South Park is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boysStan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand their exploits in and around the titular Colorado town. South Park became infamous for its profanity and dark, surreal humor that satirizes a substantial amount of subject matter. Parker and Stone developed South Park from two animated short films produced in 1992 and 1995, both titled The Spirit of Christmas. The second short became one of the first Internet viral videos, leading to South Parks production. The pilot episode was produced using cutout animation; subsequent episodes have since used computer animation recalling the cutout technique. It debuted with great success, consistently earning the highest ratings of any basic cable program. Subsequent ratings have varied, but it remains one of Comedy Central's longest-running programs. South Park features a large ensemble cast of recurring characters. Since the show's fourth season, each episode is typically written and produced during the week preceding its broadcast, with Parker serving as the primary writer and director. Since its debut on August 13, 1997, episodes of South Park have been broadcast. In August 2021, the series was renewed and is slated to air through its thirtieth season in 2027, in addition a series of television specials was announced for the streaming service Paramount+, the first two of which were released later that year. In October 2019, South Park Studios announced that HBO had secured exclusive streaming rights for South Park starting in June 2020 on their HBO Max service. The show's twenty-sixth season premiered on February 8, 2023. South Park has received critical acclaim, and is included in various publications' lists of greatest television shows. It has received numerous accolades, including five Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. A theatrical film, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, was released in June 1999 to commercial and critical success, garnering an Academy Award nomination. In 2013, TV Guide ranked South Park the tenth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time. Premise Setting and characters South Park centers around four boys: Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick. The boys live in the fictional small town of South Park, located within the real-life South Park basin in the Rocky Mountains of central Colorado, approximately a one-hour drive from Denver. The town is