10 Times You Can't Believe South Park Actually Went There

10. Assisted Suicide

South Park has never avoided hot topics. The series has dedicated entire seasons to mocking pretty much any taboo you could imagine. But when the show started, it focused more on silly humour and outlandish storylines, rather than making social commentaries.

But South Park did deal with a hugely contentious topic in one of their earliest episodes. In the first season, Stan's Grampa tells his family how he hates being old and has decided to take his own life. When his attempts fail, he asks Stan to help put him out of his misery. Although Stan doesn't want Grampa to suffer, he doesn't know if assisted suicide is ethical. Every time Stan asks his friends (and Jesus) for clarification on the issue, they refuse to weigh in, believing it's way too polemical to discuss.

What makes this storyline more controversial was the fact it aired three months after Dr. Jack Kevorkian was tried for the fourth time in taking part in assisted suicide. South Park may have pushed social commentaries much harder in later years but this episode showed the creators have never been afraid to hit the hot button.