The SP Timeline 2000

Winter 2000

  1. December 29, 1999 - The new voice for the females of South Park is revealed to be Eliza Scheider. She has four prior projects listed at IMDb.com. Like Mary Kay Bergman, she attended UCLA and graduated as a world arts and cultures major (Mary Kay left UCLA after her thid year there).
  2. January 2, 2000 - South Park Central gets its cease-and-desist letter.
  3. January 6, 2000 - No. 1 South Park Street gets its cease-and-desist letter.
  4. January 7, 2000 - In Entertainment Weekly, Trey and Matt reveal that the shorts they'll make for Shockwave will not be related to South Park after all. They'll try new stuff, weird stuff. They'll have full artistic control, which means no restrictions from Macromedia or the FCC.
  5. January 12, 2000 - On Fox News Roger Friedman relays the news that there are 27 episodes left in the series. Season five will have ten of them.
  6. January 19, 2000 - Mr. Hat's Hellhole announces a Layout Design Contest, as it has gotten tired of the old layout.
  7. January 27, 2000 - At Lapdance DVDA, Trey Parker's band, performs some of its songs from 11:15 p.m. to midnight. Two of the songs were "Robert Redford Fucks Babies" and "David Kelley, TV Warrior." Also, eCompanies' Icebox.com will create original animated programming for the Internet in partnership with the best group of talent ever assembled for the medium. Among the group is Pam Brady, co-writer of "South Park, Bigger, Longer, Uncut."
  8. January 28, 2000 - At Lapdance 2000, Trey is a voice in the short "Revenge of the Roadkill Rabbit." Eric Stough co-directs and produces it.
  9. February 8, 2000 - The total number of episodes has been raised to 75. In the South Park Digest, Booster Club Moderator Paul Wein reveals that season four will have 17 episodes. The first four will air in April, starting on the fifth, then 7 in the first half of summer, then 6 in the last half of fall.
  10. February 10, 2000 - A post in the SP Digest says that Matt and Trey are going to be at the William S. Paley Television Festival in Los Angeles, Thursday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m. Alta Vista: Live! reports that Stone and Parker, who were set to debut their show in March, now seem to be at least a month behind schedule. The duo are looking for real estate near Marina del Rey, Calif., to house some computers and serve as headquarters for the show. Explains Stone, "We're in a ramp-up period."
  11. February 18, 2000 - Trey Parker and DVDA are featured in MTV's True Life, which is being repeated multiple times in the next few days. Trey sings a snatch of "Robert Redford Fucks Babies" and "I Am Chewbacca", among other memorable moments.
  12. February 21, 2000 - McFarlane Toys and Comedy Central Make Sweet Lovin. In October, McFarlane Toys will come out with a series of posable dolls. They include the four boys, each with a minor character to play with (ex.: Kyle and Ike, Cartman and Kitty). Starvin' Marvin, Officer Barbrady, Nurse Gollum, some cows, and other characters will also be available. See here for more information: South Park and Austin Powers (Gotta have Quicktime VR for this one), South Park Figures On Display, and South Park Figures In Detail. Also, a blackout is executed by 75 South Park sites to protest Comedy Central's position on episodes and mp3's online. The blackout involved shutting down the sites for one day. The facts are that Comedy Central has ordered fan sites to remove full-length episodes, and mp3's from the three current CD"s, from their Web spaces (see the listing for October 16, 1997). The sites protest that doing this will deprive people who don't get Comedy Central from seeing the show and increasing its popularity (which may result in new subscribers to Comedy Central). Truth is, the show has already peaked in popularity and has leveled off, so the blackout had no effect.
  13. February 25, 2000 - Mr. Hat's Hellhole announces the deadline for the contest: February 27.
  14. February 27, 2000 - The deadline for Mr. Hat's Hellhole's Layout Design Contest arrives. Stevo of Kenny's Hall of Death is announced as the contest winner, so he gets the $200 offered as the Grand Prize. Vin and Matt seem to realize their error, though, as the contest winner is hardly ever announced at the deadline, so they revert to the old layout and ask the fans to continue voting. The prize is retracted.
  15. March 2, 2000 - At the William S. Paley Television Festival at the DGA Trey and Matt discuss various aspects of the show, from the last-minute changes made to an episode to the four or five voice-over artists they will need to replace Mary Kay Bergman. They also discuss their experiences with both independent and major studios, their struggle to get a trailer for South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut to air on television, their struggle against the MPAA concerning the movie, and the reasons why there will not be a sequel to the movie. Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman receive the Award for Best Original Score for South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut at the 12th Annual Chicago Film Critics Awards.
  16. March 5, 2000 - Mr. Hat's Hellhole declares a winner for the second time: Dan, who sent in some revisions to his layout. The claim is that the contest was a draw all the way to the end, but that Dan's layout went better with its subpage layouts. This means that the February 27 announcement was premature, that the deadline was violated with voting past the deadline date, and that the final decision was not the fans'. For this, the contest and the Hellhole are reviled. The lesson here is that the layouts should not have been shown to the fans. The Webmasters are the ones who are going to deal with the layouts daiily, and what may work for the fans may not work out for the Webmasters. Vin and Matt should have tested the layout without having the fans vote, and then chosen the one that works best for them. They could then ask fans for small improvements.
  17. March 13, 2000 - In the TIME article God's Gift, James Poniewozik talks about the state of TV today. He says this of South Park: "In this environment, a show like South Park is, perversely, the most retro rarity on TV: an offensive and intelligent series, satirizing religion and society with proud coarseness (just as All In The Family did in its own way). South Park's bigoted, foulmouthed Eric Cartman may go to hell for it, but unlike GD&B's creators, he'll at least have something to show for his trip." P.S.: God, the Devil & Bob has been cancelled

