South Park: Ranking Every Season From Worst To Best

12. Season 2 (1998)

Season 2 started off with one of the most notorious pranks in television history. Expecting to see a resolution to the cliffhanger upon which South Park's debut season ended, fans were instead treated to a show entirely about Terrance and Phillip.

The rest of the season was solid, but the reason Season 2 falls this low is its lack of real standouts. Sure, there's a number of scenes that would go on to become classic. Cartman first proclaims his iconic "Respect my authoritah" in the Officer Barbrady special Chickenlover, and his fugue state turn as Vietnamese prostitute Ming-Lee in Cow Days proclaiming "Sucky sucky eight dorrah" ranks as one of his best early moments. Tweek's underpants gnomes' business plan (or lack thereof) has entered the annals of academic study. Chef Aid assembles one of the best guest lists South Park has ever constructed, and the "Chewbacca defense" it features is the epitome of the show's mixture of real events with utter nonsense to depict the former's absurdity.

But when we strip away the brief moments from the rest of the episodes, what's left? Not much story. Going back and revisiting Season 2, I'm struck by how unabashedly nerdy South Park used to be. Star Trek and Star Wars homages pepper it, from the "beard of evil" that garnishes Good Cartman's face and the nefarious plane-arium manager to the clip show City On The Edge Of Forever, which is really the only semi-dud. Such offbeat humor is what made South Park a stunning success in its early years, and going back to watch simple, hilarious episodes like Cow Days is always a treat, but Season 2 doesn't really show much growth from its predecessor.

Best Episode: "Cow Days"

Worst Episode: "City On The Edge Of Forever"