Cartoons Changed Forever 29 Years Ago, With a Raunchy Series Premiere That Set Up 339 Episodes of Easter Eggs

While some of the biggest cartoons on television and streaming are unapologetically R-rated, one iconic cult classic paved the way for this some 19 years ago. It is tough to overstate the role that the success of The Simpsons played in pop culture history. After over 800 episodes and 37 seasons, The Simpsons is the longest-running scripted primetime American TV show in history, the longest-running American sitcom, and the longest-running animated comedy ever. Without it, the entire adult animation boom of the last 35 years couldn’t have happened.

However, the sheer impact that The Simpsons had on TV can sometimes overshadow the contributions of its competitors and contemporaries. For example, the R-rated cartoon South Park introduced a new level of profanity and boundary-pushing humorous to adult animation only a few years after The Simpsons debuted, as well as pioneering a hyper-timely style of storytelling. South Park’s risque season 1 outings immediately courted controversy, but its massive popularity made the show almost as influential as The Simpsons as the series continued.

The First Episode of South Park Originally Aired On August 13, 1997

South Park season 1, episode 1, “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe,” introduced viewers to Cartman, Kyle, Kenny, and Stan with a surreal, obscene story wherein Cartman’s titular anal probe causes him to fart fire, Kyle’s brother Ike is abducted by aliens, and Kenny is inevitably, brutally killed by a violent accident that has almost nothing to do with the rest of the plot. This rundown might sound bizarre, but the episode itself was arguably even weirder, a freewheeling string of gross-out gags with little in the way of connective tissue.

As the wait for South Park season 29 continues, it can be hard to believe that the satirically sharp series from the 2020s is the same show. The 1997 pilot is absurdly crude and immature, with goofy voices and toilet humour replacing any attempts at social commentary or political satire. However, in many ways, this makes “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe” an ideal introduction to South Park even in 2026. Crucially, the show’s first outing feels almost improvised, from its intentionally shoddy animation to its loose and shapeless plotting.

It is this silliness, along with the ability to get much raunchier and more potentially offensive than their PG-rated predecessor The Simpsons, that allowed South Park to make its mark on TV history. The chaotic humour of Rick and Morty and the outlandish cutaway gags of Family Guy couldn’t have happened without South Park’s premiere and the show’s subsequent breakout popularity. Similarly, American Dad, The Boondocks, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Archer, Smiling Friends, and Big Mouth all owe varying creative debts to the show.

South Park’s Alien Easter Egg Showcases How Much The Show Has Changed

“Cartman Gets an Anal Probe” also sets up one of the longest-running gags in TV history, as the aliens seen in the pilot can be spotted in almost every episode of the series somewhere in the background. For the first few seasons, this was more than just a throwaway gag. Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker initially wanted to riff on Twin Peaks and the ‘90s classic The X-Files by filling the titular town with paranormal and supernatural phenomena, only for South Park to instead shift its focus to lampooning current events around the show’s fourth season.