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As much as I've come to resent some of Parker & Stone's views, or rather their default posture of "caring about stuff is stupid", the show remains fascinating by virtue of going 23 years and basically always being exactly what the original creators want it to be, which I can't really say of any other scripted show. It's also interesting to watch their opinions evolve, which has happened more than people like to admit. Although they are definitely stubborn as hell about certain things. In a way, it feels like they're currently better positioned to piss off literally everybody than ever before, since there are still a bunch of "South Park Republicans" who are somehow convinced the show is for them, even though it... well, occasionally is, but only occasionally.
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Sep 24, 2019 17:50
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This was not legendary but it was pretty good. I'm amazed they can still do the "you're a towel!" gag and have it still be pretty natural and unexpected. Randy's interjections when Stan was reading that little statement were hilarious. The A-plot was a pretty solid social commentary with the usual irreverent twist on it. It's funny how often they throw red meat to the "they're tired of making South Park and want to get cancelled" theorists even though they deny that whenever it comes up in interviews. Randy's angry rant about being tired of South Park was another one for the pile. sticksy posted:Tonight's premier was ok - nothing I really laughed at but am curious to see what they do with this ICE and MAGA stuff since it's already making them seem really lovely. I mean if anyone watched this episode and said "hmm, concentration camps are good actually" then they're beyond help, I don't see how that could be the takeaway. It's not the show's fault if someone who supports concentration camps chooses to watch it despite the obvious message.
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Sep 26, 2019 13:29
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SweetMercifulCrap! posted:They very clearly abandoned this stance and "truth is in the middle" years ago. I'm not sure how that could be your takeaway from the last few seasons. I meant that more generally, not so much in recent seasons. The Trump election was definitely a shock to their system, but nobody's views totally change overnight. There has been a gradual evolution, but there's also been some stuff with PC Principal where it feels like they're going to cling to that persecution complex until their dying breath. (Like most other old comedians.) I don't have to agree with 100% of the show to watch it, though.
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Sep 26, 2019 21:28
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LORD OF BOOTY posted:Honestly, I don't feel like that's meant to be the point of PC Principal. He comes off mostly as Matt and Trey venting about how they don't really understand a lot of the nuances of modern political correctness and inevitably gently caress it up even though they're trying to be good about it. They're on board, it's just not easy. I think in a lot of ways that's where they are, but they still tend to lazily write off anything they personally don't care about yet as "being PC". In fact, just last season that seemed to be how they felt about protesting the treatment of immigrants at the border. I'm glad they seem to have come around, I guess I'm just... tempering my expectations. There's also whatever the hell the Mr. Hankey episode was, but honestly that was almost too confusing to be problematic.
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Sep 26, 2019 23:52
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Crazy Dastard posted:I got the impression the Mr. Hankey episode was analogous to Roseanne making a comeback only to get destroyed by cancel culture when she made racist political tweets, because instead of apologizing she doubled down and got drummed right out of Disney. You know, like what's been happening to a lot of famous people that get called out but choose to fight cancel culture. Well obviously, but they were walking this weird line between making him say obviously terrible things (because it wouldn't be funny otherwise) and implying that he was being treated unfairly. There definitely is a point to be made about "cancel culture" going too far and not allowing for repentance, but Mr. Hankey was completely unrepentant, so... It just felt like maybe they needed another week to thread the needle and make it make sense. Anyway, new episode was pretty good, I think they can pull this off. Sir Lemming fucked around with this message at 14:14 on Sep 27, 2019 |
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Sep 27, 2019 14:06
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"Dad, why are you covered in honey and blood? Dad, did you kill Winnie the Pooh?" "Oh, yeah, I killed Winnie the Pooh." This was a really good one. CBJSprague24 posted:Kinda bummed Butters doesn't growl, too. No that totally works, there's always some bassist with a wimpier voice who randomly yells once in a while. Sir Lemming fucked around with this message at 15:38 on Oct 3, 2019 |
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Oct 3, 2019 10:47
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Vegetable posted:Not sure what I’m supposed to get out of Randy’s shenanigans. I think it's essentially a satire of how when a "disruptive" startup actually succeeds, it inevitably becomes exactly the kind of corporation it was supposedly rebelling against. Plus Randy being stupid.
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Oct 4, 2019 13:18
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BexGu posted:Annnnnnnnnnnnnddddddddddddddddddddddd South Park has been banned in China Lol, well I suppose that's gonna be a badge of honor for Parker & Stone.
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Oct 7, 2019 15:38
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Which is kind of amazing because there are plenty of actual places named "South Park".