Spring 2000

  1. March 22, 2000 - The Daily Variety article ''South Park'' duo too hot for Internet reports that Shockwave is worried about the content of Trey and Matt's first short, seeing that it is even more vulgar than the movie. Shockwave weighs whether to charge per view or edit the content, if it can do anything at all.
  2. March 23, 2000 - In the E! Online article Trey and Matt Shock Shockwave? Shockwave clears up the matter: the shorts will be for adults only, and they will probably remain free to view. And, it loved the raunch that Trey and Matt handed in. The first short is to appear in a few weeks. Also, Doug Herzog quits Fox, having comes to odds with his boss, chairman of Fox Televisionn Entertainment Sandy Grushow. If you remember, Herzog launched South Park and was lampooned as president of Cartoon Central in episode 106 - "Death."
  3. March 31, 2000 - News of the World reports that Phil Collins will become a major topic in the season 4 episodes. This inspires Comedy Central to report on April Fool's Day that Phil Collins will guest-star in the season 4 premičre. The New York Daily News reports that 'South Park' Guys Say They Won't Be Fenced In. In it, Trey and Matt discuss the future of the show. Highlights": there will be 73 episodes, after all; they will sign year by year after their current contract runs out, they have a few other projects they're thinking of doing, and they will shut down South Park when they decide to move on.
  4. April 12, 2000 - The fourth season begins with "The Tooth Fairy's Tats 2000".
  5. April 16, 2000 - Megastar reported Kenny might be replaced in the boys' lineup by Timmy, who only says "Timmuh".
  6. April 17, 2000 - from Spawn: "Our planned Kid Rock action figure and South Park line have not been cancelled. Both are still in licensing and contract negotiations."
  7. April 18, 2000 - "Oh My God, They're Killing South Park" and three other articles (Is The End Of "South Park" Near?, "South Park" Ending?, and Will Kenny Die For Good?) report that other networks are vying for Trey and Matt's talents so the duo can create new shows elsewhere. Comedy Central wants to keep South Park going and offers the duo the chance to produce a new series, but may have trouble meeting the competition's offers. There are 6 more episodes in Trey and Matt's revised contract after next week's episode.
  8. April 25, 2000 - In Reason Online - Goin' Down To South Park Barry S. Fagin, professor of computer science at the U.S. Air Force Academy and co-founder (with his wife) of Families Against Internet Censorship, writes about screening South Park for his family and the lessons he can teach his kids with the episodes he allows them to see.
  9. April 27, 2000 - IMDb reports that Trey Parker is romancing British Holby City star Lisa Faulkner. He's bombarded her with phone calls since meeting her at the London premiere of Any Given Sunday earlier in the month and has invited her to Disney World for a romantic weekend. She's trying to make time for it.
  10. April 28, 2000 - AOL News and Yahoo Entertainment have the original report on South Park's parody of Elián Gonzáles' stay in Miami. The episode was finished a few hours before it aired on Wednesday, and took just four days and two nights to animate (something not done before so quickly by any other animators). Example: Reno was to appear as an Easter bunny, but not to raid the Miami house. Saturday's events changed all that. "South Park Picks Up Pace for Elian Episode" and five other reports (Reno Raids South Park, South Park Saluts Elian, 'SOUTH PARK' MAKES QUICK WORK OF RENO RAID, 'South Park' in parody Reno raid, "South Park" Wastes No Time With Reno Parody) discuss the epiosde the following day.
  11. May 1, 2000 - Trey Parker and Matt Stone announce that they will stay on at Comedy Central. The agreement, which takes effect in September, includes at least 30 South Park episodes, which will take the show through August 2003; a new live-action series quite different from South Park which they'll produce, syndication for the show (with the creators and the station sharing the profits), and other projects. Trey and Matt might end up with 100 episodes and the movie. As for a second movie, Matt and Trey feel South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut is the quintessential South Park, so a sequel is out of the question, but there will be an episode in Season 5 which will star Pip in a musical about Great Expectations. No other regulars will appear in it, so it's Pip in England, with his former countrymen. On the other hand, there is talk that Gregory will return, so Pip might meet him.
  12. May 3, 2000 - Go Timmy Go! premičres. Originally created by Juz, it is a master message board supported by Sweeet, Kenny's Hall of Death, South Park Archive, Total South Park, and Beef-Cake. Since then, Kenny's Dead, Kenny's Kingdom, and South Park Deutschland have joined the list of those supporting the board. Vinnie, Beef-Cake's board admin, becomes a moderator and considers The Buzz another form of Beef-Cake's board, thus moving the original board off to the side.
  13. May 14, 2000 - Megaforce II? Ween, Trey and Matt talk to Mean Magazine
  14. June 15, 2000 - Beef-Cake has chosen its twenty questions and sent them off to Matt and Trey, complete with teaser pic.
  15. June 16, 2000 - Bizarre News reports that the former town of Library, a community of 3,600 in South Park Township about 12 miles south of Pittsburgh, has renamed itself South Park, to the liking of some and the chagrin of others. Bizarre wanted to know how many other communities are named South Park in the US. They came up with 14, but this one is the first one to be named after the hit TV show has been on the air.
  16. June 20, 2000, USA Today - The article discussed the NAMBLA episode, including the observation that CC had to most trouble with the John Denver Experience; and the Great Expectations episode, and includes this: Isaac Hayes fans will be pleased to hear plans for a new Chef album. "We want to do some funky (stuff), '70s old-school Chef songs," Stone says.

