10 Celebrity Guests Who Should've Stayed In South Park

Celebrities passing through cartoon locales is one of the hallmarks of Adult Animation. For much of its early run The Simpsons was an example of cameos done well. However, in later seasons, guest stars were used to generate easy publicity. Many point to an over-reliance on such cameos as a key reason for the show’s steep decline. The infamous Lisa Goes Gaga is a damning indictment of this.

South Park has a different approach to celebrity cameos. As they rarely involve the person being lampooned, Trey Parker and Matt Stone do not have the hardship of having a celebrity ego to flatter, and are free to create a fully realised satire of the person’s public image. The celebrities often fit into South Park so well that they could become regular characters, in a similar vein to Adam West being Mayor of Quahog in Family Guy.

Tom Cruise and Al Gore have had successful multiple episode arcs in South Park. However, there are many more characters in the South Park Hall of Shame who could become series regulars.

Note: Appearances as background characters with little added to a character's in-world story arc have been omitted for length.

Episode(s) appeared in: Pip (Season 4, Episode 14)

Malcolm McDowell was the narrator of what many fans consider to be the worst episode of South Park. The only regular character featured was Pip. Shortly after this episode he was relegated to a background character with Butters stepping in his place to serve a similar role.

The episode Pip was an adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, with Pip playing the character who inspired his name. Regardless of anything else, McDowell as a narrator was perfect, lending both an authority and a wry humour to the episode.

Malcolm McDowell, like most successful British actors of a certain age, is a talented narrator. His voice could add class to even the crassest goings on in South Park. McDowell deserves to narrate a more memorable script. As the man who brought to life one of literature and cinema’s most terrifying characters (Alex in A Clockwork Orange) he would be the perfect narrator for Halloween episodes, adding some horror credentials to the humour. McDowell’s guest appearances are diverse: CSI: Miami, Fallout 3, and Slipknot’s Snuff music video, to name a small sample of his work.