The fifteenth season of South Park was created with great enthusiasm by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. After a successful night at the Broadway premiere of The Book of Mormon in New York City, Parker and Stone returned to Culver City, Los Angeles to work on the new season.
The first episode they created was “HumancentiPad”, which began production the Thursday before the airing date. To bring this episode to life, Parker and Stone worked alongside producers Anne Garefino, Vernon Chatman, Bill Hader, and Susan Arneson. They threw out ideas for shots inspired by Parker’s own experience with downloading the latest version of iTunes and having to agree to its extensive terms and conditions. This journey through production includes voice acting, animation, lip synching, abiding by standards and regulations for television broadcasting as well as character design and editing.
In order to make sure that everything was ready for the Tuesday airing date—only one day away—the staff worked around the clock in preparation for their traditional all-nighter party. Even up until the morning before it aired Parker and Stone were still tweaking elements of plot or dialogue. Finally, at 7am on Tuesday morning, it was finished! After sound and picture lock there was still one more step: Managing producer Frank C. Agnone II took the master tape to an uplink station near him in order to have it sent off to Comedy Central in New York just hours before its nationwide broadcast.
For fans of South Park or those interested in how an episode is made from start to finish, this documentary is a must-watch! It offers an inside look into a television classic while highlighting every step that goes into creating an episode as well as revealing some interesting facts about how production works in Hollywood. If you’re curious about what happens behind the scenes when making South Park or just want something interesting to watch then be sure to check out this documentary.
