You'd think it'd be a wall-to-wall blast creating a show as anarchically gleeful as South Park. Well, you'd be entirely wrong.
SBS2 Australia's The Feed went behind the scenes on the show to reveal how creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker create an episode within the minuscule span of a mere 6 days. And the answer turned out to be: whilst under a huge amount of stress.
That's the word that was used by Trey Parker to describe the average working day in the show's studios, in a week which officially begins with an ideas session on Thursday and ends with the show's delivery to its network on a Tuesday. "You get to Monday and you're, like, oh my god," Parker said. "Dude, we're going to have to call the network and tell them there's no show. Every week."
Indeed, Parker elaborated further on how the show's tight schedule can so often lead him to indecision, unafforded with the time to mull over ideas or make sweeping changes. “Every Tuesday, Matt and [Anne Garefino] know they have to talk me off a cliff," he described. "Every show, I’m like, this is a horrible show, I don’t want anyone to see it. There’s one episode we did, it was the first show of the season, and I’m like, I’ve lost it. I don’t know how to do this anymore."
"I was like, please, begging Anne, do not let this go on the air, because I don’t want the South Park legacy to be ruined, and this show is going to ruin it, because it’s so bad and I’m just going to feel terrible… I just went home and was depressed and couldn’t sleep, and I got in the next day and they’re like, dude, people really like that show. And it was the show about World of Warcraft.”
The episode in question? 'Make Love, Not Warcraft'. A fan favourite, which lovingly prodded at nerd culture and the world of online gaming. That said, the pair further revealed they'd only ever once been delayed in the delivery of their show to the network, when a power outage hit the studios.
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StevieDMfkr on February 11st, 2021 at 01:37 UTC »
Paul Stanley from KISS also has a kick ass track featured in the episode.
JoshDaws on February 11st, 2021 at 00:56 UTC »
If you've seen "6 days to air" you'll understand the pressure cooker they place themselves under to get SP out in time. Which as the article mentions, can lead to indecision, even about good ideas.
Edit: as pointed out below it's 6 days to air, and I highly suggest watching it if you are an SP fan OR want to work in the industry.
Meat_Freaky on February 11st, 2021 at 00:53 UTC »
I wonder how he thought it would ruin South Park. It seems like a pretty cut and dry South Park episode.