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All the stupid bitches, put your hands up.

Clap your hands, stomp your feet.

I make you a sandwich with my juicy meat.

I work at Arby’s, but I ain’t gay.

I just being myself, and bitch, I slay.

I like walking around and stomping on the ground.

I make the Earth shake; throw me in Utah Lake.

I cause a lot of trouble in my Mormon bubble.

Throw me that shit; I’ll show you how to juggle.

Juggalo, Juggalo, double 0 7.

I’m a spy, bitch. Send me to heaven.

Eatin’ poop off the floor; your a little crab.

I’ll do an experiement on you when I get to the lab.

I’ll put you in a spinner, and I’ll be the winner.

You are a loser; get in my cruiser.

I’ll take you to the beach and set you free in the water.

Oh, by the way, I am hotter.

Devin, your a dumb bitch. Fuck you.

Allergy, energy, u dont know shit.

Your my new enemy.

I think your gay.

I dont play.

You say six seven.

I say, “Bitch, your name is Devin.”

You think your so smart, but you break my heart.

Devin, your a dumb bitch. Fuck you.

I was going to made you curly frys.

But now I wish you would simply die.

Utada Hikaru, go!

Oh, simple and clean.

Is that what you mean?

Bitch, things are not always simple like that.

I sit on the ground; shit, I am grieving.

I look over and see you leaving.

“Please, oh baby, don’t go.”

Simple and clean.

You know what I mean?

It can be hard to let it go.

When you grow up, you will finally know.

That maybe some things are not that complicated.

But for now, I am just frustrated.

Graeme, go!

I have cool raps.

U have hot craps.

She wears short skirts.

I wear T shirts.

She’s cheer captain, and I’m wearing T shirts.

Out.

I’m out.

The Simpsons in its first twelve seasons had five different showrunners: James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, and Sam Simon (seasons 1-2); Al Jean and Mike Reiss (seasons 3-4); David Mirkin (seasons 5-6); Josh Weinstein and Bill Oakley (seasons 7-8); and Mike Scully (seasons 9-12). I stopped watching this show basically around season 12, so we can't know what happened after that. It's impossible to ever find out. Maybe the show ended. Now, TV was very different at this time, and also making a cartoon is its own weird process, but this show reliably changed show runners every two years for a decade, and this decade of this show is considered some of the greatest TV ever made. Different people will debate which seasons actually enshrined the best part of this best part of this great show, but at minimum people think seasons like 3-7 are just like inarguably the best thing ever. At maximum there are people who think the whole thing is perfect.

What's interesting about the first ten seasons of The Simpsons is that even the fans who think all of those seasons were good understand that there was a change in tone when the new showrunners came in. The Brooks-Groening-Simon seasons were very much a love letter and deconstruction of the legacy of U.S. sitcom, made by one of the champions of the genre (Brooks) and an alt comics weirdo from Portland whose previous most successful concept was called Life in Hell (Groening). Jean and Reiss added an interest in pop culture and almost like frustration with modern life. Mirkin was almost antagonistic toward easy resolutions and made the show increasingly weird and cynical, even absurdist. Oakley and Weinstein were the first showrunners who had been fans of the show, and they became very self-referential, dissembling the show's legacy. Mike Scully was interested in telling stories about the kids. I don't love his seasons, but there are two interesting things about their reception. One is that it's been documented that people were complaining that The Simpsons had stopped being good and gotten bad the entire time it was on the air. The other is that, decades later, some of the people posting about it at the time have changed their minds and decided those seasons got a bad rap. Despite the changes in showrunners and tones, it's pretty much consensus at this point that all of these seasons were good and that their differences were interesting and is part of what made the show so great.

Now I'll tell you about another cartoon. This cartoon is called South Park. I have never watched it and don't know anything about it, but suffice to say is premiered in August 1997, so, nearly three decades ago, and it has had the same two showrunners the entire time: the creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker.

There is a lot to be said about South Park and what's interesting is that no one ever seems to be saying it. The show's entire identity is really that of Stone's and Parker's cultural and socio-political gripes and shifting fixations. This is not to say none of it is good. If nothing else, some of it is widely considered very funny. But all South Park has done for thirty years is serve as a vehicle for its showrunners' civic and cultural commentary. It is an animated New York Times opinion column. It is a libertarian Maureen Dowd with more fart jokes. If you can believe it!!

There is almost nobody else publicly associated with South Park beyond Stone and Parker. One exception, historically, was Isaac Hayes, who initially provided a voice on the show, but he resigned a decade into its run. Stone and Parker have been the primary voice talent, and Parker has been the sole credited writer and director for nearly all of the show's existence. It is credited for doing outrageous things, making everyone angry, and delivering Stone's and Parker's opinions to the world.

For all its cultural longevity, South Park is not as scrupulously documented and dicussed as The Simpsons, outside of its years-long six-day production schedule. Part of this is due to the entire operation being run in-house by Stone and Parker. Obviously other people work on the show, and people who care about South Park, whoever those might be, certainly can rattle off these people's names. At the same time, a crucial distinction between South Park and The Simpsons is that the Simpsons writers room and other creative team members have, when not climbing into the showrunner position, become culturally dominant in their own right. Classically, this is how TV writers rooms have worked. About 150 people have been credited with writing a Simpsons episode. Its legacy, more so than what it has actually depicted, has been birthing a generation (or two) of culturally significant writers and animators. South Park, which has always had the same showrunners and backed off of crediting other writers and directors after its first few seasons, has certainly also evolved, but its legacy remains the singular vision of two guys.