The Simpsons and South Park-At This Point Let's Just Call Matt Stone and Trey Parker Geniuses

I've already talked about several great shows that are up and coming in the animated TV world (Home Movies had a very sentimental ending already, but whatever it still counts). With those in mind, let's talk about South Park who is, somewhat under the radar, producing an unprecedented number of episodes. At the time of this article, 247 episodes to be exact. And they're under contract for three more seasons. The fact that I don't hear people raving about this more often boggles my mind.

It wouldn't be nearly as much of an accomplishment if the quality of the show hadn't stayed consistent. How in the world has South Park managed to go so long without falling prey to what-I'm-going-to-call "the Simpsons syndrome"? What I mean by "the Simpsons syndrome is a show being on so long that it has lost the entire original spark that made it good and must delve into a never ending pit of celebrity guests to fill air time.

All shows, comedies especially, go through a lifecycle. They are born during pilot season-or in the minds of HBO execs.-grow over the course of 3-6 seasons, and ultimately die once the writers are tired and lead actors want to do movies.

However, some shows stay on the air well past their prime, the American Office for instance, and sometimes uniquely well-well past their prime, like the Simpsons, who now have hundreds of episodes that are mostly terrible. This pretty reasonable list, courtesy of BBC News, is the 10 best Simpsons episodes to air. Only one of them occurs after 2000-The Monkey Suit which aired in 2006. Keep in mind that this list was made in 2010 and I've unfortunately done the research to confirm that nothing of note has come after.

It is important to remember, The Simpsons is still one of the greatest comedies of all time. Its first 9 seasons were so good that there are books written about the subject as well as college courses (thanks Amazon and Mother Nature Network) that I'm sure filled up quickly. For a few glorious hours in a recent sociology class I took, the professor lectured about The Simpsons and the profound impact it had on American culture and national identity. It is a good show.

So how is South Park not getting more attention? It is already far beyond the point where The Simpsons declined sharply in quality. Sure, the recent seasons have had a few weird moments-Cartman's kitty technique was especially weird. However, for the most part, South Park has been just as amazing as its early years. Everything has stayed fresh.

It helps that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are much more topical than they were in the days of Trapper Keeper and Mecha-Steisand. Using current events more helps alleviate the creative burden on the writers. But somehow they keep going, week after week. Several years ago, the two even came out with an insanely successful play you probably heard about called The Book of Mormon. I finally managed to secure tickets to one of the final shows last year and it was incredible-the scent of South Park humor was everywhere in that play.

Since I have no idea how they keep going, I think it's time we call Matt Stone and Trey Parker creative geniuses and be done with it. I don't know what else they could do to prove it.

Aww. I miss Chef.

H. Jon Benjamin and Coach McGuirk

I thought I would take a second to recognize the miracle that is H. Jon Benjamin's voice. A lot of people know how he's put it to good use in the (finally) Emmy-nominated show Archer. A slightly smaller group watch Bob's Burgers, which is more light-hearted and nearly as good. Two other brief but successful non-appearances were him as the convenience store dude in Family Guy and the magical Master in the Adult Swim show, Venture Bros (see below for more on that). 

He has also appeared a few times in front of the camera. Benjamin had his own short-lived show, Jon Benjamin has a Van, and appeared several times on Important Things with Dmitri Martin (which was canceled too soon).

However, one of his most overlooked performances is also one of his best: Coach McGuirk on another old Adult Swim gem: Home Movies. He was an alcoholic soccer coach determined to do anything but instruct his team on soccer. Think Sterling Archer if he was overweight and nearly unemployed.

McGuirk is mostly defined by his relationship with the main character, Brandon Small, for whom he is an often-misinformed mentor. It was hard to choose one clip, but this sums him up nicely. If you have Netflix, check out Home Movies; all 3 seasons are on there. There is an endearing innocence to the whole show and the coach is always funny.