South Park Studios Forums

Late 1990s (1997-1999): Key characters are Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny, Wendy, Bebe, Shelly, Pip and Ike at a time when SP was full of hilarious toilet humor and fart jokes, plus the show being at its absolutely meteoric rise to popularity in less than 1-2 years.

2000s (2000-2009): Key characters are Cartman, Kyle, Stan, Butters, Kenny, Bebe, Tweek, Clyde, Craig and Ike = an era when South Park transitioned from hilarious toilet humor to political satire and social commentary with an increased emphasis on frequent celebrity cameos.

2010s (2010-present): Key characters at this point are Cartman, Heidi, Butters, Kyle, Wendy and Token during the time when the show were starting to put out seasonal serialized storyline arcs that are to average at least 10 episodes per those seasons.

the first decade should also include the movie I guess. if i recall correctly it was a success and contributed to the increase of popularity of the series.

however, while I understand the idea of dividing into decades, the changes were gradual except from season 17 to season 18. overall, i answer the second option, also because imho seasons 16,17 and (above all) 18, despite a couple of good episodes each, lower the average level for the third decade.