‘South Park’ hits 25 years

Reaching the age of 25 is usually a sign of hitting adulthood, a signal to put away all childish things. Not for “South Park” and stars Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman.

The Comedy Central staple about four bratty, perpetually bundled-up youngsters in an unhinged Colorado cartoon town celebrated its silver anniversary by trundling along, fueled by poo jokes and razor-sharp social satire.

Just some of its targets over the years include religions like Christianity, Islam and Scientology as well as climate change deniers, cryptocurrencies, Phil Collins, Tiger Woods, smoking bans, “Game of Thrones” and pedophiles. One of its child stars used to die in every episode, violently.

“Some people are like, ‘Wow, I can’t believe they made fun of that because that’s such an important thing.’ And that’s exactly why we made fun of it,” says Trey Parker, who created the show with Matt Stone.

To celebrate the series’ 25th birthday, Parker and Stone have returned to Colorado with a concert filmed at Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre near Denver, headlined by Primus and alternative rockers Ween. Rush members Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson also stopped by to play.

“South Park” had a cartoon Jesse Jackson insist on having his rear end kissed by Kyle’s dad to apologize for his use of a racial slur and depicted Jesus Christ defecating on former President George W. Bush and the American flag.

“As much as I love ‘The Simpsons’ and I think ‘The Simpsons’ is really important, I think ‘South Park’ has definitely done things that ‘The Simpsons’ haven’t,” says Dr. Jonathan Gray, a media and cultural studies professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, whose books include “Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality.”

“South Park” is the series that gave us cultural touchstones like Cheesy Poofs, ManBearPig and Mr. Hankey, the Christmas poo. It gave us Professor Chaos and General Disarray and the sight of Cartman exacting revenge on a teenage bully by making him eat his own parents and then gleefully licking the tears from his face.

It has morphed into full-length movies like “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” — which snagged an Oscar nomination for best original song — and video games like “South Park: The Stick of Truth.” On Broadway, their musical about Mormons has been a hit since 2011.

Celebrating its 25th anniversary with a concert makes sense since music has been at the show’s heart. Some 100 songs have been used over the years, and “South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” was itself a musical film. Parker and Stone think of themselves less as animators and more as members of a band.

“When we go into a new season, we go to the studio like a band, and we have no idea what’s going to come out,” says Parker. “We’re always surprised at the end of the season of like, ‘Oh, we did that? That’s crazy!’ That’s what kept it fun and fresh for 25 years.”