Althouse: "South Park" lands a shot at Disney.

October 28, 2023

"South Park" lands a shot at Disney.

That's just a clip, 2-and-a-half minutes... and the way to watch the whole thing now is to subscribe to Paramount.

31 comments:

The Crack Emcee said...: "the way to watch the whole thing now is to subscribe to Paramount."

There is nothing, anyone can do, to make me subscribe for their garbage. I love South Park, but I'm savvy enough to know it's merely a lure to the bulk of their programming, which is NewAge bullshit about psychics, cultists, witches, GOOP, gays, and/or the Kardashians.

Call me when those demographics turn upside down and I might reconsider, but I doubt it..; 10/28/23, 7:39 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Another replacement clip.; 10/28/23, 7:55 AM
Lilly, a dog said...: "Put a chick in it and make her gay."; 10/28/23, 8:36 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: I was tempted to subscribe to Paramount+. But, the CEO Bob Bakish has pledged undying loyalty to DIE (Disgrace, Insanity and Evil). “Diversity, equity, and inclusion is fundamental to our business.” So is bankruptcy.; 10/28/23, 8:36 AM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: Another woke streaming service, NBC's Peacock, is estimated to lose a staggering $2.8 billion for 2023. Go woke, go broke.; 10/28/23, 8:49 AM
Wilbur said...: Thank you, Mike of Sno ... whatever.; 10/28/23, 9:08 AM
Clyde said...: It all started with Jake from State Farm, and you know I'm right.; 10/28/23, 9:17 AM
Wince said...: "But Kathleen Kennedy is just like 'Fuck it! Make it more lame!'"; 10/28/23, 9:24 AM
Kate said...: "Kathleen Kennedy is not under your bed."

That was a spittake.; 10/28/23, 9:25 AM
Bruce Hayden said...: Always loved South Park, but my humor impaired partner just finds it crude. When my daughter was in elementary school, I got her pictures of the real South Park Elementary school, in FairPlay, CO, for Show and Tell. Always a bit partial to it, because if you listen carefully, they are talking about the real South Park, in Park County, where FairPlay is the county seat (I was there that day to checking records at the court house). They use local geography, etc.; 10/28/23, 9:37 AM
Oligonicella said...: Mike of Snoqualmie:
But, the CEO Bob Bakish has pledged undying loyalty to DIE ...

Kind of surprising they host South Park as SP has and is founded on mocking all of those. Profits for the win.

I'm really impressed the creators have been so true to their original objectives. A huge run (1997-).; 10/28/23, 10:18 AM
Yancey Ward said...: A comment by Crack I can fully endorse!; 10/28/23, 10:37 AM
Narr said...: I didn't watch SP in its heyday, but have grown to love it.; 10/28/23, 10:49 AM
Kakistocracy said...: I can understand Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount and Time Warner wanting to cash in on streaming but think about this from the perspective of the consumer.

I am happy to live with a Netflix subscription in order to watch the odd film or show — but do I really want to carry 4 additional subscriptions in order to access other content?

The better solution is a single subscription — perhaps at a slightly higher price — to allow access to a reasonable level of content. Coupled with the ability to purchase the odd film or show — which I can usually do on Amazon Prime.

Walt Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount and Time Warner would be better served cutting a deal with Netflix — or whoever — rather than trying to gouge streaming customers.; 10/28/23, 11:00 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Another funny clip from the show:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1717941762516267094; 10/28/23, 11:03 AM
Canadian Bumblepuppy said...: That's one show that didn't need to come back. It was only slightly amusing at the time.; 10/28/23, 11:07 AM
Yancey Ward said...: "I'm really impressed the creators have been so true to their original objectives. A huge run (1997-)."

Indeed! Even The Simpsons was corrupted after about 10 years.; 10/28/23, 11:43 AM
Marcus Bressler said...: Not going to subscribe unless there is a free, 7-day trial. And I always cancel before it expires.
I watch South Park on Instagram. The highlights. Eric Cartman reminds me of my brother Eric. Some of it (not all) is laugh out loud funny.

MarcusB. THEOLDMAN; 10/28/23, 1:43 PM
Mike of Snoqualmie said...: @Rich

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Walt Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount and Time Warner would be better served cutting a deal with Netflix — or whoever — rather than trying to gouge streaming customers.

10/28/23, 11:00 AM

Fully endorsed.

Netflix use to have shows from some of the alphabet networks, like The A-Team, Death in Paradise, etc. Then the alphabet networks started their own streaming services. I'm not going to pay double, triple quadruple just to watch those shows.; 10/28/23, 4:34 PM
Phaedrus said...: I’m pretty sure this is available on Comedy Central or one of the comedy type channels. I have You Tube TV and see Southpark listed. Not sure when new episodes drop but I if I see hype around it, I’ll usually watch it.

It might be that it’s a special release, but other then their movies, that be a new exception to normal broadcst through their cable/streaming regular TV partners

I’ve always enjoyed Southpark, mainly because they skewer pretty much everyone and do it regardless of the criticism of the various groups they are satiring. I’ve watched since it first started and if there is nothing else on, it’s a good default.