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Oct 9, 2019 00:14
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They must wish they could somehow will the China episode to be #300, because that's the one people are gonna remember. This one was okay but nothing special. They could've done a lot more with the fallout from Cartman not being vaccinated. Instead they mostly focused on the pig-rustlin' thing, which was definitely funny in its own way, but it was like all of a sudden, the episode was over and they forgot to do a plot.clown shoes posted:I really thought Randy and Ms. Cartman were going to make sweet, sweet love down by the fire. Same. I thought episode 300 was going to have Stan and Cartman become stepbrothers
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Oct 10, 2019 16:20
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I have no idea what point they thought they were making about free speech, but otherwise that was pretty funny and true. The quality of meat in the average fast food burger is so low it might as well be plant mush.
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Oct 23, 2019 13:10
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You'd better believe if it's cheaper than beef and it doesn't focus test poorly, they've been shoving it in there, for who knows how long. That's why some restaurants brag about "no fillers" and whatnot.
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Oct 23, 2019 16:07
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I liked this one, the mummy plot felt really old school. Just totally absurd with a hint of social commentary but no big lesson at the end. The best part was PC Principal's angry warning about culturally insensitive Halloween costumes. That felt like the best use of PC Principal yet. Not trying too hard to make some big point about political correctness, just having fun with it.
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Nov 1, 2019 12:49
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"I've forgotten that I have a family -- a loving wife and son." *Shelley does a WTF gesture* I'm glad they've remembered how to do episodes that have more than one joke in them. This episode had a little bit of everything. The ICE stuff was once again super dark, as it should be.
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Nov 7, 2019 11:59
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PC Principal feels like a manifestation of Trey & Matt's compulsive need to self-sabotage. They'll be on a run of solid episodes and then he pops up again so they can ramble confusedly about some social issue.
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Nov 14, 2019 13:46
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turboraton posted:Honest question, whats the supposed SP hate on trans people? Are we counting really old school episodes or just the new ones? The most frequently cited example, unsurprisingly, is the one where Mr. Garrison transitions and Gerald is inspired to become a dolphin. I am in no position whatsoever to declare what is and is not OK regarding this stuff, but for whatever it's worth, it was 15 years ago and trans people were considered an acceptable target by society at large back then. I mean it was just everywhere in comedy. I don't put a whole lot of personal blame on them for that, obviously they could have been more progressive, but let's face it, most of us weren't. I think you could point to the transgender bathroom episode as a pseudo apology for that, which was much more recent. But then this one... I'm not sure what this was. But whatever it was, times have changed and there's a lot more knowledge about this issue. Knowledge they seem determined to avoid.
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Nov 15, 2019 00:55
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Majorian posted:The problem is that this doesn't actually happen. Pro sports, the Olympics, etc, have rules governing these sorts of things, so you can't just say, "I'm a woman now, put me in coach." The fact that they framed the debate over trans athletes in sports this way really makes it seem like they were saying, "Cis women in sports need to feel threatened by trans women, who are deceptive." Just gonna quote this because it hits the nail on the head. I can see a version of this episode that actually works. I don't believe they hate trans people. But one way or another, the episode is portraying a hypothetical situation that has actually been the real-life basis of lots of dumb oppressive laws and stuff. This idea that men will say "oh I identify as a woman now" as cover for some sleazy thing, and so we have to be vigilant and not allow trans people to do stuff, because there might be a fake one in there. It's a similar mindset to the one behind Draconian immigration policy. A criminal might sneak in, so we have no choice but to be suspicious of all immigrants, sorry if that's not PC enough for you! This kind of thing only (sort of) works when Cartman is doing it, because he's long established to be an unusually terrible person who does things nobody else would do for incredibly petty reasons. Obviously that gets old after a while, and wouldn't really have fit this particular story, so they did a one-off character. But that makes it seem more like this is what people do -- not this one crazy character, but just like, any random people. Sir Lemming fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Nov 16, 2019 |
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Nov 16, 2019 03:27
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What an awesome week to have no new episode to talk about
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Nov 19, 2019 00:22
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The single best thing about the show is that it's still the same writers. Sometimes it leads to awful episodes, but it's still the only reason the show has any life left in it at all.
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Nov 19, 2019 13:45
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Good episode. And this week...quote:AN ALL-NEW EPISODE OF SOUTH PARK PREMIERES WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4 AT 10:00 P.M. ET/PT ON COMEDY CENTRAL So obviously some Disney+ stuff.
