Does South Park REGRET The Streaming Wars? 

Honestly, I'm just happy Liane grew a spine against her son.

The irony about the streaming war special is that I haven't seen it because I am tired of having to spend close to cable levels of money to have all of the different streaming services

Lol, Trey and Matt went from making 10 half-hour episodes to making 6 half-hour episodes plus 2 hour-long specials, and somehow made like an extra billion dollars or something for this "extra work"? They're genius and this whole "streaming war" plot just underlines it

this episode was legitimately the first time I hear WAP and it made the entire discourse that happened back then so much funnier

Cartman in this didn't even have to use the money for the operation. but he was too in on it even after everyone gave him a share of the larger profit. He's that committed to schemes he never sees the larger picture

In the follow up episode they need to have a scene where some pirates show up and create a route in the stream that directs some of the water to a different place, and they announce that this location is free for anyone that wants it. The streaming services try to stop this piracy from happening, but people keep finding ways to access it regardless. I'm sure this requires no explanation.

I really hope Tolkien's dad lives, he's a foil to Randy and it makes the Tegridy farms episodes way more interesting and funny.

Cartman's mom standing up to him is by far one of the funniest things of this episode. I can't wait to see how far he goes with this battle to get her to do what he wants. With nothing to stop him from doing all his schemes this could turn into very funny Ed Edd and Eddy style schemes and punishment

Between downsizing their living situation and creating conflict between him and his mother, I think the writers are creating a trajectory for Cartman's story to follow through on the ending of "Post Covid pt. 2". If Leanne maintains the new backbone she's shown in this movie I could definitely see her throwing Cartman out of the house when he turns 18.

My favorite part was the random scene of Kyle and Kenny talking to each other while waiting for the bus. Love those little wholesome moments.

I can't believe I didn't pick up up Pipi = PP = Paramount Plus xD When it revealed he was the one buying up all the land in the mountains, I kinda read that as him being Disney, since they have a reputation for consuming other companies and trying to establish a monopoly. Maybe it's both, who knows, but I really dig these breakdowns.

It would be cool if some of the specials actually connected back to older seasons. It's a cartoon, so we can go back. Specials that take place between older seasons would be neat... And Matt and Trey wouldn't need to be as involved because the story arcs are much simpler in earlier South Park.

I think Randy's going to get semi-redemption by revealing the Pi-Pi's evil plan (though probably for selfish reasons)

When he bring Lianne to the hospital, they had a long discussion. Really thought she would give in. So happy she is finally the one with the upper hand.

If Pi-Pi really is the stand in for Paramount+ like you suggested... WOW way to bite the hand that feeds you, lmao

One of my biggest problems with the specials, is the fact, that paramount+ is only available in the US and canada.

I think that Imaginationland should be the blueprint for the specials. Like, even if you hadn't seen South Park in *years* when Imaginationland dropped you could follow the story and it was basically just a movie disconnected from the wider season it aired during. That's what these should be.

considering that all of the streaming services are little boats, I'm upset they missed the opportunity to have piracy as actual little pirate boats or something

imagine paying for a streaming service when you can watch on a shady website hosted on an offshore oil rig that is technically a foreign country

I really hope future specials are able to tell the kind of stories they couldn't do in a typical episode, like the Post Covid specials did. Obviously the follow-up to this special isn't out, so I don't know how it'll wrap up, but I felt that they could have made the streaming story and the Cartman story into two separate episodes and not much would have been lost.

I had a great time with this special. So many callbacks and pulling characters from various points from throughout South Park history was a nice touch that I thoroughly enjoyed. I agree that this is a lot of set up and will be eager to see how the pay off happens. Butters’s rant about streaming services was the highlight for me. Only gripe I had was that the various musical scores throughout the special seemed a little over the top. I was watching with my dad in his office where he has a big fancy tv set up, so maybe that’s why I found them so blaring..but in recent seasons and specials there has been more musical scores, some are great but a good chunk of them in this one seemed way to much. Anyone else feel this way? Or just me?

I really enjoyed this special! As soon as i finished i was like “man i cant wait to hear Mr. 2Cellos talk about this”

Thank you for explaining the whole situation between SP, HBOMAX, and Paramount plus, I had forgotten all about it.

