It had to happen eventually. After 14 years and 199 episodes, South Park was bound to annoy one celebrity too many. And so, in the anarchic animated show's 200th episode, a bunch of angry celebrities decide to seek revenge in a class action suit against the small Colorado town.
The result is an episode that rehashes some of the most controversial moments in South Park's 14-year history, kicking off with the cartoon's depiction of the prophet Muhammad. A group of 199 animated celebrities "ripped on" by South Park over the years join Tom Cruise – who launches a law suit against "this entire intolerant town" after he is found by the South Park boys at the local chocolate factory packing fudge into a box (you can probably guess what happens next).
Bono, Oprah Winfrey, Jimmy Buffett, Rob Reiner, George Lucas (leading a leather-clad, ballgagged Harrison Ford on a leash), Mel Gibson, Jennifer Lopez, Micky Mouse, Tiger Woods, Charlie Sheen, Angelina Jolie, Paris Hilton and David Duchovny are all featured in the episode.
It's a clever idea for an anniversary show: the fact that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are still happy to court controversy, and unwilling to pull their punches, is the main reason why the show is still great after all these years.
And court controversy it has. The British tabloids went ballistic when a 2007 episode saw the Queen shoot herself in the mouth after a British plot to reconquer America went wrong. In December 2005 a protest from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights saw the episode Bloody Mary get cancelled in the US. The reason? It features a statue of the Virgin Mary bleeding from her rectum.
Then there was the parody of Australian naturalist Steve Irwin – the show portrayed him at a party in hell with a stingray protruding from his chest – just weeks after he was killed by a stingray. The US Parents Television Council, among others, attacked the show for the season five episode called It Hits The Fan. An onscreen counter kept a tally of how many times the word "shit"' was said. South Park set a new record with 162 shits, one every eight seconds.
The fact that South Park still has the power to shock is probably its greatest strength. Stone and Parker are never afraid to offend in getting their point across. In an interview with the website Boing Boing Stone described the 200th episode as "a fun way to celebrate all these moments, and then do new jokes and new versions of things".
And unlike many other shows, South Park has, in my view at least, improved over the years. Of course the humour sometimes remains juvenile, but then what else would you expect from a show that is still, at its core, about four eight-year-old boys? In any case the jokes have become more pointed, the characters more refined as the series have progressed. So here's hoping we see another 200 episodes. And that there are enough people left for South Park to insult.
• South Park: 200 airs tonight at 10.30pm on Comedy Central UK
