When South Park was first released it was just being dubbed as a "naughty cartoon" that had swear words and little point to it. This is not at all the case and sadly too many people are false in thinking it is.
I remember watching it as a young teen and thinking it was great with all the violence and swearing etc, and i spose i never really got it, because it IS for adults. Now im older i watch it and find a whole new level to it. The past 4 seasons have been absolutely brilliant, each episode having some kind of political underlay or some form of social/topical issue with a moral story/outcome at the end. It also deals with controversial issues in a hilarious fashion and gives a well thought out view on the argument at hand.
Now days people who seem to rate this show 1 star etc are just the very people who are believing the adverts you see on tv. They probably have never seen it, or have only watched very early episodes when the messages were less clear. South park is one of only a very few intelligent American tv shows i have seen, and i think it is great that it reinforces its intelligence by being delivered in such a way that ignorant people just do not get it. Your average Joe will watch an episode and think it is stupid, because they cant engage themselves. This is a truely great animation series, and i am very glad i began to watch it again! The proof of my words is in the fact it has lasted 12 seasons! 12 years of television is a very long time, and few shows ever get that far, is that not reason enough to reconsider your opinion?