The tenth season of South Park was released on DVD recently, and a few brief clips from the season featuring commentary from Matt and Trey have been posted on Comedy Central. I've placed them below for your enjoyment.
It shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who saw the episodes "Cartoon Wars" and "Smug Alert!" that neither Matt nor Trey have much fondness for Family Guy or San Francisco. The fellas also reveal that part of the reason for making "Cartoon Wars" a two-parter was because they wanted more time to convince Comedy Central to let them show Mohamed. And we all know how that worked out.
Matt does offer one small compliment to Family Guy, saying the writers appear to be quite intelligent, but choose to just write "gags." I would have to agree with his assessment, but my beef with Family Guy was never that the show relies heavily on non sequiturs and throwaway gags -- that's been the basis of the show from the beginning, and while some may not agree it's the best comedic choice, it's the guiding ethos of the series. What frustrates me about Family Guy is the way it often confuses "pop culture reference" for "joke." Sometimes they get it right: the Back to the Future references in the final episode of last season fit in nicely with the overall story and didn't feel forced. It's easy to dismiss Family Guy, but the show does have moments of inspired brilliance that are both entertaining and wildly frustrating when compared to its frequent detours into mediocrity.
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