10: Marjorine – Season 9, Episode 9
Episodes based around Butters are always a delight and Marjorine is perhaps one of the best. When the boys think the girls have a device that can see into the future, they get Butters to undercover as one of the girls to retrieve it from them.
The episode is stacked full with hilarious moments, Butters experience at the slumber party, Butters’ parents dealing with their son’s apparent suicide, and the boys reaction to the girl’s playground toy never fail to raise a chuckle.
9: The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to The Two Towers – Season 6, Episode 13
The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to The Towers begins with a simple misunderstanding: Randy accidentally gives the boys a copy of back door sluts 9 to deliver to Butter’s parents instead of a copy of Lord of the Rings. What follows is 20 of the funniest minutes of South Park ever made.
Inspired, in case you hadn’t guessed, by The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the episode sees the boys attempting to retrieve the tape, whilst several other groups of people, including the parents and a Gollum inspired Butters trying to thwart them.
The episode has some great ones liners, and the final explanation delivered by the parents to the children at the end is comedy gold.
8: Kenny Dies – Season 5, Episode 13
Kenny Dies is that rare kind of episode that manages to balance poignancy and humour perfectly, giving us one of the saddest, and funniest episodes in the show’s history.
When Kenny is diagnosed with a muscle destroying terminal illness, Cartman, who happens to be in the possession of a load of aborted fetuses heads to Washington to lift the ban on stem cell research to save his dying friend.
The episode features some great moments, not least of which is the ending, where it turns out Cartman was actually using Kenny’s death to build a Shakey’s Pizza for himself.
Other great moments include Cartman trying to sell the fetuses to several universities and research foundations, giving birth to his ‘you’re breaking my balls here’ catch phrase and Kenny’s take down of Madonna when the Make a Wish foundation arrive.
The episode is at its best though when it is dealing with the death of Kenny and the impact it will have on the young boys’ lives, with Stan’s reactions being particularly well executed.
7: Christian Hard Rock – Season 7, Episode 9
‘You know nothing about Christianity Cartman’
‘ I know enough to exploit it’
Christian Hard Rock is one of the most consistently funny episodes the show has ever put together. Whether it be Faith + 1’s album shoot, Kyle, Stan and Kenny being shown the repercussions of illegally downloading music, or Cartman’s hilarious pop music inspired lyrics about Jesus, this episode never fails to crack me up.
It’s also one of the rare episodes where the sub plot is really strong as well, though not many people remember it as much because the central one is so laugh out loud funny.
6: Casa Bonita – Season 7, Episode 11
Any episode centered around Cartman and Butters is always brilliant, and this episode is the best the pair have ever given us.
In Casa Bonita, Kyle invites everyone to his birthday party at the titular restaurant, except for Cartman. Unfortunately for Eric, Casa Bonita also happens to be his favourite place in the whole world. After desperately pleading with the host, Cartman is told that he can come if someone else can’t make it.
Seizing his opportunity Cartman decides to convince Butters that the end of the world is coming and that, being the good friend he is, he is going to allow Butters to hide away in his underground bunker.
The rest of the episode is as hilarious as you’d expect, and Cartman’s arrival at Casa Bonita is just the perfect end to an awesome episode.
Originally published December 14, 2016. Updated April 16, 2018.
