2] Parker and Stone have openly expressed dislike for the second season as a whole. "There's a lot of funny stuff in the second season," Stone remarked, but Parker agreed that they were still learning how to write for the show.[3] They took the advice of friends in the television industry and let other writers on the staff write scripts and take more control of the show, which they later regretted.[4] They even considered developing a show for broadcast television and leaving South Park, but they decided to continue working on it.[4] On the DVD commentaries for the third season, Parker advised viewers to "throw away your season two DVDs. I don't like those shows."[5] Parker would later say the same about the third season: "If I had to permanently erase anything from the library, it would basically be anything before season 4. It's just embarrassing to watch. Okay, we were, like, 26, 27. But it's like, 'Really? We thought that was funny? We thought that was well-written? Oh my God, this is terrible.'"[6]
Like many South Park seasons, episodes were mostly produced in the week preceding their original broadcasts.[7]
Writing
Parker characterized the third season as "where South Park turned the corner... and [became] good to us."[8] The third season was produced simultaneously with the film adaptation of the series—South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut—and came at a time when the duo began learning more about story structure and character development. They applied these lessons to the show as well.[8] Parker noted that producing the film and season at the same time was "tough." The show and film occupied two separate buildings a mile apart that the duo would often have to switch between.[8] Paramount Pictures was unhappy with the duo working on the show equally with the film.[9] "Jakovasaurs" arrived at a peak of post-production work on the film.[10] Parker and Stone claim to have no memory of making "Sexual Harassment Panda", the following episode, due to their exhaustion from working on the film: "We don't remember doing these shows at all," Parker remarked in the episode's commentary.[11] Stone characterized the episode as "delusionary writing."[12]
With the film completed for its June 30, 1999, release date, the duo still were contracted to produce three more episodes before taking a break. They came up with the idea to produce a trilogy of episodes—"Cat Orgy", "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", and "Jewbilee"—which they called "the meteor shower trilogy." They felt "brain-dead" on ideas and created the idea to make things easier.[13] "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" features the first major appearance of Butters Stotch, who became a main character in the series in later seasons; prior to this episode, he was a nameless background character, having had a non-speaking background role in "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe".[14] They based Butters on the show's animation director, Eric Stough, whom they mocked while working on the film.[15] "Jewbilee", the trilogy's conclusion, became regarded as one of the duo's favorite all-time episodes. "We were literally crawling around the floor trying to finish the show but we were also all already on vacation in our minds," Parker remembered.[16] To this end, they decided not to care about the episode's content and just make whatever came to mind. Following the episode's completion, the staff took a vacation for a month, returning later in the year to complete the rest of the season.[16]
Their first episode back, in October 1999, was "
After completing the dialogue for the aforementioned episode,
Cultural references
The central character in "
"
Episodes
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [25] | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
32 | 1 | "Rainforest Shmainforest" | Trey Parker & Eric Stough | Trey Parker & Matt Stone | April 7, 1999 | 301 | 3.41[26] 2.32[27] (HH)[a] |
The boys are forced to join a choir sent to Costa Rica to perform against deforestation as punishment for their rude behavior, but they end up lost in the rainforest and discover that it isn't worth saving. Meanwhile, Kenny falls for a girl in the chorus, but she is reluctant to pursue a long-distance relationship. | |||||||
33 | 2 | "Spontaneous Combustion" | Matt Stone | Trey Parker, Matt Stone & David Goodman | April 14, 1999 | 302 | 3.28[28] 2.29[29] (HH)[a] |
Randy must find out why the citizens of South Park are suddenly spontaneously combusting. Meanwhile, Cartman plays Jesus in a "Stations of the Cross " play and ends up stuck on the cross. | |||||||
34 | 3 | "Succubus" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | April 21, 1999 | 303 | 2.55[30] 1.89[31] (HH)[a] |
When Chef gets engaged to a strange woman, the boys are convinced that Chef's fiancee is a demon bent on sucking the life out of men. Meanwhile, Cartman becomes the butt of several pranks by his eye doctor. | |||||||
35 | 4 | "Jakovasaurs" | Matt Stone | Trey Parker, Matt Stone & David Goodman | June 16, 1999 | 305 | 2.92[32] 2.07[33] (HH)[a] |
The town saves a species from extinction, but finds that they are an extremely annoying race that only Cartman can stand. | |||||||
36 | 5 | "Tweek vs. Craig" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | June 23, 1999 | 304 | 2.81[34] 1.87[35] (HH)[a] |
Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny pit Mr. Adler , copes with the loss of his wife, who died in a plane crash. | |||||||
37 | 6 | "Sexual Harassment Panda" | Eric Stough | Trey Parker | July 7, 1999 | 306 | 2.86[36] 1.83[37] (HH)[a] |
A man in a panda costume is hired to teach the kids about sexual harassment, leading Cartman to sue Stan (and all the kids to sue the school) over claims of being harassed. | |||||||
38 | 7 | "Cat Orgy" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | July 14, 1999 | 307 | 2.98[38] |
Cartman is stuck at home with Stan's sadistic sister Shelley as his babysitter while his mom is at a meteor shower party. Meanwhile, Cartman's cat, Mr. Kitty, is in heat and goes searching for sex with other cats. | |||||||
39 | 8 | "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker, Matt Stone & David Goodman | July 21, 1999 | 308 | 2.97[39] 2.03[40] (HH)[a] |
At the meteor shower party mentioned in the previous episode, Stan is stuck in a basement with Gerald watch each other masturbate in a hot tub . | |||||||
40 | 9 | "Jewbilee" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | July 28, 1999 | 309 | 2.85[41] 1.93[42] (HH)[a] |
On the night of the aforementioned meteor shower, Kyle, Kenny, and Ike go to a Jewish scout camp where Moses appears. | |||||||
41 | 10 | "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | October 27, 1999 | 312 | 3.97[43] 2.50[44] (HH)[a] |
sixth graders . | |||||||
42 | 11 | "Chinpokomon" "Chinpoko Mon"[45] | Eric Stough & Trey Parker | Trey Parker | November 3, 1999 | 310 | 3.51[46] 2.36[47] (HH)[a] |
The boys become fascinated with the latest fad from Japan, which turns out to be an insidious plot to have American children brainwashed into overthrowing the U.S. government. | |||||||