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Dec 2, 2019 12:15
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I mean if they must do a plot about the least womanly person declaring themselves a woman, who better to do it with than "Macho Man"?
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Dec 4, 2019 02:15
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MonsterEnvy posted:You don't think they might have changed their minds on things. A lot of people were willing to assume maybe they did, until this episode where it really seems like they didn't. Simple enough. Sir Lemming fucked around with this message at 14:00 on Dec 4, 2019 |
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Dec 4, 2019 13:57
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Bust Rodd posted:The most recent episode about trans people wasn’t anti-trans at all, it was anti-lying about being trans. But to a not insignificant portion of the public, all trans people are lying about it. Or at least enough to make restrictive laws "just in case". There are all kinds of terrible political views and policies based on the fear that "some people" who may or may not even exist will take advantage of the system. "Look, I want to be nice, but they can't be trusted! I saw on Facebook that one of them did a crime!" Like yeah, you're an idiot if your views are based on a cartoon, but most people are idiots, so maybe try a little harder to avoid those implications. They shouldn't have to, but they do nonetheless. That's the stupid world we live in. I don't think Trey & Matt are bad people but I do often wish they would think things through a little better.
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Dec 4, 2019 15:31
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Bust Rodd posted:I don’t think it’s fair to any comedian at all to say “the world is so full of ignorant and stupid racists and homophobes that you have to constantly remind everyone smarter than them that you don’t really think this way”. Of course it's not fair, but it's reality. They're free to keep doing what they're doing, they have every right to. I just wish they would aim higher. No matter how far they've come, they still always seem to carry around this little persecution complex about how the PC Police won't let them say anything. For 23 years. More practically, good satire typically requires a true premise. So when the premise is flawed, it just isn't funny.
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Dec 4, 2019 16:38
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Got around to it late but the Scott Malkinson episode was OK. Could've been better. I would've liked to see the jokes about how the cable guys spent their time getting more and more absurd, but they kind of just stayed at one level. And satire-wise it was a little half-baked. The fact that cable companies still control internet connections should've been pretty obvious from the start, and there was obviously more to explore about streaming services in general. But I also would've settled for plain absurdity if they weren't really interested in making some kind of point. I did enjoy the meta stuff where the different "shows" from this season were referenced as if they were direct-to-streaming spinoffs. Sir Lemming fucked around with this message at 16:40 on Dec 9, 2019 |
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Dec 9, 2019 14:31
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Manbearpig is the perfect example to bring up here because back when that episode first aired, people were like "they obviously don't actually believe global warming is a hoax, they're just expressing that idea in a ridiculously over-the-top way that we all know is an absurdist joke." Then a decade later they explicitly apologize for it and whoops, I guess that actually was the point of that episode. (I do kinda hate that this discussion is still going, but honestly there isn't really anything to discuss in the last 2 episodes, so it's just as well)
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Dec 11, 2019 04:03
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Bust Rodd posted:Why does everyone think that ManBearPig is about them denying climate change? Rewatch that episode, it’s 100% about how you can’t be a sanctimoniously smug rear end in a top hat about something without people thinking you’re full of poo poo. That episode is about Al Gore being a whiny douchebag, it’s not about climate change not being real whatsoever. This is exactly what I used to say to defend the episode, until last season when they went out of their way to make an episode saying "actually yes, we were laughing off climate change as a whole when we made that episode, and we were wrong, and this is our apology." I don't know how it can even still be up for debate after that, unless you approach it as some SuperMechaGodzilla "death of the author" thing
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Dec 11, 2019 17:26
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I'm glad they ended the episode with a Santa Claus "Coke" advertisement because it would've been a real missed opportunity otherwise. Overall solid episode. It does seem like this season couldn't get by without a little "Tegridy" but it is what it is. Hopefully they'll still be able to figure out something next season, since I doubt that will really carry them much farther. I love whenever Randy switches from regular Randy mode to Tegridy mode with the southern drawl. SweetMercifulCrap! posted:What the hell was with the Greta Thunberg namedrop though? The preview made me think this was going to be making fun of all the conservatives getting pissed about her doing nothing more than saying what's already been said for decades now, with Santa filling her role, but it really wasn't that at all or if it was, the analogy was way too loose. Yeah IDK, that was a little weird. Nothing sinister about it but just an odd name drop. They did accidentally stumble into this week's news though, in 2 ways: Thunberg being Time's person of the year, and a controversy over Santa and cocaine. (Though "snow = cocaine" is obviously a super old joke.) Any worries about them saying Greta needs to know her place or whatever were gone immediately when they showed all the people drunk driving. Good luck finding any message in this episode: cocaine is kind of like weed and alcohol, except how it isn't, and maybe they should all be banned, or maybe not. I think they settled on "IDK, it makes you think, anyway here's some crazy F'ed up stuff" which is fine by me. Sir Lemming fucked around with this message at 12:03 on Dec 12, 2019 |
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Dec 12, 2019 11:59
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YMMV I guess, but the general consensus seems to be pretty positive about those episodes. Personally I thought it was their best run of episodes in a while. The season only stopped being good when they switched to something else.
