Running gags on South Park that disappeared

[biffwestwood]

One was Kyle saying "Kick the Baby" and kicking his adopted brother Ike.

Another was a character insulting Ms. Crabtree and when she acts "What did you say?" the character says they said something that sounds similar.

[Oh, that's raspberry!]

Chef

[comeau]

One was Kyle saying "Kick the Baby" and kicking his adopted brother Ike.

Another was a character insulting Ms. Crabtree and when she acts "What did you say?" the character says they said something that sounds similar.

Kyle kicking Ike only happened what, a couple of times in the whole show? And one of those times was in the movie.

Mrs. Crabtree was killed off some time ago. I know her original voice actress, Mary Kay Bergman(who also voiced characters like Mrs. Brovlovski), took her life in 1999, so that may have had some role in Matt and Trey's decision to stop using the character.

[Handsome B. Wonderful]

Chef

hahahaha

[ANdre1001]

Screw you guys! I'm going home!

He does not say it that much anymore

[Flimpson Tide]

Everything disappeared. Not necessarily for the better, either.

[Shaunbadia]

The news correspondent known as "A midget in a Bikini" from some really old episodes (And also the movie) sorta just disappeared

Also, as we all know, Kenny doesn't die once per episode anymore.

[lolcats]

Most of the catchphrases from Seasons 1-4 have pretty much disappeared.

[Knightboat]

The news correspondent known as "A midget in a Bikini" from some really old episodes (And also the movie) sorta just disappeared

Also, as we all know, Kenny doesn't die once per episode anymore.

I'm pretty sure the news correspondents change. Doesn't one have the last name 'Brownage'? I tried Googling it but somehow the internet gave me nothing. It leads me to believe I'm imagining it.

On the other hand, Googling it reminded me that the news reader's name in 'Tom Pusslicker'.

[DurpDurperson]

I did like that recent episode where cartmen talked to his toys

[Pedro Sanchez]

Anything involving Cartmans Mom being a dirty slut.

[Dobbie]

Mephesto and his 'experiments'
Kenny dieing, still happens, but he rarely appears anymore anyway.
The 'that's gay!' kids
No Mr. Kitty that's my 'food item'!
Even 'You know, I learned something today...' is rarely seen these days.
Stan puking whenever Wendy entered in social interaction with him.

[comeau]

Oh man, the "that's gay!" kids. I used to love them, the episode where the boys are playing cops to those kids' robbers was awesome.

"Huh huh, that's gay!" "Huh huh, we're gay!"

[Flimpson Tide]

Each person has his own preferences, but I definitely would prefer if new episodes were more modeled after season 3/4 than now. Episodes back then relied on sitcommy jokes and character-based humor, where now you mostly get situational humor that cycles through an episode several times. After you've seen a newer episode once, the surprise of what's going to happen in the plot is no longer there, so as a result you laugh less. I watched The Red Badge of Gayness and Chef Goes Nanners today and both had many laugh-out-loud moments even though I've seen them many times. I read on Wikipedia that the creators claim that the disappearance of Mr. Hat symbolized the death of the show's early surreality - what a sad turning point in the series, although South Park still entertains. I have this feeling that Matt and Trey wanted to stop the "community" feel the show had and bring the focus back to the kids, thus the loss of personality and usage of characters like Ned and Jimbo, Barbrady, Mr. Garrison, Cartman's mom and Chef. When you see the characters now, they only serve their physical purpose of being a cop or teaching the class - there's rarely any character-based humor that comes with their scenes. These are really depressing sacrifices that I will still never understand why the show made them - it's comparable to if The Simpsons stripped the role of Springfield away from the show and only allowed the 5 family members to deliver jokes.

[Dobbie]

Oh man, the "that's gay!" kids. I used to love them, the episode where the boys are playing cops to those kids' robbers was awesome.

"Huh huh, that's gay!" "Huh huh, we're gay!"

That's from Lil Crime Stoppers! One of my favourite episodes!

And yeah Flimpsons I agree with you. I don't think the modern episodes are bad but I do miss the old charm and storylines it used to have. I want the boys to be boys again but I thought the ziplining episode was pretty damn close to that!

[Food Blog]

"...and only allowed the five family members to deliver jokes." That roughly describes every Seth show. Or maybe it accurately describes them - come to think of it, everyone else only gets to be the butt of the joke.

I don't mind the new SP, sometimes it even makes me laugh. I don't think keeping the old jokes and catchphrases would be anything but irritating to watch, and I'm glad to see that the creators are capable of progression. However, I agree that they have no excuse to put purely pop culture conspiracy storylines in without anything character-driven - for me, the Ass Burgers storyline was at a decent medium point between the two (albiet not the most amazing episode ever). I'm a big fan of the pseudo-changes such as "Kenny dies for real (but doesn't)" and "Everything is shit (except it's kind of not anymore)" because I find amusement in the parallel with real life situations. I'd just like the overall quality of episodes to rise a bit (not that the creators are renowned for quality consistency), and they stand more of a chance of achieving this through progression with balance than through nostalgically recalling catchphrases. How different is it for SP to keep repeating the same things to get a laugh, than what all the other shows seem to be doing where they provide a dry reference to something and call it a joke? /musings

[Bella Drape 'er]

There's rarely any town feel/jokes anymore with Jimbo, Ned, Barbrady, the Mayor, etc.