I wish they’d find a way to bring back the woodland critters

Overall this special was pretty good. I feel like they're putting in more effort into these specials than the actual show now. 8.5/10.

Cartmens defining character trait has ALWAYS been self sabotage XD

This Special was just awesome, Them ripping on the Streaming Wars all the way through and Liane finally putting Cartmen in his place was cool.

As an Australian, the whole concept of farmers effectively taking water from the folk downstream is EXTREMELY topical at the moment. Lot of that happening in New South Wales with cotton farmers having huge dams for storing water in. :/

I was wondering why the games were on sale for the switch this week until I saw your post for this last night! Gunna replay them 😤

Given the return of Manbearpig I really hope we get a special set in the past with Marvin & the other residents making the deal with Manbearpig or that will be seen in flashbacks in the second part of the Streaming Wars special

The fact that you can't watch them on the same service as the regular seasons was the point. That's the whole "too many" aspect. Its confusing on purpose.

"getting a boob job and marrying a rich guy" is also commentary on Parker's ex-wife, a stripper he married and later inevitably divorced

Anyone else find it surreal and hilarious that *this* of all shows is weaving some of the most advanced and intricate climate change allegories on television? Somehow the writing on this show just gets more and more ambitious with age. South Park’s really been leaning into the metatextual lately, but it’s sort of earned the right after being on the air for 25 years. Whatever Matt and Trey are thinking about or going through, they just turn it into a storyline, which in theory is a terrible way to make a TV series. It sometimes feels like the creators are just having a conversation with us through the medium of a cartoon show, draping their talking points in dozens of crazy allegories and somehow still making sense. South Park is in a rare position to basically say whatever it wants about its corporate overlords and even its own role in the current media paradigm without running the risk of getting yanked off television. It can criticize its owners, it’s audience and itself and still feel very authentic and sincere. Only a show this iconic and irreplaceable can be so naval-gazing and self-indulgent and somehow make it work. Most showrunners would be perfectly happy to rack up a billion dollars by way of convoluted streaming deals, but South Park has never been about the money. If it hurts the quality or confuses the audience, it’s probably not worth it. As far as the streaming stuff goes, I pretty much see the Paramount + specials as just being part of the season itself. It’s obvious that S25 never really ended and that the storylines were conceived with the intention of building to whatever conclusion we’re eventually gonna reach. Like Butters said, sooner or later most of these services will die off and all of the content will end up together on one platform. Pipi even alluded to this when he complained about wanting all of his stuff together on one service. As long as the eventual home releases are handled properly, with all the COVID specials as Season 24 and the current arc as Season 25, I’ll be happy. (*Also one more thing. I don’t think Cartman was actually trying to manipulate his friends with the surgery comment, he’s just actually that thoughtless. One of the weird things I’ve noticed about the recent episodes is Cartman’s been a lot more good natured and appreciative of his friends. You could never really tell before if he actually cared about his buds or just needed to have people around to screw with. But ever since he didn’t kill that pangolin, he’s mellowed considerably. Coupled with the fact that Liane’s stopped taking his shit, we might be in for some really interesting character development)

I loved the Post Covid specials. This one was great too, but I agree that it just felt like another episode of South Park. Personally, I'd like to see more specials set in the future. Seeing all the kids as adults was surprisingly well-done

Awesome, video, dude!!! I was having a bit of a rough time understanding all the references in this two part specials. Thanx!!!

the vibe i get from the recent seasons is more like trey parker telling us "man we're doing the best we can.. they keep offering us money!" .. especially after they fucked the donald trump season up.. but im happy as ling as matt and trey keep making more sp .. i would hate to see it become simpsonised or worse end altogether

Definitely curious to see how this plays out in the next special.

I love how people are pronouncing it "Tolkien" now. Lol

I really agree about the regret on the deal, but luckily for them, it's south park. They can show their regret to the world and also mock the absurdity of their own bosses.

The Paramount+ specials do not *bleep out* the cursing, so they at least have that going for 'em.

Speajing of South Parl and streaming, remember how Trey and Matt were against the 08 writers strike because they found it dumb that writers wanted compensation for their work when streamed online through legal fashions since they didn't think it was viable? And at the same time, the creators made a successful deal with Viacom so they can make literally millions of dollars off of streamed episodes of South Park? Fantastic guys those two.

