South Park (TV Series) Franchise Prequel (2017) User Reviews

Franchise Prequel

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 31 October 2018]

Only a show like South Park could get away with calling a character "The Coon" but it worked in this capacity. A funny episode for the most part, but like most South Park episodes, it collapsed in the second half and went off the rails.

I didn't really get where they were going with Mark Z either. The impression and his personality was way off.

Will they ever do bronies?

[ericstevenson · 9/10 · 11 October 2017]

This episode satirizes Facebook and Netflix. The main thing here is how they make fun of DC Comics in their relation to Marvel Comics. I'm still glad we got an awesome "Wonder Woman" movie. To be honest, I have no idea how the Justice League movie is going to go. Throughout the episode, we see Coon and Friends set up a chart and arrange on who's going to get a movie and who will get a Netflix show. Maybe a little late, but still very funny. Mark Zuckerberg is featured in this episode too and I will admit I don't quite get his characterization.

Well, I don't spend too much time on Facebook anyway. Wait, "South Park" really does have a video game featuring Coon and Friends! They really are creating their own franchise with original material! It's great to see Butters as Professor Chaos actually cause a fair amount of chaos. It did seem that his fate would be pretty inevitable. He couldn't keep up the chaotic personality up forever. Does make you wonder why Coon is allowed back in. Oh wait, that's probably in the game. ***1/2

A great episode!

[adamland · 10/10 · 12 October 2017]

This episode did a few things right.

1. I love the tie in to the upcoming video game. The franchise info scene is what we saw back at E3 when the game was announced. They just took it and made a full episode around it! 2. I loved the fake news satire! super funny and very true! It's crazy how anyone can just make stuff up and many stupid people start believing it! So far this season we have seen the South Park guys do what they do best and that's take something that's going on in our country and turn it into the most absurd thing ever! 3. Zuckerburg stuff didn't quite make sense til he showed up to help chaos and explained he was paid off to help then it became a lot funnier! Granted he wasn't a strong character but it was still a bit funny. 4. The stab at Russia was pure magic!

Overall a great episode that really hits home about a big issue happening in our country/world today! Honestly if people spent less time on social media and watching the stupid news the world would probably be a little brighter. Oh and I really hate the stupid cartman girlfriend thing and his reaction to her popping up is a lot of us!

Brilliant! Genius!

[rsvp321 · 16 October 2017]

This episode overflows with brilliant satire showing that the writers still nail it! IMO, South Park has no current competition.

Relevant, up to date, and the *courage* to include the recent Weinstein scandal, contrary to the now non-edgy SNL or other comedy shows.

The beauty of South Park is that they treat all sides equal.

A bit of an emotional episode if you've been lied about online

[SureCommaNot · 9/10 · 15 November 2019]

This episode does an excellent job expressing the frustration of being lied about online, being unable to do anything about it, and the populace being so unwilling to recognize their own inability to separate truth from slander. (The only tweak I would have made there is to convey how prone people are not only to believe libelous posts, but also to repost them without getting the facts right.)

I'll admit, the first time I saw Zuckerberg being depicted as a martial-arts character, I didn't quite get it. But on repeated viewings, it's so right-on-the-money. The purposeful bad dubbing and evasive tactics illustrate how removed he is from a populace he's so personally infiltrated, while denying himself to be complicit in the platform's social-justice shortcomings. And of course choosing that portrayal makes for a setup where an actual battle with the main characters (posing as action heroes) can make sense.

This episode hits home. Perhaps a bit too closely for some. But for those who can't relate to the issues presented, I can see why the episode would appear nonsensical. (And really a lot of South Park episodes fall into that category, as the show gets more culturally and sociopolitically poignant. The episodes make more sense if you can relate to what's being depicted or if you're paying attention to what's happening in the world.) While this episode, as far as I can tell, wasn't set up in a way to inspire empathy among those who carelessly spread malicious rumors online, I hope it has that effect nevertheless, rather than being written off as a miss.

Not a strong SP episode

[eatpajdittsvin-520-811150 · 5/10 · 12 October 2017]

Zuckerberg the character is fairly random and consequently a miss. Parts that should've been funny aren't sufficiently so, perhaps due to lack of depth - Butters promoting chaos on Facebook, and Netflix accepting (m)any new shows belong in this category. The episode's main satirical point, criticism of Facebook, while valid, comes off as toothless and predictable.

Kind of all over the place...

