A forum posting leaked across the interweb to reveal that Version 3 public beta of the South Park studios site. The TV show South Park not only has an official site, but you can stream (almost) every episode of South Park, the entire back catalogue, off the site. The almost bit is that they can stream an episode for 7 days after their première broadcast on Comedy Central in the US (I am hearing about some IP checks), but due to continuing contractual obligations, all new episodes will be unavailable online for 23 days after that. However these episodes will return permanently to the site 30 days after they air.
Source: Wikipedia This beats the usual 6 months it takes for them to legally cross the Atlantic for Broadcast. However it does lead to a few questions. First off are the words “South Park Studios v3 Public Beta”, does this mean that Kenny and crew could suddenly vanish? Yo have to admit it’s possible. Also as a beta, things are likely to suddenly change on the site without much (or any) warning.
The other question is one of censorship. Given the fun and games that Trey Parker and Matt Stone had with the MPAA over the release of “South Park : Bigger Longer & Uncut” means that censorship is a subject dear to the hearts of the pair. By releasing the episodes, presumably uncut means that they neatly side step any such problems. The other thing is, well, the turnaround time. Most animated shows take between 3 (usually 8 ) to twelve months an episode to produce (I’m remembering this figure from The Simpsons) however due to the almost computer animation system (actually Maya) used in the show its possible to make alterations up to a few hours before airtime. That is airtime in the US. By the time it comes over here, it is old news. The streaming means that its a lot more topical by the time the show hits the monitor.
Now excuse me while I track down “The Losing Edge” (season 9 episode 5) to see that Kenny really looks like in the show as opposed to multiple fan sites.
take care,
Will