You forgot to talk about the best part of the special. The montage of Stan and Tolkien testing their boats set to WAP.

No, Pi Pi is supposed to be Disney in this! He has a giant Park dedicated to the same stuff he sells on his streaming service, but he mixes in 50% pee (which I bet is a jab at the quality of Disney products)... He bought up all the property on top of the mountain, everyone is working for him. And I think the noir detective would then be representing copyright...

i like how stan emphasizes the name Tolkien every time he says it now.

This feels like the best we've got from south park in a while, and most of the other stuff has been good this one just went above and beyond. Even if they don't stick the landing I think this special is plenty great for what it has already done.

I'm glad I randomly stumbled on this channel. I had no idea there was a second post covid special. And the only reason I knew about the Streaming wars episode was an actual ad on Peacock.

Been waiting a few days to find a video to break this down. Loved this episode. Can twait to listen to this now. Subscribed.

The message of the next part will be to just pirate all south park content so you don't have to pay multiple services

For the first time ever, Australia’s shitty access to streaming services means a win, because we get both the seasons and the specials on our paramount plus

Lucky to live in Australia, we dont have HBO Max so we get ALL of South Park on Aussie Paramount +

Thanks for highlighting the animation! No one ever does that with South Park, and finally someone does..

i LOVED how they used WAP by carti B as the boats float down the water lol

First I didn’t know season 25 was over, now I just find out a new special was dropped!

I had no idea about thabehind-the-scenes-drama, thank you for explaining! That let's me appreciate the special much more

Thanks for giving some clarity as I live in the uk and it’s so hard to find the correct information as to what’s going on with South Park it’s not advertised anywhere and most people I know haven’t seen any of the special unless I’ve sent them a link. Paramount + is available now here but I’m not sure if our paramount + is the same as the US version or different kinda like Netflix I might give it a trial and watch part 2 if I can

When manbearpig actually shows himself, i blame them speaking it into existence

After having just watched the second part, I'm just happy I'm getting more South Park. I've watched it my whole adult life and if it went away I don't know how I would handle it.

Glad I watched this entire thing. That explains why I personally hadn’t figured out “where’s my South Park?”.

i thought randy having a karen plot was because they didnt want him to be a part of the main plot and wanted to focus on somebody else while getting a few randy jokes that the people love.

I'm calling it now! Pirates get involved in part 2.

this video essay should be featured somehow by the creators. You said yourself how inaccessible the timeline is due to the very thing they are mocking. They did something so interesting and so smart and so timely and you condensed it so well. It's a really interesting critique of the culture. I hope they watch your videos and give you the time and props you deserve!!

And the real winners are those who pirated the show

Streaming services compete and pirates win. Always looking forward to see what happens next!

I noticed that this season their music choices have been weird to say the least. first the annoying pajama song and now this totally over the top vulgar rap song. both felt out of place for different reasons^^

I watched the first 10 seasons of South Park years ago but have decided to give it another go because of your videos on it. ty johnny

Great Video man! Just wanted to say Nicholson's Character in Chinatown is Jake Gittes not Jack. Love your content dude!

Only Matt & Trey could play two giant corporations off of each-other to the tune of $1.5 billion while at the same time using the product they purchased to crap all over both of them. Absolutely savage.

I found out about this South Park because I'm subscribed to you. Same with season 25. Them being on different streaming services doesn't matter because arr matey.

I'm confused that's how I ended up here to see if I could get some clarity lol. thank you, this helped me understand!

Another beautiful analysis💚

a streaming exclusive commentary about streaming classic South Park

I can’t stop listening to Cartman’s song about living in a hot dog lol Cartman’s songs are always my fav!

Great video... thanks to you and this video I now know why I haven't seen these Paramount + episodes-- I was like..where the heck... I cant find them...oh its on a subscription service no one uses.... shit

thank you so much for this i was so high watching thsese i had no idea what was going on

It was great i tought, Cartman’s mom standing up to him finally, with like you said hilarious result 😂 them killing of the dad of a character who looked like he was approaching main cast, once again we have a big suspens for what next, i just think it was great

what about the 2 episode manbearpig episode where they said he would come back in 5 years and now its been almost 5 years and he's back

I though it was ok, funny as usual, but could have been a normal episode since it doesn't feel as big as the covid specials or bigger longer and uncut or even other multiple episode specials like the cartoon wars or the black friday trilogy if anything I think the special should have been about cartman and his mom and making a plot around their relationship since it has only been explored once

somehow I read the title as 'does South Korea regret the streaming wars' and I was very confused.