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Dec 13, 2019 13:58
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I know there was one point where I figured they'll be contrarian and not do anything about the pandemic or any other events of 2020, but at this point that seems literally impossible. It's a different world. At the very least I'm expecting something along the lines of "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants"; they could even reuse the beginning where they're all wearing masks. Or just open with a few seconds of Randy staring directly at the viewer, then he says "WHAT THE F--" and cut to credits, followed by Terrance and Philip
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Jun 26, 2020 19:28
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Good luck with them not tackling current events, what the hell else is there? I guess they could do a whole season in space?
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Sep 13, 2020 11:33
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I doubt they'll do a real "election episode" because as important as this election is, compared to the car crash of 2016 -- or everything else about 2020 -- the election itself is not really fertile ground for comedy. It's more just something everyone wants to get over with already to see if we get 4 more years of this crap. It's like Groundhog Day. I guess the really interesting part could be whatever happens after the election. (I'd sure like for it not to be all that interesting, though.)
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Sep 29, 2020 18:39
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Is it weird that I actually got a little choked up about Stan's "I just want my life back" monologue? I guess maybe I have some of my own stuff to deal with. Overall that was pretty fun, nothing earth-shattering but who needs the Earth any more shattered right now dammit. It wasn't laugh-out-loud stuff but it was definitely clever.
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Oct 1, 2020 17:39
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EL BROMANCE posted:I think I missed a line or something happening, how come Stotch went from being pro-mask at the beginning to anti-mask when Faucci showed up? Yeah I didn't really get that either. It seemed to have something to do with the moustaches?
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Oct 1, 2020 20:04
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I think part of the difficulty is, well, it's season 24 and it's a challenge to keep the show fresh. One way of doing that is to stay topical, but I think they're also feeling a little self-conscious about that. They sense that they're out of touch and maybe saying some regretful things sometimes, but they're still not exactly sure what that means and what they should do about it. I think they might purposely be avoiding some of their tried and true character dynamics because it might be too tempting to fall back on outdated arguments and stuff. Or they're just bored, I dunno.
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Oct 5, 2020 18:29
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Shitenshi posted:Any word if this show is coming back this year? That last episode was pretty good, so I was definitely disappointed to see no upcoming schedule then and apparently nothing now either. One of the reviews I read casually mentioned that there will be an actual season but not until after the new year. I'm not sure where that info came from though.
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Oct 15, 2020 12:53
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I watched it and enjoyed it although I don't really remember anything from it
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Mar 11, 2021 13:16
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Breadallelogram posted:glad they took a break from Randy for this one Yeah I was reflecting on that earlier today. The episode did feel like it was missing something, but leaving him mostly out of it was the right call this time around. I also remembered one gag I really liked: "Wait, so it's Community Kids spelled with a C? Get 'em!"
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Mar 12, 2021 18:53
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CBJSprague24 posted:I just hope we get away from continuity and back to the old style of standalone episodes. I think the pendulum has already returned to a pretty good resting position on that spectrum. They seemed to have learned their lesson with the Trump season where every episode was a cliffhanger and nobody liked it. In addition to being more in step with modern shows, continuity feels like one more tool in their comedy arsenal which they can take or leave however much they want. Plus it seems to confuse the hell out of the AV Club reviewers, which is funny in its own right. I just think generally, the jokes need to be better. Half the time it seems like they come up with a funny plot idea and spend all their time just sort of putting the plot together and making it work, but then they forget to add actual jokes. Continuity or not, I feel like that's been a problem for years. Though there's usually at least one or two hilarious moments that feel really fresh. 14 movies though, I don't even know how to process that information. How is that not a typo?
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Aug 5, 2021 17:50
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SLICK GOKU BABY posted:I'm assuming by "movies" it's just going to be short 60-80 minute type deals. Maybe even in line with the last 2 specials they've done or like imaginationland. Yeah probably, it still feels like a huge commitment considering they've been steadily reducing the number of episodes per season.
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Aug 5, 2021 19:41
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