The way that South Park continues to reinvent itself in order to remain relevant is incredibly impressive, as too is the show’s ability to include topical content that’s incredibly up to date. It’s faced its fair share of controversy over the years, but, love it or loathe it, it’s hard to argue that the show is not without merit. After all, it’s been on the air for more than 23 years now, so it must be doing something right, right?
Although the show has strayed away from its episodic format in recent years in favor of a serial approach to storytelling, that doesn’t mean that it can’t still feature holiday specials. There have been plenty of them over the years, although some have been a lot more memorable than others. Those looking for something hilarious to watch this Christmas would therefor do well to check out what South Park has to offer.
10 #HappyHolograms (S18E10)
Continuing on from the previous episode, Kyle wants to put on a family oriented holiday special to bring people together in their living rooms. Unfortunately, his idea is hijacked by Cartman who ends up providing commentary for the event. With celebrity holograms running rampant and Cartman becoming increasingly popular and powerful, PewDiePie makes an appearance and helps return everything to normal.
At times it can fell like #HappyHolograms focusses a little too hard on satire than it does on its Christmas theming, but that doesn’t make it a bad episode. Quite the contrary, in fact. At the time that it first aired it was an incredibly topical episode with plenty of laugh out loud moments.
9 Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics (S03E15)
Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics is incredibly reminiscent of the South Park movie thanks in large to its many musical numbers. Many of the show’s most popular characters are on hand to provide their own renditions of some of the finest Christmas carols and, of course, they all have that classic South Park twist.
The episode also features a number of celebrities and historic figures including Hitler, JFK and Princess Diana. There’s not much of a plot to speak of nor is there really any real cohesion between the skits aside from Mr. Hankey’s sections. There are however some wonderful songs included which make for a magnificent musical medley.
8 Bike Parade (S22E10)
There’s a lot going on in Bike Parade, but its primary focus seems to be on lampooning Amazon and Jeff Bezos, who is once again portrayed as an alien-like creature throughout the episode. It centers around a strike at South Park’s Amazon fulfillment center and the boys’ quest to obtain the bike parts that they need to win an upcoming bike parade.
The episode touches on a lot of issues, including working conditions at Amazon facilities, privacy concerns surrounding electronic assistants and the impact of large businesses on family-run stores. Ultimately, with a little help from Randy’s weed, the town decides that now that they have Tegridy, they no longer need Amazon for their fulfillment. It’s topical, it’s funny, and it makes for a great episode.
7 A Very Crappy Christmas (S04E17)
It’s often said that you can’t polish a turd. You can, however, roll it in glitter — and that’s exactly what the show does here with the addition of Mr. Hankey’s fecal family. At a time when the Mr. Hankey character was just starting to feel a bit stale and dried out, they added a new dimension to the character and plenty of comedy potential. The highlight is undoubtedly Hankey’s ‘circle of poo’ song, which helps his young son Cornwallis to realize his place in the world.
With Christmas spirit at an all time low, the boys team up with the Hankey family to try and raise some festive cheer. They eventually settle on the idea of making a Christmas animation which uses excerpts from The Spirit of Christmas — an early animation created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone that served as the precursor to South Park. The boys’ animation ultimately helps the townspeople to realize that the true meaning of Christmas is commercialism and they rush out to buy presents, thus saving Christmas.
6 It’s Christmas In Canada (S07E15)
Kyle’s adopted brother Ike being Canadian had been used as a plot point in several episodes before this episode, but this was one of the first times that it really took center stage. Events are set into motion when the new Prime Minister of Canada declares that all adopted Canadians living in America must return to their home country and Ike is taken away.
Kyle decides to go to Canada to get his brother back and Stan agrees to join him as he’s in the mood for a Christmas adventure. Cartman reluctantly tags along too, although as usual he has his own ulterior motives. After defeating an old foe, the boys eventually get Ike back but are stuck in Canada for Christmas, leaving both Stan and Cartman disappointed.
5 Christmas Snow (S23E10)
When the town is unable to refrain from drunk driving, Santa decides to ban the sale of alcohol leaving the people of South Park depressed and angry. As is often the case in season 23 though, Randy is on hand to come up with a solution. He develops a new strand of his patented Tegridy weed called ‘Christmas Snow’ which helps cheer everybody up although it later turns out to just be cocaine.
It can at times be quite a dark episode, especially the scene where the townspeople partake in their ‘tradition’ of drunk driving. Watching Santa try cocaine is one of the episode’s other highlights, but it’s once again a case of it being the Randy Marsh show. How exactly one feels about the character will decide whether that’s a good or a bad thing.
4 Red Sleigh Down (S06E17)
Given what we know about Cartman, it seems safe to assume that his name is deeply etched into Santa’s naughty list. Keen to ensure that he still receives Christmas presents though, he aims to turn the page by doing a good deed. Not just any good deed though. Cartman wants to bring Christmas to the people of Iraq.
After Santa’s sleigh gets shot down, the boys enlist the help of Jesus who is packing an arsenal of assault rifles and other weapons. It’s a wacky and hilarious episode that tiptoes along the line between incredibly offensive and a little abrasive from start to finish.
3 Merry Christmas Charlie Manson! (S02E16)
When the boys head over to Nebraska to spend Christmas with Cartman’s grandmother they end up getting a very special guest. Those expecting it to be jolly old Saint Nick clearly aren’t familiar with the show at all. As the episode’s title suggests, a recently escaped Charlie Manson turns up at the house together with Cartman’s uncle Howard and proceeds to take everybody hostage.
After bonding with Stan, however, Manson ends up imparting some words of wisdom before handing himself over to the police and the episode ends with the boys and Cartman’s family visiting Manson in jail to sing carols. The episode’s absurdity is emblematic of the show’s style during its early seasons and serves as a nice reminder of why it’s so beloved.
2 Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo (S01E09)
This was the episode that first introduced the world to Mr. Hankey, perhaps one of the nuttiest characters in the show’s history. He’d go on to feature in numerous episodes throughout the early days of the show and even had a top ten single in the UK. It’s his very first appearance in the show though where he really leaves his mark and quite literally redefines ‘toilet humor’.
Mr. Hankey serves as a plot device to explore Kyle’s experiences being a Jew at Christmas time. The talking turd has many people believing that Kyle is crazy and also gets Kyle into a lot of trouble when he launches himself at Cartman’s face. This — and several other moments directly in the wake of Mr. Hankey reverting to a regular piece of poo — provide some of the episode’s funniest and most memorable moments.
1 Woodland Critter Christmas (S08E14)
Woodland Critter Christmas begins like any other animated Christmas special with a lighthearted storybook style narrative and some of the cutest characters ever created. What follows, however, is anything but routine and quickly devolves into the stuff of nightmares.
These cute little creatures trick Stan into helping them bring about the apocalypse and Kyle finds himself in serious trouble. Thankfully, just as it starts to look like all hope is lost, Santa shows up and blows the critters away with his shotgun before their satanic ritual can be completed.
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