If you have a somewhat keen eye for detail, it's likely you've spotted this alien in several episodes throughout the show.
It can even be seen in this image used with a popular meme, “you're gonna have a bad time”.
And, it's often been said that the alien is, in fact, hidden somewhere in every episode of the show...but this is not true.
The show's creators have stated that the alien is sometimes added during the last stages of production, and that they do not keep track of when they do so.
So, the alien is not in every episode, but it is not known in how many, either.
The character Kenny is actually based on a real person.
As series creator Trey Parker has mentioned, he had a childhood friend who was also named Kenny.
He was, apparently, one of the poorest kids in the neighborhood and he always wore an orange coat that often muffled his voice.
He would also frequently skip school, causing his classmates to jokingly say that he must have died.
At the end of season 5 in the episode “Kenny Dies”, the running gag of having Kenny killed in almost every episode finally comes to an end...
...and he doesn't appear again until the last episode of the next season.
However, the initial idea was actually to kill off Kyle.
They felt that Kyle and Stan were a little too similar and they really wanted Butters to be part of the main characters in the show.
So, originally, Butters would have taken Kyle's place and not Kenny's.
“South Park” is really quite unique compared to other animated shows in that each episode begins production only six days before it's aired.
This allows them to cover topics and events only days after they happen, something other shows just can't do.
What's even more impressive is that during the, so far, 17 seasons and 247 episodes, they have only missed the deadline once because of a blackout.
In the intro for the show, all the main characters each sing a few lines, including Kenny.
Kenny's lines, however, are, as always, very hard to make out as his voice is, of course, muffled by his orange coat.
But, if you listen really closely (or, like me, read the transcripts), you'll hear that he says some pretty obscene things.
For example, between season[s] 1 and 2, he says...
And since the middle of season 10 and forward, he's been saying...
The term “derp”, which is these days most commonly used in rage comics and other Internet memes, was first coined by the two creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker
in their live action movie, “BASEketball” from 1998.
d e r p
During the shit production of the shitting episode “It Hits the Fan”, the shit script had a few shitty instances of the word...
And, Comedy shitting Central would not allow the air because...
...of the shit.
So, Parker and Stone came up with a shit idea to instead of using the word “shit” in a serious manner a couple of times...
...and shit...
...they would overuse it until it just become shit shittingly shittish absurd shit.
The idea was, of course, a long shot, but to their surprise, executives at Comedy Central felt the profanity could now be justified, and decided to allow the
uncensored episode to air...
...and shit.
The pilot episode of the show with the glorious title “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe” was actually animated almost entirely using paper cutouts and stop motion.
This is because the creators did not yet have a contract with Comedy Central and were short on money.
The pilot remains the only episode in the series not to be animated using computer software.
Butters's real name is Leopold Stotch.
However, he was originally going to be named Poof Poof and his birthday...
...is September 11.
When the episode “Trapped in the Closet” was aired, which made fun of the Church of Scientology, including the well-known member Tom Cruise,
the Church got kind of angry.
In fact, so angry, that they decided to get some retaliation by investigating both Stone and Parker to see if the could “dig up some dirt” to use against them.
But, they became pretty frustrated when they found nothing.
Then again, you have to remember; these are the guys that make a living out of making cartoons about Steven Spielberg and...
...George Lucas raping Harrison Ford, or Cartman tricking someone into eating his dead parents, or killing all kinds of people and being and stuff...
Or, you know...
...talking poop.
W-what...like...w-what can you really expect to find to top that?