Despite being on the air for over two decades, South Park still remains a show that is not only funny but features razor-sharp satire that continues to make the show fresh and relevant.

First premiered on August 13, 1997, the show was created by Colorado natives Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Parker and Stone met while attending the University of Colorado in a film class and began to bond over their love of Monty Python. The two created a short called The Spirit of Christmas, which featured prototypes of what would be the South Park characters, and began of the internet’s earliest viral videos and started to pass around to different television production companies. Parker and Stone were asked by Fox executive Brian Graden to created a Christmas card he can send to his friends and this would developed into Jesus vs. Santa

The two shorts, along with the pilot, were all made using paper cutouts and stop motion. When the show was picked up, computer animation was added to the mix.

Incredibly, each episode is typically produced in under a week. This allows the writers to touch on current issues in a way that had previously been impossible, save for talk shows and the like. The quick turnaround time has propelled the series into
one of the most controversial shows on television, the series has poked fun at everything from major religions (including Scientology) to school shootings.

Isaac Hayes, former voice actor of the beloved “Chef” character, parted ways from the franchise after one of the most controversial episodes, “Trapped in the Closet”, aired on November 16, 2005. Tom Cruise even threatened South Park with a lawsuit. The episode spurred many reactions from A-list celebrities, but the fallout with Isaac Hayes proved to be much more relevant. He released a statement to the press, stating:

There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,

This particular scene shows one such instance Hayes is presumably speaking of.