It debuted with great success, consistently earning the highest ratings of any basic cable program. Since its debut on August 13, 1997, 309 episodes of South Park have been broadcast.
South Park features a very large ensemble cast of recurring characters. The pilot episode was produced using cutout animation, leading to all subsequent episodes being produced with computer animation that emulated the cutout technique. The second short became one of the first Internet viral videos, ultimately leading to South Park 's production. Parker and Stone developed South Park from two animated short films both titled The Spirit of Christmas. South Park became infamous for its profanity and dark, surreal humor that satirizes a wide range of topics toward an adult audience. The series revolves around four boys- Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick-and their exploits in and around the titular Colorado town. South Park is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central.
