TV column

South Park's juvenile humor marks 20th season

Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny are back for the 20th season of South Park. It returns at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Comedy Central.
Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny are back for the 20th season of South Park. It returns at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Comedy Central.

It's hard to believe, but South Park kicks off Season 20 (!) at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Comedy Central.

South Park, created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, debuted Aug. 13, 1997, and has rolled out 267 episodes since.

The irreverent bad boys of basic cable, who met at a film class at the University of Colorado in 1992, were in their late 20s (and going on 17) when the show debuted.

But they had stumbled upon something novel with their 1992 student short titled The Spirit of Christmas (or Jesus vs. Frosty). It was the precursor of the cutout animation series that was to feature the adventures of Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick -- the boys who live in the South Park basin of central Colorado.

Combined with a puerile crudity (we're talking about you, Mr. Hankey) and bizarre, but frequently brilliant, satire, the series was a success.

How successful? Comedy Central notes that South Park is seen in 130 countries and in 30 languages, has 46 million Facebook fans, five Emmys and one Peabody Award.

When the winners of the 65th annual Peabodys were announced in 2006, the awards committee described South Park as "Comedy Central's notoriously rude, undeniably fearless lampoon of all that is self-important and hypocritical in American life, regardless of race, creed, color or celebrity status."

Not bad for four boys from the middle of Colorado.

Season 20 will have 10 episodes. They are rated TV-MA, including the ones where Kenny doesn't get killed.

More sass. As long as we're in the neighborhood, Comedy Central is unveiling Legends of Chamberlain Heights at 9:30 Wednesday after South Park.

The series follows the adventures of three high school freshmen, Grover, Jamal and Milk, who are bench warmers on the Michael Clarke Duncan High School basketball team. They may not be stars, but they have superstar dreams.

Is the animated comedy for kids? Not a chance. It's rated TV-MA for language.

There will be 10 episodes in the first season. A second season has already been ordered.

• Blindspot. Season 2 premieres at 9 p.m. Wednesday on NBC. This is the crime drama that began last year with a naked tattooed woman (Jaimie Alexander) showing up in a duffel bag in New York's Times Square with no memory of how she got there.

On the case is FBI Agent Kurt Weller (Sullivan Stapleton). Each intricate tattoo has something to do with a crime and clues about who Jane Doe is. Spoiler: She's not who we thought she was.

Blindspot is rated TV-14 for violence.

• America's Got Talent. The Season 11 results show airs at 7 p.m. Wednesday on NBC. They're Americans. They've got talent. That's all we need to know.

• MasterChef presents its two-part season finale at 7 p.m. Wednesday on Fox with the final three contestants preparing appetizers, entrees and desserts. Don't forget, the show is rated TV-14 for language because Gordon Ramsay sometimes loses his temper.

• American Horror Story. The anthology drama created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, returns for Season 6 at 9 p.m. Wednesday on FX. Past seasons have held off until October.

The theme for the new season remains a mystery at press time. Those rascals at FX have been way too coy with the teasers. The lack of information is probably designed to heighten anticipation, but with so many new fall options out there, the ploy may backfire.

In the cast this season are Lady Gaga, Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett, Kathy Bates, Cuba Gooding Jr., Denis O'Hare, Finn Wittrock, Cheyenne Jackson, Leslie Jordan, Evan Peters, Matt Bomer and Jonesboro native Wes Bentley.

The series is rated TV-MA for graphic creepiness.

Still Alive premieres at 9 p.m. Wednesday on Discovery Channel. This is one of those nail-biting reality series where you can live vicariously through the misfortune of those who survived horrific circumstances.

The first episode, "Climb or Die," tells the tales of a scientist who falls into a crevasse in the Himalayas; a man who plunges to earth when his parachute malfunctions; and a woman who almost drowns after being dumped in the Colorado River.

• The Contenders, for those who can't get enough politics, AETN debuts 16 for '16 at 7 p.m. today. The series covers 16 presidential campaigns over the years. First up is "Straight Talkers" featuring Shirley Chisholm, the first black female Democratic candidate, and Republican war hero John McCain.

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Style on 09/13/2016

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