People in the 1980s would have enjoyed South Park had it existed by then? Or were people in the 80s not crude/distasteful enough to enjoy a show that profane and violent?

considering people in the 80s thought crap like Porky's was funny yeah they'd probably like South Park

considering people in the 80s thought crap like Porky's was funny yeah they'd probably like South Park

Agreed,

With Stand up comedians firing profanities (like Lenny Bruce in the 60s, George Carlin & Pryor in the 70s), I believe people would have enjoyed this even further back than the 80s. I'd go back to the late 1960s.  However getting it on the air is a different story back then.

people back then didn't have that humor, back then people had sophmoric humor, you know like peeking into the girl's locker room, teasing the jocks, giving wedgies that type of humor so I think they would've liked South Park.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_Pail_Kids_(TV_series)

What everyone else said.  Yes, people would like it, but it probably wouldn't have aired.

Of course they would of liked it, the question is would it have aired?

By the time the 80’s rolled around we had All In the Family, SOAP, and Bevis & Butthead under our belts. It wasn’t as if we didn’t already have a good helping of controversial and sometimes perverse subject matter on the air.

Violence, sex or perverse (not to mention racist) subjects was nothing new either, certainly not to cartoons before South Park. Many were heavily political, leaning right or left and would have been considered offensive then, and especially now. Ever seen a Warner Bros, or MGM cartoon from the 40’s or 50’s? Or Ralph Bakshi’s movie version of R. Crumb’s “Fritz The Cat” from the early 70s’?

So all South Park did was put what was already done before, put together in a weekly animated series.

Yes, it wouldn’t of aired then (maybe on HBO it would have had a shot?), but with an audience that was already used to both violence, controversy, vulgar & adult subject matter in TV, movies and comics long before South Park first aired in 1997, it was only a matter of time.

Of course they would of liked it, the question is would it have aired?


Adding my voice to the chorus: "We were ready.  Neither cable nor broadcast television were ready."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garbage_Pail_Kids_(TV_series)

What everyone else said.  Yes, people would like it, but it probably wouldn't have aired.


I remmber Garbage Pail Kids Tv Series.

considering people in the 80s thought crap like Porky's was funny yeah they'd probably like South Park


Although Porky's has "adult language" and sex and nudity, whereas South Park does not, the latter's subject matter makes it light-years more shocking and controversial than Porky's. I mean, if you really stop and think about it, what was Porky's but an R-rated version of Happy Days?

On the other hand, South Park gets so far out there that even I find myself cringing from time to time. As has been mentioned already, there's no way in hell any basic cable network would have touched South Park with a ten-foot pole back in the 1980's, and I don't know if even HBO would have had the balls to show, for example, Mr. Slave and the gerbil back then.  8-P

I'm kind of amazed it was even allowed to air in 1997, to be honest. Even today nothing really tops it, there might be a few shows that come kind of close (Drawn Together comes to mind, not sure if they still make that though).

Cartoons in general in the 1990s and early 2000s were insanely violent and often really disturbing. Celebrity Deathmatch is funny if you are 15 but scary as hell if you're 7 years old. The ones today don't seem quite as bad though the difference is most of the television in the 1990s was not obscene and foul-mouthed while the majority of it today seems to be.

I'm kind of amazed it was even allowed to air in 1997, to be honest.


Is the attitude of the people really that different today in comparison to 1997?

I'm kind of amazed it was even allowed to air in 1997, to be honest. Even today nothing really tops it, there might be a few shows that come kind of close (Drawn Together comes to mind, not sure if they still make that though).

Cartoons in general in the 1990s and early 2000s were insanely violent and often really disturbing. Celebrity Deathmatch is funny if you are 15 but scary as hell if you're 7 years old. The ones today don't seem quite as bad though the difference is most of the television in the 1990s was not obscene and foul-mouthed while the majority of it today seems to be.


How about shows like Family Guy and American Dad, they had sex and violence but it's mostly for the older folks.

Is the attitude of the people really that different today in comparison to 1997?


Not of the people no but of the media yes. Swearing on TV was a big deal in the 90s, people made a big fuss of it, and profanity was for the most part only in hip hop and metal songs; now swearing is ubitiquous in pop music of all genres and on TV.

The douchey pop culture was definitely ripe for picking!  To wit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLnu8SzOGfs

However, "It wasn't anything like that, penis breath!" was controversial in E.T. and would never have passed the network censors.
;D

The douchey pop culture was definitely ripe for picking!  To wit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLnu8SzOGfs

However, "It wasn't anything like that, penis breath!" was controversial in E.T. and would never have passed the network censors.
;D


How did Henry Thomas get away with that one?

However, "It wasn't anything like that, penis breath!" was controversial in E.T. and would never have passed the network censors.
;D


I don't know about that.... Wayne used to call Kevin scrotum breathe on the Wonder Years... that made it past sensors...can't tell me they didn't know what it meant.  ;D