Royal Pudding

   I find that as South Park progresses, the public opinion of an episode seems to be inversely related to my opinion.  Last weeks episode, "Royal Pudding", predictably rips on Canadians and the royal wedding.  However, thankfully, the actual wedding is only glazed over, almost as if it's not even worth making fun of.  I've heard a lot of talk about how the current season isn't the best and how its only getting worse.  My opinion, however, has been the exact opposite, with this episode being a perfect example of why I think South Park has a good sense of humor, even if they sometimes decide not to use it in order to please the plebeians. 
   As I said the royal wedding is the cause of the plot, but is not the centerpiece as a couple minutes in the Princess of Canada is kidnapped and the Canadians have a call to arms.  For the benefit of those not accustomed to the show, Canadians are South Park's stand-in for whenever there's an itch to make fun of a culture.  In the South Park universe, all Canadians are high-horsed, "fart-loving", arse-holes.  This is why it's surprising that Canadians, and the royal wedding itself, get a relatively blunt end of the prodding stick.  While some may be disappointed, in the end the funniest parts have nothing to do with satire or poop.  In this sense I am incredibly pleased with the show as no one could guess what the humor could be until the episode is already on.  Anything that helps a show become less formulaic, even if it's only a little, only improves my opinion of a show.  This in addition to the fact that it is the funniest episode yet, and I don't know why I'm the only one loving this season.
   It is documented somewhere on the internet, that Matt Stone and Trey Parker were less than excited to do another season of South Park.  Fans of the show will know that the two killed off Kenny for almost all of season 6 because the joke of him dying was getting old.  It is quite clear that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are tying to keep thinking of new ideas, and certainly do not wish to do anything that feels stale.  This is shown in the two's most recent project, "The Book of Mormon". While I have not seen the musical, I have heard the soundtrack.  While I do not know many musicals, it sounds like a completely original story; a comedic musical that I hope appears somewhere near where I live, but now I'm rambling.  The point is that South Park has slowly moved out of its crude beginnings and the creators are still trying to move it forward even if only to keep it from staying in one place for too long.  Poop jokes will always be a constant in the show to varying degrees so worry not low-brow humorists.  However, South Park is currently giving a tiny bone to the high-brows and I'll enjoy it while I can, because I'm sure something more crude is on the horizon.  While I would agree that season 14 was better, I still love this season and I hope Matt Stone and Trey Parker don't let me down.