“South Park” has had a joke-hold on America for over a quarter-century, and writer Pam Brady was responsible for many during the hit show’s formative years.
Over the past 26 seasons, countless lists from Buzzfeed to IMDB and everywhere in between have been compiled, ranking the show’s most offensive jokes that crossed the line. Wikipedia even has a page dedicated to “South Park controversies,” noting that the equal-opportunistic, no-holds-barred, satirical show frequently lampoons “a wide range of topics and both sides of contentious issues.”
Controversies of note range from when the character of Eric Cartman killed off a high schooler’s parents and fed their remains to him in chili, to when the character of Randy Marsh goes on “Wheel of Fortune” [IYKYK].
For writer Pam Brady, though, who joined co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the show’s first few seasons and helped set the tone for what would be considered one of the greatest television shows of all time, she crossed the line herself.
During 2025’s South by Southwest (SXSW) Festival, Brady revealed what she believes is the worst joke she’s ever written from her tenure on the series to Fox News Digital.
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“It was based on an old frat joke… one character said ‘I don’t trust anything that bleeds for five days and doesn’t die.’ I remember it was just like the most misogynistic frat boy joke that I’d heard of at that point… but we’re reclaiming it.”
The joke is said by the character of Mr. Garrison — the quad squad of cartoon kids’ 4th grade teacher — in the 1999 film, “South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut,” which was nominated for an Academy Award the following year.
And though Brady may possess some regret for the joke, it’s considered by some to be among the series’ funniest.
Brady reclaimed it on the heels of International Women’s Day, sharing her thoughts on Hollywood’s recent treatment of women with Fox.
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“I think there’s always improvement to be made. I mean, women are 51% of the population, so it should always be 50% [female in writers’ rooms]. But I’ve been really lucky, you know, ‘South Park’s’ writers’ room has always been 50-50, male-female… but the best part about Hollywood is that no one’s keeping women out. So I never feel like… [it’s] the old boys network.”
The industry veteran, who co-created the upcoming animated series “#1 Happy Family USA” for Amazon Prime Video, also weighed in on joke-writing today and whether the changing culture has meant a change in comedy since she first got her start:
“I do think you have to be more careful now, what you say. ‘South Park’ had an episode where they represented… I’m not going to say what it was, but it was just someone you wouldn’t want to represent on a show… and you could do it 20 years ago, but you can’t do it now,” Brady said.
“I’m sort of of two minds about it, because I think the idea of cancel culture and stuff you can’t say… I think times change and I think sometimes it’s good that you go, ‘oh, you shouldn’t do something that’s like, a racist phrase that your grandparents would use.’ And that’s sort of just evolving.”
Brady added that she doesn’t believe comedy has necessarily been “stifled,” just that “you need to be smarter to make a joke” today.
The “Lady Dynamite” co-creator went on to explain that comedy is all about building trust with your audience.
“[It’s about] knowing that someone is not attacking you. And to earn that trust, it’s changed. But I think that’s the fun of it. How can you make a joke now, where everybody’s in on the joke? I think that’s the trick. Nobody wants to feel bad and, you know, we don’t want to do stuff that just makes people feel bad.”
