South Park: Ranking Every Season From Worst To Best

17. Season 16 (2012)

In what has been a recurring theme of the show's later years, Season 16 of South Park is hit-and-miss. Even for a show that derives its material from current events, the creative well begins to run dry at some point, and quality becomes less consistent.

There are some flashes of greatness here. A Nightmare On FaceTime in particular is a marvelous return to Halloween specials for the show, their first since Hell On Earth 2006, and nicely weaves classic Randy insanity into an interesting plot.

But Season 16's low points are the epitome of why critics think South Park is in decline. Insecurity, aside from the hysterical Randy-as-Bane sequence, is way too obvious with its humor, and I Never Should Have Gone Ziplining mostly misses the mark - the fact that it's partially live-action doesn't make up for its banal plot. What really does Season 16 in, though, is the fact that it doesn't hit its stride until Cartman Finds Love, a vintage Cartman moment (and possible indication of his closeted homosexuality) that comes seven episodes in.

The first three episodes are totally unremarkable, and as far as season cohesion goes, putting all the duds at the very beginning leaves a bad taste in the viewers' mouths. They aren't horrible, but they're far from good, and they pull a season with a few gems down towards the bottom of the pile.

Best Episode: A Nightmare On FaceTime

Worst Episode: Faith Hilling