Summer 2000

  1. June 27, 2000 - Beef-Cake posts a link to the twenty questions they sent to Matt and Trey in PDF format.
  2. July 5, 2000 - Over at Icebox.com there is an online cartoon called "Mr. Wong" which has been created, written, and voiced by two South Park staffers, Pam Brady and Kyle McCullogh. Trey and Matt may have trouble getting their material on the Web, but these other two have been on Icebox for at least a month now.
  3. July 6, 2000 - According to Amazon.com, South Park Volumes 13-15 won't be released until November 15. No DVDs were on the list of future releases.
  4. July 10, 2000 - Comedy Central provides previews of two songs from Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld.
  5. July 15, 2000 - Yahoo reports South Park ratings 19% below last year.
  6. July 19, 2000 - Comedy Central begins selling the two singles, "Timmy & the Lords of the Underworld" and "Timmy Livin'a Lie," for $2.49 each in ASF format.
  7. July 20, 2000 - Favorite episode e-lections begin.
  8. July 21, 2000 - South Park gets a second nomination in OUTSTANDING ANIMATED PROGRAM (FOR PROGRAMMING ONE HOUR OR LESS)

    South Park • Chinpoko Mon • COM
    Comedy Central
    Anne Garefino, Deborah Liebling, Matt Stone, Executive Producers
    Trey Parker, Executive Producer/Writer/Director
    Frank Agnone, II, Supervising Producer
    Eric Stough, Animation Director

  9. July 25, 2000 - Beef-Cake puts up 20 audio clips (one per question) of the Q&A with Matt & Trey as well as the master clip.
  10. August 12, 2000 - IMDb reports that Trey Parker will star in a movie called The Colored Star next year.
  11. August 14, 2000 - Beef-Cake makes and posts the PDF of the transcript I made from the Twenty Answers Taison recorded with Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
  12. August 16, 2000 - Update on The Colored Star: IMDb has unlinked Trey Parker from any South Park reference, so it could be a different Trey Parker in this movie.
  13. August 27, 2000 - The Simpsons won for Outstanding Animated Program. South Park loses out again.
  14. August 30, 2000 - A few weeks ago The South Park Digest had announced a special moderator for today's Palace chat, but the moderator, a SP producer, cancelled due to new episode production.

