The classic episode South Park's creator Trey Parker begged not to be aired
"There’s one episode we did, it was the first show of the season, and I’m like, I’ve lost it. I don’t know how to do this anymore."
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Louise Thomas
Editor
You'd think it'd be a wall-to-wall blast creating a show as anarchically gleeful as South Park. Well, you'd be entirely wrong.
SBS2 Australia's The Feed went behind the scenes on the show to reveal how creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker create an episode within the minuscule span of a mere 6 days. And the answer turned out to be: whilst under a huge amount of stress.
That's the word that was used by Trey Parker to describe the average working day in the show's studios, in a week which officially begins with an ideas session on Thursday and ends with the show's delivery to its network on a Tuesday. "You get to Monday and you're, like, oh my god," Parker said. "Dude, we're going to have to call the network and tell them there's no show. Every week."
Indeed, Parker elaborated further on how the show's tight schedule can so often lead him to indecision, unafforded with the time to mull over ideas or make sweeping changes. “Every Tuesday, Matt and [Anne Garefino] know they have to talk me off a cliff," he described. "Every show, I’m like, this is a horrible show, I don’t want anyone to see it. There’s one episode we did, it was the first show of the season, and I’m like, I’ve lost it. I don’t know how to do this anymore."
"I was like, please, begging Anne, do not let this go on the air, because I don’t want the South Park legacy to be ruined, and this show is going to ruin it, because it’s so bad and I’m just going to feel terrible… I just went home and was depressed and couldn’t sleep, and I got in the next day and they’re like, dude, people really like that show. And it was the show about World of Warcraft.”
The episode in question? 'Make Love, Not Warcraft'. A fan favourite, which lovingly prodded at nerd culture and the world of online gaming. That said, the pair further revealed they'd only ever once been delayed in the delivery of their show to the network, when a power outage hit the studios.
The Feed's Marc Fennell was further given a chance to tour the studios, with a look inside the South Park Studios' writer's room, recording studio, and editing suite.
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