Trey Parker And Matt Stone are not known for making friends in Hollywood. South Park And Team America World Police,No prominent figure remained unscathed. Even George Clooneywho made guest appearances in the film and show after helping to spread the viral short film that South Parkis not safe from their ridicule. This is largely a result of Parker and Stone’s lack of reverence for the establishment and their general disregard for celebrity culture, with only a few exceptions. Wondershowzen Creator Vernon Chatman has been a long-time contributor (and even lent his voice to Towliee), Bill Hader has appeared in the writers’ room more than once, and sometimes the duo can’t resist a good guest appearance. But it was precisely their disrespect that led to Parker and Stone meet behind the scenes with one of television’s biggest iconsand helped create some memorable episodes.

South Park

Follows the misadventures of four disrespectful elementary school students in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.

Release date

13 August 1997

Main genre

comedy

Seasons

26

studio

Comedy Central

Norman Lear is one of the biggest names in television

It’s unlikely that an 80-year-old would join the writing staff of a young show, but Parker and Stone made an exception for one of their heroes. Norman Lear has too many television credits to fully cover in one article, but over the course of his career, Lear created or developed over two dozen television shows. His work includes Everything in the family best known, but also Maude, Sanford and Son, Good times, The Jeffersons, One day at a timeAnd Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. The list goes on, but Norman Lear will always be remembered for his writings that challenged the social norms of the time, championed diversity on all fronts, and satirized the old-fashioned perspectives of older generations. But that is not the only reason Lear was the right choice for South Park.

“They wanted to make an Archie (Bunker) … so they made a boy.” At least that’s what Norman Lear repeated to Marc Maron about South ParkEric Cartman. The slippery and quarrelsome patriarch from Everything in the family Parker confirmed in the DVD commentary for Season 7 that he was a direct inspiration for the vulgar eight-year-old, but still South Park was a shock for Lear. When he heard about the show, by his teenage son, Lear told the New York Times“I couldn’t believe what they got away with.”

The greater attractiveness of South Park for Lear it was “to be able to look at him with (my son) and say: ‘Look, there is something on my heart.'” As hysterical as they may be, it’s wonderful to see something serious in the midst of all this silliness,” according to the New York Times Parker and Stone agreed. Stone said: “(Lear) is a role model in the way he cares about these things and does something about them.” After a tour of South ParkLear and his son visited the production offices of The Movie at his son’s request. Lear found that he, Parker and Stone enjoyed talking about many of the same things and asked if he could join them in the writers’ room sometime. Parker and Stone happily invited him.

Lear has taken “South Park” in other directions

In early 2003, the television legend joined the young talents of animation for a writers’ retreat in Arizona, diversity reported. Before each season, Parker, Stone and their staff take a company-funded trip to gather ideas for upcoming episodes, such as the one in Seattle where the jumping salmon inexplicably Kanye West “Fishsticks” episodes (as Bill Hader recalls). Lear told Variety that the group mostly “spit ideas out in all directions” at the retreat, but Lear enjoyed the process so much that he later invited the writers to his house to spit out even more ideas.

The first episode to influence Lear was the Season 7 premiere, “Cancelled.” In this episode, which was originally intended to be the series’ 100th, the four boys relive the events of the pilot episode and discover that their lives and the Earth itself are actually just a reality TV show produced by aliens for their entertainment (and now has to be canceled because Earthlings now know about the show). The DVD commentary states: Parker and Stone remember that Lear was the one who first suggested making fun of reality TV. Lear did not understand her and thought she was stupid, but Parker and Stone loved her. As a result, They got an episode that pokes fun at the cruelty of reality TV, but also acknowledges its entertainment value. However, Lear had a greater influence on a subsequent episode.

The actual 100th episode was “I’m a Little Bit Country,” an episode that parodied the recent US invasion of Iraq and the conflicting feelings Americans have about it. According to the commentary: One of Lear’s passions is teaching students about the Declaration of Independence, and Parker and Stone thought it would make a good episode. After some workshops, they decided it would be best in the context of the current political climate (“What would the Founding Fathers say about war?”) and that it would be a parody of after-school specials where kids travel through time to learn about history. In the episode, Cartman goes to extreme lengths to have a flashback (to avoid a school assignment) and ends up sitting in Congress debating the Constitution. Lear even guest stars as Benjamin Franklin to clear things up and propose a solution for America at that time and in Cartman’s time.It’s a fun episode that celebrates South Park and (to some extent) America, and that wouldn’t have happened without Norman Lear.

Lear remained friends with Parker and Stone until his death

While Norman only worked on one season of South Park It was a momentous experience for him, Parker and Stone. Twenty years later, just before his 100th birthday party, Lear told E!, “There’s no one in our business that I’ve admired more in a long time than Trey Parker and Matt Stone.” The connection went beyond the professional, as Lear even officiated Parker’s first wedding in 2006! Lear’s influence on television is undeniable, so great that even such controversial artists as Trey Parker and Matt Stone couldn’t resist the opportunity to learn from him. While comedy naturally ages quickly, the perspectives and reactions of comedians can endure across generations. Speaking to E!, Lear claimed it’s all down to human nature, and human nature is funny in any era.

Every episode of South Park is available on Max.

View here