DENVER – All of Colorado knows that the animated series South Park is based in a fictitious Colorado mountain town, but creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have taken a considerable amount of artistic license when it comes to depicting life in our state.
However, there are moments in the Comedy Central Series where it appears Stone and Parker fell back on their Colorado upbringing and got it right.
Gentrification
There is no escaping this in Denver. Every neighborhood in the city appears to be under renovation, which includes doing away with those "not so hip" syllables. The trend to shorten and mesh neighborhood names into something sounding like prescription drugs (NoDo, SoCo, SoBo) was seized upon in season 19:
Colfax
The reputation of this street has been a go-to joke in numerous episodes of the series. Once dubbed “the longest, wickedest street in America,” Colfax’s notoriety appears to fit well with show.
Local celebrities
If you’re from Colorado, you’ve heard of Jake Jabs, Dealin’ Doug and Tom Shane. There was a time when you couldn’t go five minutes without seeing Jabs’ exotic animals, Doug’s wild array of costumes or hearing Shane’s infamous line “you have a friend in the diamond business.” And these beloved Colorado commercial celebrities have made the national spotlight multiple times on the show.
Casa Bonita
Probably one of most talked about episodes when it comes to referencing Colorado icons. The little-known Mexican restaurant gained national attention soon after the episode in season 7.
Hippies
It’s been a running joke since the show’s inception: hippies. And while we love our Colorado counterculture, we can’t help but laugh the show’s depiction of Colorado hippies.