43 | 12 | "Hooked on Monkey Fonics" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | November 10, 1999 | 313 | 3.04[48] 2.05[49] (HH)[a] |
A homeschooled boy decides to start at public school, much to his overprotective parent's fear. Meanwhile, Kyle falls for the boy's sister. | |||||||
44 | 13 | "Starvin' Marvin in Space" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker, Matt Stone & Kyle McCulloch | November 17, 1999 | 311 | 2.99[50] |
The boys must save Starvin' Marvin from the government and a Christian group who cares more about converting people from third-world countries than giving them food and shelter. | |||||||
45 | 14 | "The Red Badge of Gayness" "Red Badge of Gayness"[45] | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | November 24, 1999 | 314 | 2.96[51] 1.94[52] (HH)[a] |
During a Civil War reenactment, Cartman (as General Lee) leads the Drunk Confederate army to attack the Union soldiers across America. | |||||||
46 | 15 | "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | December 1, 1999 | 315 | 2.79[53] |
Mr. Hankey hosts a Christmas musical, featuring South Park characters singing twisted renditions of classic Christmas songs and a memorial piece to voice actress Mary Kay Bergman. | |||||||
47 | 16 | "Are You There God? It's Me, Jesus" | Eric Stough | Trey Parker | December 29, 1999 | 316 | 2.13[54] |
Cartman and Kenny mistake a colon infection for their his father will not be there.
Note: This is the last episode to air in the 1990s. | |||||||
48 | 17 | "World Wide Recorder Concert" "The Brown Noise"[45] | Eric Stough | Trey Parker | January 12, 2000 | 317 | 2.57[55] |
The boys travel to Arkansas to perform at a recorder concert. Meanwhile, Mr. Garrison confronts his father about not being sexually molested as a child. Note: This is the first episode to air in the 2000s. |
See also
Notes
References
- ^ "South Park: Episode Guide: Season 3". Zap2it. Archived from the original on November 11, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2012.
- ^ Leonard, Devin (October 27, 2006). "'South Park' creators haven't lost their edge". Fortune. Archived from the original on July 9, 2015. Retrieved March 16, 2016.
- ^ Stone, Matt (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Rainforest Shmainforest" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Itzkoff, Dave (March 10, 2010). "'South Park' at 200: Trey Parker and Matt Stone Apologize to No One". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 6, 2014. Retrieved March 17, 2016.
- ^ a b Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "World Wide Recorder Concert" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ "'South Park': Matt Stone and Trey Parker Name Their 15 Best Episodes (and 53 Worst)". Entertainment Weekly. October 11, 2011. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved March 21, 2016.
- ^ a b Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "The Red Badge of Gayness" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b c Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Rainforest Shmainforest" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Spontaneous Combustion" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Jakovasaurs" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Sexual Harassment Panda" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ Stone, Matt (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Sexual Harassment Panda" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Cat Orgy" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Stone, Matt (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b c Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Jewbilee" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b c Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Chinpokomon" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Hooked on Monkey Fonics" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ Stone, Matt (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Hooked on Monkey Fonics" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Starvin' Marvin in Space" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ Stone, Matt (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "The Red Badge of Gayness" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ a b Parker, Trey (December 2003). South Park: The Complete Third Season: "Are You There God? It's Me, Jesus" (DVD Audio commentary). Paramount Home Entertainment.
- ^ "Watch South Park Episodes Online Season 3 (2000)". TV Guide. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- Newspapers.com. April 14, 1999. Retrieved January 27, 2023.
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. April 19, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (April 12–18, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. April 26, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (April 19–25, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. May 3, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (June 14–20, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. June 29, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (June 21–27, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. July 5, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (July 5–11, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. July 19, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (July 12–18, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (July 19–25, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. August 2, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (July 28–August 3, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25 (p. 29)" (PDF). Broadcasting & Cable. August 9, 1999. Retrieved September 12, 2022.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (October 25–31, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. November 8, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Zap2It. Archivedfrom the original on June 24, 2021. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- Newspapers.com. November 10, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. November 15, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (November 8–14, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. November 22, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (November 15–21, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (November 22–28, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ "Cable's Top 25" (PDF). Broadcasting and Cable Magazine. December 6, 1999. Retrieved April 17, 2023.
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (November 29–December 5, 1999). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (December 27, 1999–January 2, 2000). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
- ^ Comedy Central Ratings Report (January 10–16, 2000). Nielsen Media Research (Report).
External links
- South Park Studios - official website with streaming videoof full episodes.
- The Comedy Network - full episodes for Canada