Also technically it would be a four parter since the specials are over forty minutes

my guess for future episodes is that they reference to the Depp Heard trial. Cartman makes a plan to fully transition into a girl so he can sue Kyle for a million dollars over sexual harassment and abuse, but the plan backfires and than he is stuck as a girl.

After the follow up, im glad they addressed Randy, and apparently made him now a hybrid of his marijuana character and his scientist character. Also glad Eric's mom finally stood up to her son.

Sorry if you’ve done a video on this topic before, but can you please make a video examining the episode “1%”? I think that episode does a good job of showing Cartman’s personality, hell, I even felt a little bad for him in that episode. I think it’s a pretty underrated episode since I never see people talk about it.

Randy being a karen and calling the cops was so stupid because it is really out of nature for his character randy hates the cops, and usually isnt a karen. Kyles mom is supposed to be the karen.

An interesting question, maybe kinda philosophical would be, is Cartman ever going to change, i mean he is the worst, that is kinda his thing, but there have been moments that show that he can change, he even kinda did for a while then he was with Heidi, he just started thinking she would learn about his past, thinking he is not good enough for her and started trying to push her away, even going so far to try to literaly kill her so his own belief that he could not change kinda turned him back into a monster, a very toxic relationship, in the future version he had a family, he did change, but once more his past comes back for him and he turned kinda into the enemy, but in the end he sacrificed his perfect future turning into a homeless person to help his friends. So, do you think he will ever truly change. How could they write a redemption story for him. I mean that boy killed 2 people and forced the son to eat them. He was kinda the most racist and sexist person on the entire show. Having him change for the better was an interesting idea. I wonder how they will keep going with this. Of course he is a metaphore for i think a lot of people in real life. Him not changing is a statement that people in real life do not change, even if they want to. A kinda sad idea. I kinda hope he will change one day.

I subscribed to watch this special thankfully only using a free trial and watched the first but can’t for the life of me find the second within the app. Is it out yet as I heard it came out in the UK yesterday but can’t find it.

With Warner now suing Paramount this video is kinda funny in hindsight

This special was a clear step down from the previous specials and season 25 episodes. If you like meta commentary then watch it, but not very many true laughs here

I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I’m over South Park. After the atrocity that was this past season and all of this switching from different streaming platform to platform, I feel as though it’s best for us to part ways for right now at least. It’s been a solid 25 years 👊

Here in the UK, everything is on Paramount Plus which is handy. They even advertised it at the 2022 British GP with the 4 boys on the pitlane hoarding with Paramount plus branding.

its amazing the hotdog house was foreshadowed in South Park's pilot episode

I DO love how the boys empathize with Cartman, even if they didn't realize the truth. They can understand someone that cares for their mother... xDDD they didn't even assume it was just Cartman up to his old tricks...

I just want to say I think it's weird that Kenny didn't even die once

Man i love South park so much its insane to me how i still find it funny 25 seasons later, oh Eric will forever have a special place in my heart its the delivery and the pure evil from time to time ofc even funnier when he gets what he deserves in the end.

I've really loved every South Park special put on P+ finally the streaming service is getting good stuff. I wonder if season 26 will start with Cartman with his new implants...

The only reason I paid for Paramount Plus this month was South Park. It is kind of annoying

I loved it. I hope they do a episode where the kids are teenagers

paramount+ in Australia has both the series and specials. been able to watch both 😊

I haven't seen it yet so i will put this video aside and watch it sometime this week.

I believe they foreshadowed the 4 boys hanging at the bustop again seeing how Kyle can't even understand Kenny. I have a feeling after these specials everything will evolve back to Eric back on his block. I can tell you it went from 6days to air into 6 months to air. Sharron might start getting paranoid at mass shootings again

I’m happy for Matt and trey but having South Park being split between Comedy Central, HBO Max, and paramount plus make finding the show so confusing .