Mr. Garrison doesn't even feel like a character anymore, the only thing I remember him doing this season was teaching about Game of Thrones.

[Dobbie]

Yeah Mr. Mackay is utilised more than Garrison, even in the school-based episodes! Not sure why...

[Flimpson Tide]

Yeah, I was pondering Garrison's lack of a role in Bass to Mouth. I wonder if Matt and Trey think that the "new" Mr. Garrison is really down to earth and wouldn't be willing to shove Cartman under a bus whereas Principal Victoria, the shop teacher and Mr. Mackey would. Remember, this is the teacher who shoved a gerbil up his TA's ass, got two sex changes and allowed his hand puppet to join the KKK. The last time I remember Mr. Garrison being wacky at all is in Eek, a Penis. Mackey's been utilized and funny lately, so why can't Garrison still deliver jokes?

[Dobbie]

Eek, a Penis must have been Garrison's last major role in the show. That's simply way too long ago. Mr. Garrison is an insanely underrated character and he needs more love. All he does nowadays is move around infront of the chalkboard, says something stupid (which you can sometimes barely hear) and then he disappears for the entire episode.

Cartman, Stan, Butters, Kyle and Randy always seem to be the main focus of an episode, with the occasional Ike, Mackey, Kenny and Jimmy appearance. It's a shame when so many other characters can deliver potential storylines are tossed aside for the norm. That said we are starting to see more of Kenny and least of Randy lately, so maybe they are slowly changing the format of the show?

Garrison, Mephesto, Clyde, Mr. Slave, Big Gay Al, Gerald, The Stoches, Craig, Timmy, Tweek, Token, Wendy, Jimmy...even Towelie need to be used more often.

[lolcats]

I would've preferred it if Bass To Mouth had Garrison in place of Mackey.

[Flimpson Tide]

Actually watched Bass to Mouth last night and found it to be quite hilarious; possibly the best of season 15. I realized that Garrison did in fact have a hilarious, nearly inaudible (as Dobbie pointed out) comment about the kids being "retards" for not knowing whales are mammals. Great episodes like that I wouldn't change anything, but I feel like less of the "mediocre" episodes would happen if Matt and Trey did embrace those other characters and rely less on current formulas for most episodes.

[Dobbie]

I would've preferred it if Bass To Mouth had Garrison in place of Mackey.

Mr. Mackay seems to be a bit more of psycopath lately. 'Royal Pudding', 'Bass to Mouth' and 'Insheeption' come to mind. I personally think that Trey and Matt transformed Mackay into a Garrison-esque character without really knowing it, which probably explains they use more than Garrison, as he's more impulsive.

[leprechaun_dan]

I miss when Cartman would misuse the word "serious" in lines when he says "Guys, I'm seriously"

Pretty much what dobbie listed in this thread

And I miss the decent argument that Cartman and Kyle used to have. They rarely have any arguments anymore but if so, they're usually not that funny

[Knightboat]

I miss when Cartman would misuse the word "serious" in lines when he says "Guys, I'm seriously"

It's funny you say that. My flatmates and I are always quoting various TV shows, especially The Simpsons and South Park. Earlier this year I came running through our front door yelling, accent and everything, 'GUYS, SERIOUSLY! SERIOUSLY, YOU GUYS! THE RED BULL CHICKS ARE GIVING OUT FREE RED BULLS OUTSIDE! YOU GUYS, I'M SO SERIOUSLY!' Of course, they all lost their shit and since it has become regular quote usage in our group.

[Flimpson Tide]

Wow, I never even noticed that was a running gag. What are some episodes that comes across in? A Google search only gave me one from The Coon trilogy. That was like the day I realized the whole "Me, Bender" thing in Futurama was a running gag and I loved it.

[Dobbie]

Tweek.

Where is he? He occasionally pops up (Hell on Earth 2006, 201, etc.) but he never says or does anything. His parents have especially vanished from the face from the Earth.

[lolcats]

If I remember correctly, the last time he spoke was in Season 13.

[Shaunbadia]

Oh man, the "that's gay!" kids. I used to love them, the episode where the boys are playing cops to those kids' robbers was awesome.

"Huh huh, that's gay!" "Huh huh, we're gay!"

If memory serves me well, that was sort of a little Beavis and Butt-Head shout out with the "Huh huh" stuff too. It's no secret that Trey and Matt have cited Beavis and Butt-Head to be one of the shows that influenced South Park alongside Monty Python.