South Park is back with a vengeance. After a brief hiatus, Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman are back to satirize the world at large, the only way they know how: through crass and line-pushing behavior.
They're habitual line-steppers, to say the least, and there isn’t a feather that Matt Stone and Trey Parker haven’t ruffled. Whether it be major religions, overly confident celebrities, or just American policies at large, the town of South Park leaves no stone unturned.
Since the season premiere already has earned the ire of the commander in chief, we have compiled a list of the most controversial episodes in the history of the series. As you can imagine its quite an extensive list, with many more having to be left on the cutting room floor. So let’s go on down to South Park and have ourselves a time.
20. Terrence and Phillip: Not Without My Anus (Season 2, Ep. 1)
It may not have had that many controversial moments per se, but the actual existence of this episode caused quite the ruckus. Some important context: The Season 1 finale had attempted to clarify why Cartman doesn’t have a father. After many false leads and potential fathers, Cartman got the money (through some rather embarrassing means) to have Dr. Mephesto do a DNA test with the plethora of male suitors his mother has had. The finale teased the answer for the premiere of the second season, and when the date finally arrived (on April Fool’s Day) the creators pulled a bait and switch and instead aired a made-for-TV mini movie featuring Terrence and Phillip. This caused a huge outrage with the show's fans, who sent in a plethora of letters demanding to know the answer to the mystery of Cartman’s father. Luckily, they aired the conclusion later on that month.
19. Cripple Fight (Season 4, Ep. 2)
During a Mountain Scouts meeting, the boys discover their new headmaster is Big Gay Al. Some of the parents are disturbed that he's their new scout leader, so they fire him for another scout leader, who turns out to be an actual child molester. Meanwhile, a new handicapped kid joins the South Park gang: Jimmy Swanson. Timmy Burch (the original popular handicapped kid) becomes jealous at all the attention Jimmy is getting and attempts to get rid of him once and for all. This leads to what Cartman dubs a “Cripple Fight” where Timmy and Jimmy throw hands, referencing (almost shot for shot) the infamous fight scene with Roddy Piper from They Live.
18. The Jeffersons (Season 8, Ep. 6)
When a new rich neighbor moves to town, the kids of South Park flock to the kid’s dream house owned by Mr. Jefferson, who bears a striking resemblance to a certain King of Pop. Despite Mr. Jefferson showing love for all children who visit, Cartman wants to get closer to Jefferson—maybe even too close. During all of this, the South Park police department hears there is a new wealthy Black man in South Park and find that it’s their duty to frame him for a crime.
17. Crack Baby Athletic Association (Season 15, Ep. 5)
In South Park’s commentary on the treatment of College athletes, Cartman concocts a plan to launch a sports league that pits crack-addicted babies against each other. Yes, it’s as awful as it sounds. Cartman approaches Kyle to get in on the ground floor of this venture, who is at first extremely disturbed, but after seeing the amount of money the company is bringing in, decides maybe this isn’t such a terrible idea after all.
16. All About Mormons (Season 7, Ep. 12)
When Stan befriends a new kid, Gary, he is invited to his house for dinner, where Stan discovers Gary’s family is part of the Mormon religion. The family is incredibly kind and loving and they attribute this to their Mormon faith. Stan wants to learn what Mormonism is about and the audience in turn gets a crash course on the origin of the religion and its beliefs, for better or for worse.
15. Dead Kids (Season 22, Ep. 1)
In this episode, South Park takes on the topic of the country epidemic that is school shootings. For the kids of South Park, these events are an almost everyday occurrence and they barely register a reaction every time a shooting happens. In order to combat the rise in school violence, their parents instill new measures of protection, like metal detectors, police dogs, and arming Butters with a gun as the hall monitor. Much like reality, everything is done, but to address the problem at its heart.
14. Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride (Season 1, Ep. 4)
This episode showed early on that South Park had the guts to tackle current events head on. Stan discovers new insights about the sexuality of his dog Sparky, much to the ridicule of his classmates. Initially viewing being gay as a bad thing (Mr. Garrison, of course, only makes matters worse) Stan implores Sparky to be straight which leads to the dog running away to an animal sanctuary for gay animals, run by the very flamboyant and very friendly Big Gay Al. Al educates Stan on being tolerant and accepting of different lifestyles and that he should accept his dog for who he is.
13. Do The Handicapped Go To Hell? (Season 3, Ep. 9)
Father Maxi warns the children of South Park that their souls will be damned if they don’t improve their morals and confess their sins. Cartman, Stan, Kyle, and Kenny fear that they will be sent to Hell if they don’t change their ways. The kids think that their friends Kyle and Timmy are doomed for Hell because Kyle is Jewish and Timmy can’t confess his sins, since he can only say his name. The boys soon discover that Father Maxi is a sinner himself and Cartman takes it upon himself to start a new ministry to save the souls of the children of South Park.
12. Merry Christmas Charlie Manson (Season 2, Ep. 16)
In the kind of holiday special that only South Park can pull off, Stan, Kyle and Kenny accompany Cartman and his mother on their trip to visit relatives in Nebraska. Much to the horror of the rest of the kids, Cartman’s family is essentially male and female versions of Cartman, varying in age. During the trip, Cartman’s uncle Howard escapes jail and comes home accompanied by his cell-mate, who turns out to be Charles Manson. Through the hijinks of the boys, Charles (or Charlie) decides to change his ways and embraces the spirit of Christmas. As Stan so eloquently put it, “Dude this is pretty f***ed up right here!”
11. Jesse Jackson (Season 11, Ep. 1)
When Randy Marsh is a contestant on Wheel of Fortune, he attempts to solve the hint: “People Who Annoy You.” In true Randy fashion, he blows it big time by guessing the answer is a very inappropriate racial slur. We will let you figure out what the word is. Randy attempts to make amends, but only continues to make matters worse. Then he befriends other celebrities who have made the same mistake, like Michael Richards, and Mark Furhman. This episode has the people of South Park pushing the boundaries of what can be said on TV once again.
10. The Passion Of The Jew (Season 8, Ep. 3)
After numerous viewings of Mel Gibson’s Passion Of The Christ, Cartman tries to convince Kyle that Jewish people are evil because of their hand in the crucifixion of Christ. Kyle decides to go see the movie for himself and is repulsed by the brutality and gore of Jesus getting crucified. Kyle leaves the theater in disgust and with a large amount of guilt—meanwhile Stan and Kenny see the film separately and find that it simply isn’t good, demanding their money back.
9. Cartman Joins Nambla (Season 4, Ep. 5)
Thinking Stan, Kyle, and Kenny are too immature, Cartman seeks out more sophisticated and mature friends. While searching online, he comes across a group called NAMBLA, which Cartman believes is a group of guys that hang out with younger boys. This, of course, couldn’t be further from the truth as Cartman puts himself and friends in danger of being molested by sexual predators.
8. World War Zimmerman (Season 17, Ep. 3)
Cartman all of a sudden starts being extremely nice to his friend Tolkien. We come to learn he's afraid that after the results of the Trayvon Martin verdict, there will be a violent uprising. In Cartman’s nightmares, he manifests this fear by taking on the role of Brad Pitt in World War Z, where instead of zombies attacking the world, it's people becoming angry and violent due to George Zimmerman avoiding accountability in his crimes.
7. Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy (Season 10, Ep. 10)
In this episode, Cartman is given the one thing that he craves (and will undoubtedly abuse): power. He is appointed school hall monitor and naturally lets the authority (authoritah?) go to his head. Dressing up as Dog The Bounty Hunter, he patrols the school halls with his own brand of justice. Cartman and Kyle team up when they discover that a teacher is having an inappropriate affair with a student, and unfortunately that student turns out to be Kyle’s younger brother Ike.
