South Park Season 19: Hulu’s South Park Disclaimer Ruins The Show

By Apolon Published 10/31/15 EDT

Release Date 1997-08-13

South Park Season 19 is just the beginning. South Park will never die. Comedy Central

South Park is an iconic show of the 1990s. In fact, it’s probably the only one left—The Simpsons is ultimately a product of the 1980s, and all the other decent ‘90s shows are gone. That’s why it hurts me so much that Hulu, which has exclusive streaming rights for the show now, has put up a terrible, stupid disclaimer in front of the show. It goes against everything the show stands for, but there it is. A dreadful, dreadful disclaimer. No, not this one:

The real South Park disclaimer. South Park Studios

Why Hulu Doesn’t Understand South Park

No, when you watch an episode of South Park on Hulu, here’s what you see: “The following is intended only for mature audiences. Viewer discretion advised.” And a stupid cool-bro voice reads the message ought to you, in case you don’t know how to read. It’s horrifying.

Hulu's South Park disclaimer, played before the original. Hulu

It proves that Hulu doesn’t even understand the point of South Park. In case you haven’t actually read it lately and let it just sink into your memory, here’s the real disclaimer for South Park: “All characters and events in this show—even those based on real people—are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated….. poorly. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone”.

It’s an iconic disclaimer, and it’s a subversion of all other disclaimers. In fact, it’s a subversion of the exact disclaimer that Hulu slapped on the front of South Park, right before the real disclaimer. The exact sort of thing South Park didn’t want to have. A disclaimer like the one Hulu offers doesn’t actually tell you anything.

What exactly is viewer “discretion,” anyway? Are you supposed to sit there quietly with a cigar and a glass of Port, and mull over whether sexual content is too mature for you? Are you supposed to quiver in fear at the incredible maturity of South Park, or Family Guy, or other shows that have doofy toilet humor and sex jokes? Okay, South Park really isn’t appropriate for kids. But it has a disclaimer built in. That’s all we need. Hulu adding an additional disclaimer entirely misses the point, and shows a profound mistrust in their own viewers. It’s a disgrace and should be removed from South Park post-haste!