I also have Paramount+ for some reason. Might be a bundle with one of my streaming services as I don’t ever see a bill for it. I’m a big Star Trek fan and that broader series universe is available for subscribers.

Now that I know this episode is out I’ll enjoy it tonight!; 10/28/23, 4:43 PM
Phaedrus said...: Update: Just watched it and well worth the 48 minutes. Not what I thought it was going to be. More skewering going on than a scout troop at summer camp with hot dogs and telescoping cooking prongs. Really well done in Matt and Trey’s sick and demented way!; 10/28/23, 5:40 PM
Ampersand said...: Oddly enough, I dealt with Kathleen K in the 1980s. She was smart, funny, hard working, and a shrewd judge of those around her. She was Spielberg's right hand, with all that entails in terms of production and deal making sophistication and industry insider stuff.
How did it go so wrong?
The key is that it simultaneously went wrong EVERYWHERE. Disney is just the most conspicuous example. Disney et al. went bad because the culture went bad. There needs to be a reawakening, and I'm counting on this message board post to get it started.; 10/28/23, 5:48 PM
madAsHell said...: which is NewAge bullshit about psychics, cultists, witches, GOOP, gays, and/or the Kardashians.

Yes Crack, we are not the sought after demographic.; 10/28/23, 7:14 PM
loudogblog said...: The thing about South Park is that Matt Stone and Trey Parker have always had a "damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!" approach to making fun of everyone and anyone. That's what made them successful.

Now, they have so much "fuck you" money; nobody can tell them what to write. (Or what not to write.) They're as rich as Eisner and so much smarter.; 10/28/23, 7:32 PM
wildswan said...: So I signed up for the free Paramount trial and saw the South Park show. It was good and I'll ask Chat GPT how to cancel before I have to pay.; 10/28/23, 10:42 PM
Freeman Hunt said...: Watched it last night. Much laughing.; 10/28/23, 11:12 PM
Jim Gust said...: "Team America: World Police" is the very best of Matt Stone and Trey Parker. I didn't expect to like a puppet movie, but I loved it. The music and lyrics were hilarious. Highly recommended.; 10/28/23, 11:32 PM
Static Ping said...: Ampersand, I agree things have gone wrong everywhere, but they have gone wrong in different places for different reasons. In Kathleen's case, she seems to be obsessed with the strong, empowered female character and insists on it being the focus of anything she does. Rey from the Star Wars sequels reads like a self-insert character from a fanfic written by a teenage girl. Ditto the female lead from the latest Indiana Jones movie. I would bet serious money that these characters are, in fact, Kathleen Kennedy self-inserts.

The problem is there is no market for this. Men are typically not interested in a woman being the lead in a male wish fulfillment fantasy, and women are generally not interested in male wish fulfillment fantasies in general. This is made worse by the fact that the "strong, empowered female character" tends to be a Mary Sue, as giving the character any flaws or, for that matter, any challenge makes her seem weak and we cannot have that, so she must be perfect. Perfect characters tend to be boring and make for poor stories.

Kathleen probably has the same problem as a lot of talented creatives: if left to their own devices their obsessions often lead them astray. What is often forgotten is that the original draft of Star Wars was a mess, and it required the people around George Lucas to rein in his worse impulses. His wife at the time had to re-edit the end of the movie to make it watchable. By the time he got to the prequels he was no longer constrained and could do whatever he wanted, and it produced an inferior product with mediocre dialogue and over reliance on CGI. He needed someone to tell him "no" and there was no one to do that. Kathleen ended up in a situation when the environment was all in on social justice, so Disney basically threw a billion dollars at her with no strings attached.

Of course, there is also the problem with having two different directors for a trilogy without any constraints. J.J. Abrams is really good at producing story hooks, but he's awful at paying them off. Rian Johnson has... issues. I'm not sure if he is obsessed with twists, or he just hated what J.J. did and decided to trash the whole thing. Again, no one was there to tell him "no." At the end of the second movie, there was no where for the story to go as it had been completely derailed. No one could save that. The thing is Kathleen is supposed to be the person to say "no" so this is very much her fault. But Rian dangled the strong, female character Admiral Holdo - perhaps the worst Star Wars character of all time - and Kathleen was happy.; 10/29/23, 12:38 AM
Saint Croix said...: ha ha ha ha

Southpark is still amusing!

I haven't watched it in decades.

It's maybe a little more "meta" now

You don't get the jokes unless you're aware of the politics

I don't know if kids would get these jokes; 10/29/23, 4:08 AM
Ampersand said...: Static Ping's post describing the specifics of the creative shortcomings of Disney's mismanagement, was impeccable in its details, But look at the larger context. Every single studio, every single HR department, legal department, ad agency, and all of the associated PR outfits, managers, agents, casting companies,and all of their BigLaw counsel are totally on board with a regime that supports incoherent notions of intersectionality and transformational change.
These cognitively adept apparatchiks are cowards, but they are everywhere.; 10/29/23, 9:32 PM
Christy said...: Late to the thread, but fwiw Walmart now includes Paramount+ in its services along with grocery delivery.; 10/30/23, 9:34 AM