19 Seasons Later, 'South Park' Hasn't Changed Much

Comedy Central starts airing the 19th season of South Park tonight. The award-winning animated series is the network’s most popular, but the writing hasn’t changed much since its first episode in 1997.

South Park’s crude-yet-lovable characters continue to break societal rules of politeness and cross boundaries of television appropriateness and offer commentary on current events.

Although South Park’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said they didn’t believe the show would last more than a few seasons, this summer, Comedy Central extended the the longest-running scripted prime-time cable series to 23 seasons.

NPR TV critic Eric Deggans discusses the show and the new season with Here & Now's Meghna Chakrabarti.