The Deep End of South Park

<p> No American television show of the past decade has been vilified as has Comedy Central's <I>South Park.</I> This is the show that has featured in turn a nine-year-old boy enmeshed in an affair with Ben Affleck a maniacal Mel Gibson smearing feces everywhere and the misadventures of Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo a talking bouncing singing piece of poop. While it's not always an exercise in good taste <I>South Park</I> is a socially significant satire that has also devoted entire episodes to interpretations of <I>Great Expectations</I> Ken Burns' <I>Civil War</I> and <I>Hamlet.</I> This volume explores the popularity and cultural relevance of <I>South Park</I> and its place as an artistically and politically worthy satire.</p>