South Park isn’t just one of the single greatest animated shows of all time; it’s also a groundbreaking step forward in American comedy. Trey Parker and Matt Stone created a series that was filled with satire, popular cultural references, and the occasional heartfelt moments, proving to be much more insightful than anyone would have realized. Similar to The Simpsons’ success in the decade prior, South Park has now become a foundational text as it heads into its third decade of existence.
Although it has aired many amazing episodes since its debut in 1997, South Park has consistently delivered fantastic holiday-themed installments that often subvert expectations regarding the show’s standard story structure. These episodes allow the show to mock some of its frequent targets, including traditional community values and religious extremism. These are the best South Park holiday episodes, ranked by how funny they are, how well they integrate the holiday into the plot, and their overall quality.
- Release Date
- August 13, 1997
- Seasons
- 27
10 “A Very Crappy Christmas” (2000)
Season 4, Episode 17
“A Very Crappy Christmas” was one of the most important South Park festive episodes, as it was one of the initial installments to introduce the character of Mr. Hankey. This peculiar creation is certainly one of South Park’s more divisive characters, as some fans have felt that he has overstayed his welcome due to some less well-received installments within later seasons.
“A Very Crappy Christmas” has Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman actually working together for once to help save Christmas.
Still, “A Very Crappy Christmas” works as an overt parody of classic animated holiday specialslike A Charlie Brown Christmas and even has a musical number inspired by The Lion King. While it does contain the cynical edge that has always made South Park such a trailblazing program, “A Very Crappy Christmas” also has Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman actually working together for once to help save Christmas, which does reflect a more positive message than the nasty feuds that they have tended to get into throughout the series.
9 “Pinkeye” (1997)
Season 1, Episode 7
Although there have certainly been some controversial, divisive, and gross moments in the history of the series, South Park actually got into some real horror with the Halloween episode “Pinkeye.” Although the running joke of Kenny being brought back to the dead has been a part of the series since the beginning, “Pinkeye” framed his resurrection amidst a zombie invasion that threatens to take over the town.
“Pinkeye” is a great parody of zombie movies, as it shows how ignorant people would actually be in a situation where the undead threatened to take over. South Park has never been for the faint of heart, as it has managed to get more disturbing than even what other contemporary adult animated shows like Family Guy or King of the Hill were capable of. That being said, “Pinkeye” is just gross, even by South Park standards.
8 “It’s Christmas in Canada” (2003)
Season 7, Episode 15
Canada has been a frequent target of satire in South Park, as a fictional war with the United States was even the subject of the critically acclaimed 1999 film South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. The episode “It’s Christmas in Canada” brings the tensions back when Kyle’s younger brother Ike is discovered by his birth parents, who attempt to bring him back to Canada to live with them.
There are many episodes of the show that lampoon classic films from the Golden Age of Hollywood, but “It’s Christmas in Canada” has many hilarious references to The Wizard of Oz. Although Parker and Stone try to avoid being too sentimental like it is the plague, there are some moments of fraternal bonding between Kyle and Ike that reflect a more heartfelt aspect of what the series could be capable of.
7 “Red Sleigh Down” (2002)
Season 6, Episode 17
Santa Claus is a South Park character that seems well-suited for a spinoff. The series certainly managed to show a radically different version of St. Nick than the one seen in family holiday films like Miracle on 34th Street or The Santa Clause.
“Red Sleigh Down” features a team-up between Santa, Jesus, and Mr. Hankey, who are all recruited by Cartman to spread holiday joy to the people of Iraq. It’s actually one of the more action-packed episodes of the series, as there are many sly references to recent war films, including David O. Russell’s Three Kings and Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down. South Park has never been shy of examining controversial topics like the Iraq War, but “Red Sleigh Down” managed to merge festive sentiments with bloody action into one of the weirdest installments in the show’s early history.
6 “Starvin’ Marvin” (1997)
Season 1, Episode 8
In one of the show’s rare Thanksgiving episodes, South Park made some razor-edged points about the reality of charitable programs in “Starvin’ Marvin.” The episode centers on Kyle, Cartman, Stan, and Kenny, who accidentally adopt a starving African child named Marvin after sending money to his home country in hopes of getting a watch.
