The twelfth season of ''

South Park ''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 ...

'', an American

animated Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed bet ...

created by

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating '' South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. ...

and

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Stone was intere ...

, began airing on March 12, 2008. The twelfth season concluded after 14 episodes on November 19, 2008. ''Saturday Night Live'' cast member

Bill Hader William Thomas Hader Jr.''Finding Your Roots'', January 26, 2016, PBS. (born June 7, 1978) is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer. He is the creator, producer, writer, director, and star of the HBO dark comedy series ''Barry'' (201 ...

is credited as a consultant starting with this season. Parker was the director and writer in this twelfth season. Stone was also the writer on the third episode of the twelfth season.

Overview

This season features a new title sequence, replacing the one used since the sixth season. It recreates the original to begin with before using clips from seasons four to eleven which the boys also sing their lines over. These older clips are replaced every half season with newer ones. In the first half of the season, Mr. Kitty returns to prominence in " Major Boobage" for the first time since season three's " Cat Orgy", while Terrance and Phillip haven't featured prominently since season five's " Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow". Canada last featured prominently as a setting in season seven's "

It's Christmas in Canada "It's Christmas in Canada" (sometimes called "Christmas in Canada") is the fifteenth and final episode of the seventh season of the American animated series ''South Park'' and the 111th episode of the series. The episode originally aired on Decemb ...

". Most notably in this season is Ms. Garrison's second sex change, returning her to being a man, as Mr. Garrison again. This is the last episode to date to explore Garrison's much examined sexuality. " Super Fun Time" indicates that following " The List", Stan and

Wendy Testaburger Wendy Testaburger is a fictional character in the adult animated television series ''South Park''. She is best known for her on-again, off-again relationship with her boyfriend Stan Marsh, and for being more intelligent and mature than most child ...

are dating again. The second half of the season begins with " The China Probrem", which marks the return of

Steven Spielberg Steven Allan Spielberg (; born December 18, 1946) is an American director, writer, and producer. A major figure of the New Hollywood era and pioneer of the modern blockbuster, he is the most commercially successful director of all time. Sp ...

and

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker. Lucas is best known for creating the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founding Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairm ...

who are again portrayed as villains, despite seemingly dying in season six's " Free Hat". There is also the one two-part story: "

Pandemic A pandemic () is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. A widespread endemic disease with a stable number of in ...

" and " Pandemic 2: The Startling". The following episode " About Last Night" parodies

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

's victory in the 2008 presidential elections the night before. The episode was written and animated under the assumption Obama would win which turned out to be correct. Parker and Stone said it was considered intentionally redubbing the episode poorly if

John McCain John Sidney McCain III (August 29, 1936 – August 25, 2018) was an American politician and United States Navy officer who served as a United States senator from Arizona from 1987 until his death in 2018. He previously served two terms ...

had won. This episode also revealed the political alliances of several citizens. " The Ungroundable" marks the return of the Goth Kids who last featured in season nine's " Erection Day".

Kenny McCormick Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character and one of the four main characters in the adult animated television series ''South Park'' along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His often muffled and incomprehensible speec ...

does not die in this season.

Awards

The season received one

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and, in May 2009, a

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories include ...

Reception

Critical response

The twelfth season of ''South Park'' has been met with mostly positive reviews from critics and fans. Travis Fikett of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa dist ...

gave the season 7.5/10, saying that it was "good" and "Season 12 isn't bad, it's just not that great. There are a number of misfires and no truly classic episodes. That's a rarity for a series that often has fans calling up friends the next morning to say "Oh my God, did you see ''South Park''?".

Episodes

Home media

''South Park: The Complete Twelfth Season'' was released as a three-disc Region 1 DVD

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

in the USA on March 10, 2009, nearly one year after it had begun broadcast on television.

References

External links

South Park Studios
- official website with

streaming video Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

of full episodes.
The Comedy Network
- full episodes for Canada {{South Park episodes, 12 2008 American television seasons