[DarthVoorhees · 5/10 · 17 October 2017]

I haven't hated this season of 'South Park' though I do think it has been in need of some sort of direction. I was encouraged by the press leading up to the premiere that Trey and Matt wanted to revisit stories dealing with the boys being boys. 'Franchise Prequel' is probably the closest we've come to that and this is where the episode's strength lies. The problem is that we still get the political/current events commentary that is for the most part wrapped up in metaphor padding it from becoming another Trump show in a string of Trump shows. It's just an inevitability now.

I too miss the episodes like 'Awesom-o' 'Lil Crime Stoppers' ,and 'Simpsons Already Did it' that dealt with the boys having bizarre outlandish things happen to them while they are seemingly playing kid games. The best moments of 'Franchise Prequel' are in that vein. If the game deals with that playtime to the extreme then it will be a hilarious treat. The hardest I laughed was when Butters uses a Circuit City as his evil base, a perfect example of that juxtaposition between kid's clubhouse in reality and villain headquarters in the superhero game.

The problem with the episode is that yet again Trump's shadow looms large over it. The Facebook/Russia story is so linked to the election that it is an odd fit as a metaphor although I think Trey and Matt did their absolute best and the childishness of Butter's misinformation taunts is pretty funny. The life and death stakes of importance that people put into that election and Trump just doesn't work when compared to the boys playing superheroes. I think they needed to expand it more and have made the heroes mean more to the community but then you'd have another epic on your hands like the last Coon trilogy. It's just a miss for me.

Mediocre episode, mediocre season

[keelhaul-80856 · 5/10 · 16 October 2017]

This season is OK, but seems kind of lame compared to so many others from South Park. This episode followed the super hero story that they often return to, and admittedly, these are not my favorite stories on SP.

The funniest thing about the whole episode was the Netflix joke. "Yes, you've already been greenlighted for a Netflix series; would you like a pilot with one season, or go ahead and do several installments?" LOL. Netflix has some really good original programming, but yes, they do have a lot of random crap that just seems to fly out every time you check the site. From lesser-known Stephen King adaptations to weird comedies and foreign stuff and teen dramas or action movies, Netflix seems to have an original(though often subpar or obscure) show out every day now.

The Zuckerberg thing was weird, but I think they were sort of alluding to the fact that once you invite Facebook and others on social networking into your lives, or use it to run your business, etc. -- you can't get rid of the crappier aspects of it, and now facebook and social media is here to stay, and even take over.

Some funny moments this season, but I think the show is starting to show its age a bit. This is to be expected after 20+ seasons, and I still tune in, but with lowered expectations.

Current season has been fun, but this episode was terrible

[Harhaluulo54 · 12 October 2017]

Mark Zuckerberg was intentionally made a bad character whose only merit is that he is a terribly written character. The whole episode repeated Cartman's franchise plan which was already introduced 3 years ago I think. It was nauseating to see how every bit of this episode screamed that it's promoting the new upcoming game which will be released any day now. Rest of the episode felt like a remake filler which recycled the franchise plan. I didn't laugh even once nor did I think that any of the things that were pointed out about facebook, netflix or superhero series were spot-on. If anything, this was turn off ad for the new game. It's sad how we had to wait 2 weeks for this.

Doing exactly what they pretend to fight against.

[agof · 3/10 · 3 December 2017]

An episode about the harm of spreading facebook rumours and lies is spreading facebok rumour about a crazy third world outdated grandpa who doesn't even have a facebook page and don't understand the internet, from the country where people don't use facebook because they have vkontakte and odnoklassniki.

And the joke with the poor dab zuckerberg is either poorly narrated or just a pointless oh-lol-so-random absurdism, which didn't work.

5

[Edvis-1997 · 5/10 · 10 January 2019]

Very boring episode. So far the worst of this season.

Finally saw the episode

[ThunderKing6 · 3/10 · 26 November 2023]

I must say the clips I watched years ago were better than the whole episode.

November 25th 2023rd

What was this episode of South Park about?:

Facebook's owner is annoying people and The Coon and friends want to make movies, Feud with Butters and the Facebook owner.

The story and the production overview:

I have not watched a full episode of South park since 2017 last full season I seen was maybe season 16.

I watched a few clips and I thought the episodes would be amazing. But once I watched the episode it was not that good.

It tries to be funny but it's dull.

All Plots are dull.

I get the message but it failed to be interesting.

Overall a dull episode that had the potential because the superhero arcs were usually fun.

Highlight:

The Superheroes

Moral:

Right to privacy on FB

Rating:

Meh

Final Words:

Not liking this.