“Starvin’ Marvin” was one of the earliest episodes of South Park and showed how dark the series was willing to get with its jokes about the human rights crimes committed in overseas countries and why Americans were so ignorant. Cartman’s true ignorance and cruelty came out in a way unforeseen in the show previously. The episode also featured a hilarious war scene involving the Chef that parodied Braveheart, the Mel Gibson war epic that had won the Academy Award for Best Picture and Best Director just a few years prior.
5 “Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!” (1998)
Season 2, Episode 16
“Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!” is actually one of the most important episodes of South Park, as it involves one of the first true disputes between Stan and his parents. Although Stan’s home life has always been a bit dysfunctional, he defies their authority when he decides to join his friends to visit Cartman’s grandparents during a holiday trip to Nebraska.
As the title would suggest, “Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!” features an appearance by the signature serial killer and cult leader who was responsible for the death of Sharon Tate in 1969. While Manson has been depicted subsequently in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and the second season of Mindhunter, it was still fairly groundbreaking for South Park to crack jokes about it. Involving Manson with Cartman’s villainous Uncle Howard was another instance where the series blurred reality and fiction together.
4 “Fantastic Easter Special” (2007)
Season 11, Episode 5
In one of the rare episodes set outside the South Park town, “Fantastic Easter Special” sees Stan questioning the connection between the Easter Bunny and Jesus, as he isn’t able to understand what they have to do with each other. After his parents give him an unsatisfying answer, Stan goes out on an adventure to solve the mystery, leading to a secret society that protects an age-old secret.
“Fantastic Easter Special” does a great job at parodying conspiracy thrillers, as the notion of a secret organization that operates behind closed doors feels somewhat inspired by Stanley Kunbrick’s erotic thriller Eyes Wide Shut and Alan J. Pakula’s political mystery The Parallax View. “Fantastic Easter Special” was also an important episode for Stan’s development, as he begins to question the values that he has been raised on, leading to more disputes with his parents in subsequent seasons.
3 “Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo!” (1997)
Season 1, Episode 9
“Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo!” was the first Christmas-themed episode of South Park and is responsible for establishing many of the show’s running storylines. Although the first season is generally not heralded as one of South Park’s best, it did have an important task of introducing key concepts that would be addressed at a later point.
“Mr. Hankey, The Christmas Poo!” was one of the first instances in which South Park took aim at political correctness. Although most of the town’s residents think that Kyle’s belief in Mr. Hankey is silly, they feel a need not to deny his beliefs out of fear of offending him. Many aspects of the show have changed in the subsequent decades, but Parker and Stone seem just as adamant in criticizing the ways in which political correctness can be a barrier to logic.
2 “A Song of Ass and Fire” (2013)
Season 17, Episode 8
“A Song of Ass and Fire” was part of a trilogy of South Park episodes that parodied Black Friday shopping and how ridiculous it can get when consumerism goes wild. Although there had been previous make-believe episodes in which the boys played characters from The Lord of the Rings, “A Song of Ice and Fire” drew from Game of Thrones, which was then heralded as one of the greatest drama shows of all time.
“A Song of Ass and Fire” is just funny and ridiculous enough that even those who have never seen or read Martin’s novels or seen
Game of Thrones
can enjoy it.
“A Song of Ice and Fire” was perfectly timed, as it aired amidst the third season of Game of Thrones when the “Red Wedding” incident took viewers who had not already read George R.R. Martin’s books by complete surprise. That being said, “A Song of Ass and Fire” is just funny and ridiculous enough that even those who have never seen or read Martin’s novels or seen Game of Thrones can enjoy it. The hilarious episode even provoked a response from Martin himself, who denied the show’s insinuation that he’s obsessed with “weenies.”
1 “Woodland Critter Christmas” (2004)
Season 8, Episode 14
“Woodland Critter Christmas” is one of the most perfect South Park episodes and certainly one of the darkest. The notion of a group of friendly wild animals gathering for Christmas is a part of many beloved family holiday specials. However, South Park manages to take a considerably more disturbing take on this classic narrative when Stan travels into the woods outside of South Park and discovers that the animals are involved in an evil, cannibalistic ceremony.
“Woodland Critter Christmas” proves once again that nothing is sacred in South Park, as there isn’t anything that Parker and Stone were incapable of mocking. Although the series would go on to pull off more extended storylines in subsequent seasons, the shock of the big twist in “Woodland Critter Christmas” remains one of the most jaw-dropping moments in the entire history of South Park, which is really saying something when you think about it.