‘South Park’ and ‘King of the Hill’ take on the Trump era

Chris Klimek in The Washington Post:

Call it “A Tale of Two Satirists.”

Well, three, if we want to get into the weeds about how college pals and “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are, in fact, two individual people despite having done their most notable work as a duo. Their gleefully filthy Comedy Central cartoon, which began its 27th season late last month, premiered in August 1997, four years after Mike Judge, another pioneer of adult animation, created “Beavis and Butt-Head” for MTV. Like many cultural exports of the Clinton era, both Judge and Parker/Stone have struggled to retain their relevance in the caustic era of President Donald Trump.

Setting a template that Parker and Stone would follow, Judge spun a couple of experimental animated shorts into a spiky comedy series that seemed, by the more decorous standards of the era, bracing in its vulgarity — and sometimes, trenchant in its commentary. By the time “South Park” came along, Judge had already created a second, more ambitious animated series, the sitcom “King of the Hill,” a send-up of life in a fictional suburb of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. Judge voiced the title role of propane salesman Hank Hill, giving the character and the series a tenor that was always more affectionate than mocking. The show’s initial 13-season run concluded in 2009. After a 15-year hiatus, the show’s 14th season premiered on Hulu this month.

More here.

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