South Park just wrapped its 25th and shortest season, not including the ones that were cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While many enjoyed this season, the shorter length meant some characters were left out of the story.
Kenny McCormick barely makes it in as a season regular as the episodes prefer to focus in on Stan and Cartman this time around. That’s a shame because historically when Kenny gets a moment to shine he ends up owning the whole episode and turning in some of the funniest moments in the show’s history.
“Kenny Dies” (Season 5)
Kenny dies a lot, sometimes quite gruesomely. In the early seasons of the show, Kenny ended almost every episode dying in some horrific, albeit hilarious way. His death would then lead to the famous: “They killed, Kenny! You b*stards!” from Kyle and Stan. In “Kenny Dies” the character kicks it for real this time.
The episode has very little dialogue from Kenny himself but it’s an excellent meta-commentary on the show up to that point. Creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker were getting sick of killing off Kenny every episode and so for a season, audiences thought one of their favorite characters was gone forever.
“Best Friends Forever” (Season 9)
One of the few episodes where Kenny’s death actually has implications. In “Best Friends Forever” Kenny can’t stop playing the new real-time strategy game on his PSP, even when he gets hit by a car and is sent to heaven.
His death was apparently engineered by God so that he can help heaven defend itself from the armies of the devil. Only a child skilled in the ways of his favorite video game is able to direct the battle. Kenny is great both as the general and as the cross-eyed boy in a coma when he is momentarily dragged back to earth.
“Major Boobage” (Season 12)
“Major Boobage” is a season 12 episode that jumps on the early 2000s trend of news stations claiming a variety of banal activities could be dangerous to kids. In the case of the kids in South Park, this involves cats and ridiculously overengineered contraptions to hold them in.
Kenny becomes addicted to the process and is high and or drunk throughout the episode, constantly finding himself in an imaginary world that looks a lot like Heavy Metal. This is probably one of the more offensive episodes in South Park but it’s worth it to watch a high Gerald and Kenny duke it out in the park in their underwear.
“The Ring” (Season 13)
Kenny is secretly the most mature of all the boys in South Park, he always seems to know a little too much about more mature ideas and desires. In “The Ring”, his commitment to starting a relationship with a young girl leads to him accepting a purity ring from the Jonas Brothers.
What makes this episode so funny is Kenny and his girlfriend’s quick devolution into a boring, stay-at-home couple who only hang out with other “married” couples. Kenny loves Netflix now and going out to dinner. It isn’t until the ring is finally removed that he returns to his usual frisky self.
“The Coon Trilogy” (Season 14)
Cartman as a superhero (villain) ‘the Coon’ does have a lot of the best moments in this trilogy, but it’s Kenny’s recurring Mysterion character that owns the show. This three-parter isn’t only a great parody of superhero films but it also offers some very rare lore in the South Park world.
Kenny is the only one in the group with actual superpowers, not being able to die, one of the only examples of Kenny actually understanding he dies just about every episode. This series has multiple Kenny deaths actually used for good including a final one that’s self-inflicted. Kenny says he’s tired and feels like going to bed.
“Going Native” (Season 16)
With over 300 episodes, South Park has paired up nearly every character in one story or another. One of the rarely seen pairings is Butters Stotch and Kenny but audiences get a taste of how hilarious the pairing can actually be.
The childlike naivety of Butters paired with the maturity of Kenny leads to a funny dynamic throughout the episode. This is best seen when Kenny writes to his friends while in Hawaii, adopting the tone and diction of an 18th-century sailor discussing his voyage to the New World.
The Black Friday Trilogy (Season 17)
Kenny leads another trilogy in the epic Black Friday series that ends season 17. In this Game of Thrones parody, Kenny plays the centerpiece and the role of Daenerys Targaryen as much as it angers Cartman, “Guys can’t be Princesses!”, he shouts.
But Kenny makes an excellent princess both in Game of Thrones form and when he turns into an anime princess, much to the delight of the Japanese PlayStation owners group. He manages to express regret, ambition, and grace all while mumbling through his zipped-up hoodie.
“Cock Magic” (Season 18)
Usually, the boys in South Park aren’t rooting for each other to succeed. In most episodes, they’re in a mess together or fighting it out between themselves. But in “Cock Magic” Kenny isn’t just the star of the episode but he’s the best Magic the Gathering player in the school and everyone knows it.
Kenny takes the game seriously and it’s never not funny when he stares intently at his opponent with defeat moments away and then plays a magic card for the win. To add to the absurdity the camera pans around to show Kenny’s opponent is a literal rooster.
“The City Part Of Town” (Season 19)
Kenny is the poorest kid in school, except for Cartman. Sometimes. But generally, when the show wants to poke fun at lower income brackets or the people who take advantage of them, Kenny and his family are usually the targets.
In “The City Part of Town”, Kenny’s home is swallowed up by emerging gentrification in his run-down part of the town. While at first, this seems great, it’s quickly revealed that nothing is changing for the poor McCormick family. Kenny has to get a job at City Wok as the hardest-working member of the “Child Labor Force”.
