When a cartoon becomes a success in the prime time market, it is often due to the fact that the subject material is appealing to audiences of all ages. From The Flintstones to The Simpsons, these popular series have always had something for everyone to enjoy. One notable exception is South Park, a show that millions of kids have certainly watched and enjoyed, but was really never intended for their young and impressionable minds. Rather, this is something for the adults to enjoy, as they follow the lives of four 7 year-old boys and their daily lives in the town of South Park, Colorado. With their controversial subject matter and crude but hilarious sense of humor, this show has always probably been best watched after the young ones have been tucked into bed.

South Park is the brainchild of two animators and lifelong friends, Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Having met at the University of Colorado, they put their talents together for a little cartoon called Jesus vs. Frosty, featuring a homicidal Frosty that kills children. Using rather crude animation techniques, with construction paper cut-outs and a stop-motion camera, they managed to create a unique style that was quickly noticed. Word spread to Tinseltown, and in 1995, a Hollywood executive commissioned the duo to create a video Christmas card. They responded with The Spirit of Christmas, featuring a battle to the death between Jesus and Santa Claus and word of the cartoonists' potential spread quickly through the industry. Comedy Central responded in 1997 by giving the pair their very own weekly series, called South Park.

The show follows the daily lives of four boys, living in the Denver suburbs of South Park, Colorado. Stan Marsh, son of blue-collar worked Randy and his wife Sharon, lives with his evil sister Shelley and is best friends with Kyle Broflovski. Kyle, the only Jewish boy in the community, lives with his parents Gerald and Sheila, and his younger brother Ike. Kenny McCormick lives an impoverished lifestyle with his parents Stuart and Carol and has the misfortune of dying on most episodes. He wears an orange hooded jacket that always hides his face and makes him (almost) intelligible. And then there is Eric Cartman, son of a single mom and perhaps one of the rudest, most obnoxious and greedy tykes to ever appear in a cartoon. He makes Bart Simpson look like a choirboy.

But those aren’t the only colorful characters in the South Park community. Over at South Park Elementary School, the kids are taught by a sexually confused teacher named Mr. Garrett and his assistant/lover Mr. Slave, fed and advised by the ever-soulful and oversexed cafeteria worker named Chef, and reprimanded on a regular basis by Principal Victoria. Their classmates include the kind-hearted and gullible Butters Scotch; young beauty Wendy, who Stan has a major crush on and demonstrates it by throwing up on her whenever she is nice to him; handicapped student Timmy, who can only say his name; the affluent African-American student Token; and Tweak Tweek, a hyperactive and perpetually frazzled student.

One things is for certain when it comes to the subject matter used in South Park – absolutely nothing is sacred. Just about every topical subject worth skewering has been the target of Parker and Stone. From PETA to the Boy Scouts to NAMBLA, from sex-changes to anally probing aliens, from impoverished kids from Africa to notable figures such as Michael Jackson, Saddam Hussein, Rod Stewart and Christopher Reeves have all been poked fun at. One celebrity that didn’t take so kindly to the ribbing was Tom Cruise, who watched in horror as Scientology was ridiculed. Unfortunately, one of the show’s most beloved characters, Chef, was voiced by Shaft musical composer Isaac Hayes, who also happened to be a Scientologist. Pressure from the church led to him leaving the series, and that act was also promptly responded to with another biting episode that had him promptly killed off on the series. But never let it be said that Matt and Trey aren’t equal opportunity offenders – there is literally no subject or person that has been safe over the years from their mocking and often hilarious ridicule.

In 1999, fans of South Park were treated to their first major motion picture, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut. In the same inimitable style as the television series, the film finds South Park overrun by vulgarity, thanks to a movie that the kids watched, starring their favorite television characters, Terrence and Phillip. Meanwhile, Satan and Saddam Hussein are having a lover’s quarrel, one that can only be smoothed over by the recently deceased Kenny, and Canada and the United States go to war, prompted by the Canadian’s bombing the residence of the Baldwin Brothers. The film earned the dubious distinction of “the most swearing in an animated film” with 399 profane words uttered in its 90 minutes.

Today, with 12 seasons and 181 episodes under its belt, South Park shows no signs of slowing down. Sure it is vulgar and politically incorrect, but there is also an underlying charm, thanks to the endearing characters that the show has developed over the years. And as long as there are self-centered celebrities walking among us, and as long as there are controversial topics in need of a good skewering, Matt Stone and Trey Parker will have no shortage of the material that has made South Park one of the most entertaining shows on television – after the kids have gone to bed, of course.