Fall 2000

  1. September 6, 2000 - Shockwave Changes Focus To Games - Yahoo! reports that a lot od deals Shockwave has made with Hollywood talent haven't borne much fruit, so Shockwave is going to focus on games. Some projects will be finished, though, and they're expected to show on the Web site. From the article: "Production staffers affected by the layoffs will finish work on projects in the pipeline for Tim Burton, James L. Brooks, Matt Stone & Trey Parker, David Lynch, Chris Kattan, Jim Belushi, Ben Stein and Harland Williams, among others, before leaving their posts beginning in October. Some will be kept on until that time as independent contractors."
  2. September 7, 2000 - Update on The Colored Star: IMDb has relinked Trey Parker to South Park. It seems he was in a UK show this year called Top Ten Comedy Records with Matt Stone, Isaac Hayes, Eric Idle, and a host of other stars.
  3. September 7, 2000 - Spend the Holidays in South Park! Warner Home Video and Comedy Central announce the following lineup for the South Park videos to be released November 7.
    $14.95 each, $39.98 for the set. DVD's are $19.98 each.
    The VHS tapes
    1. Christmas in South Park (Holidays will never be the same! - Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics, Merry Christmas Charlie Manson, Extra! The Outrageous British Documentary, "Going Down To South Park" Part 1)
    2. The Chef Experience (Chef Aid, Chef Aid: Behind The Menu, Extra! The Infamous Music Video, "Chocolate Salty Balls")
    3. Best Of South Park (By Popular Demand! - Chinpoko Mon, Rainforest Schmainforest, Extra! The Outrageous British Documentary, "Going Down To South Park" Part 2)
    The DVDs
    1. Christmas in South Park (Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics, Merry Christmas Charlie Manson, Chinpoko Mon, Extra! The Outrageous British Documentary, "Going Down To South Park")
    2. The Chef Experience (Chef Aid, Chef Aid: Behind The Menu, Rainforest Schmainforest, Succubus, Extra! The Infamous Music Video, "Chocolate Salty Balls")
  4. September 18, 2000 - The South Park Jukebox debuts.
  5. September 25, 2000 - Sightsound.com inks deal for downloading all Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist episodes and some "South Park" episods for a fee each of $2.50 for two-day rental, $4.95 for outright purchase.
  6. October 2, 2000 - Among other things, Shockwave confirms its March 23 report that the shorts Matt and Trey made for them will be for adults only.
  7. October 7, 2000 - Sweeenet.com closes, but GTG and other sites continue on new hosts.
  8. October 11, 2000 - Trey and Matt won't be working alone for Shockwave. From BBC Online, via DTISFU: What's Up (Online), Doc? - Fittingly, since the South Park creators first strutted their stuff on www.shockwave.com, that site is now the place to see the latest from South Park's creative team Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who have been commissioned by Shockwave.com to team up with Hulk creator Stan Lee to create a series of animated short films for the website.
  9. October 19, 2000 - South Park Studios was to open today, but only a few people know this. It doesn't open. Beef-Cake's Taison Tan is asked to take part in the creation of an official SP Web site for the fans. Six months later, the site opens.
  10. November 9, 2000 - Mr. Garrison's class moves on to Fourth Grade and gets a new teacher.
  11. November 22, 2000 - New episode tonight, and some Amazon news:

    Amazon.com Announces Hottest Books, Music, Videos and DVDs of the Year as Determined by Editors' Picks and Customer Sales

    VIDEO: EDITORS' PICKS
    1. Run Lola Run
    2. American Beauty (The Awards Edition)
    3. The Sopranos -- The Complete First Season
    4. Chicken Run
    5. The Story of G.I. Joe
    6. South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
    7. The Decalogue (Complete Set)
    8. The Woody Allen Collection -- 8 pack
    9. Walking with Dinosaurs
    10. The Insider
  12. December 20, 2000 - "A Very Crappy Christmas." Scenes from The "Spirit of Christmas: Jesus vs. Santa" are shown in this episode.