6. Sermon On The Mount (Season 27, Ep. 1)
When South Park returned in 2025, they came out of the gate swinging, already earning the ire of the White House on the first episode of the new season. Because of President Trump, NPR is cancelled—much to the ire of Cartman, and South Park elementary is forced to have Jesus (the actual Jesus) become part of their school. Since “woke” is dead thanks to the President, Cartman laments that his behavior won’t be considered inappropriate anymore, so life has lost its luster. All the while, we see President Trump parodied much like Saddam Hussein was in earlier seasons: characterized with having a less than stellar “endowment” and developing a secret gay love affair with Satan. Throughout this episode is commentary on the much=publicized lawsuit between Trump and TV companies, i.e. the Colbert show cancellation and South Park’s tumultuous negotiations with Paramount. Naturally, Trump and the White House were furious about the episode.
5. Trapped In the Closet (Season 9, Ep. 12)
This episode is not only one of the more monumental moments in the South Park continuity, but was so controversial that it was banned for a period of time altogether. Stan is approached by Scientologists and given a “personality test” that measures “thetan” levels. The Scientologists determine that Stan is depressed and can only be cured by becoming a Scientologist. It is also revealed that Stan could be the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard. Excited about this revelation, Tom Cruise seeks Stan out, only to find out Stan thinks his movies are OK at best. This causes Tom Cruise to hide in the closet. Meanwhile, the true history of Scientology is put on display in an elaborate, animated backstory subtitled “this is what scientologists actually believe.” The episode was temporarily banned due to potential lawsuits filed by Tom Cruise and the church, as well as being the catalyst that lead to Isaac Hayes leaving the show (he was also a Scientologist).
4. 200, 201 (Season 14, Ep. 5, 6)
For the 200th episode, South Park brought back every celebrity the show has mocked in some shape or form. In the episode, Tom Cruise calls upon the irked celebrities to file a class action lawsuit against the town of South Park. For some reason, the only way Cruise will halt the lawsuit is if South Park can facilitate a meeting between him and the Prophet Muhammad, who apparently has the power of not being able to be ridiculed. Of course, this causes problems for the town as they can’t show him on TV without running the risk of terrorist attacks. This two-part episode is banned on streaming services to this day.
3. Jared Has Aides (Season 6, Ep. 1)
This episode earns it’s spot on the list for a few reasons. At the time of the air date, Jared Fogle was simply known as the Subway Guy, who touted weight loss through exercise and eating sandwiches. Much to the surprise of the people of South Park, Jared reveals that his weight loss was not just due to eating sandwiches, but with the assistance of dietitians and personal trainers (or in this case, aides). This, of course, leads to confusion as people think he lost weight because he has the AIDS virus. This episode is also controversial due to what we would later find out about Jared Fogle’s dark, real-life secret.
2. Cartoon Wars Part 1 and 2 (Season 10 Ep. 3, 4)
This is another two-part episode banned on all streaming services due to the depiction and discussion of the Prophet Muhammad. When the boys learn that Family Guy announced they will be depicting the Prophet Muhammad on their next episode, Kyle and Cartman embark on a mission to get the episode pulled. Kyle wants the episode banned because he is worried about terrorist reprisal; meanwhile Cartman actually just wants Family Guy off the air because he thinks it’s a terrible show. Its South Park vs. Family Guy in an epic moral battle featuring a cameo from a certain spikey-haired, short-pants-wearing mischief-maker.
1. Super Best Friends (Season 4, Ep. 3)
This episode was the first shot in the controversial relationship between South Park and the Islamic prophet. Magician David Blaine comes to South Park to recruit for his up-and-coming religion of Blaintologists. Seeing it's clearly a cult, Stan becomes alarmed when his friends sign up for the group. When Blaine announces there will be a mass suicide in the group due to the government denying them as an official religion for tax purposes, Stan reaches out to his friend Jesus Christ for help thwarting the magician. Jesus calls for the aid of the Super Best Friends, which is a combination of all the major figureheads of religion, including Buddha, Krishna, Joseph Smith, Lao Tse, Muhammad, and Seaman…for whatever reason. Because Muhammad was portrayed in the episode, there was major backlash, so the episode has been pulled from all streaming platforms.