COMEDY CENTRAL® Celebrates "South Park's" 15th Anniversary With a Year-Long, Multiplatform Celebration Featuring Special Fan-Driven Events Marking 2011: The Year of the Fan!

NEW YORK, July 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- "South Park" marks its 15th season this year.  To celebrate, "South Park," COMEDY CENTRAL and South Park Digital Studios will honor the fans that have turned the Emmy® and Peabody® Award-winning series into a cultural phenomenon with a year-long celebration, marking 2011 as "The Year of the Fan."

"What better way to celebrate 15 amazing years of 'South Park,' than by honoring the viewers that have made the iconic series such a long-running success," said Michele Ganeless, president, COMEDY CENTRAL.  "These all-encompassing 'South Park' events will take the fans even deeper into the show, allowing them to experience it in every arena."

"The Year of the Fan" will bring viewers closer to "South Park" than they've ever been before, connecting them to the series in a multi-platform manner fitting for the heralded occasion, including: the Ultimate "South Park" Fan Experience at Comic-Con 2011 in San Diego; an upcoming documentary to air on COMEDY CENTRAL that takes fans behind-the-scenes of their favorite show; the introduction of Cheesy Poofs to a store near you, plus all-new never-before-seen "South Park" merchandise; and, an art exhibit curated by Ron English featuring interpretations of the series by the famed street artist and pop surrealist painter and 14 other hand-picked artists as well.  "South Park" will also host on-going contests and interactive elements at SouthParkStudios.com throughout The Year of the Fan.  Additional details below:  

• The Ultimate "South Park" Fan Experience at Comic-Con, San Diego: Fans will walk into a 15,000 square foot world of "South Park" located just outside of the San Diego Convention Center.  The Ultimate Fan Experience will include:
  • A museum with "South Park"-inspired artwork by Ron English and other curated artists on display (see below), including fan-submitted artwork chosen by English as well as "South Park" staff artwork
  • Famous "South Park" memorabilia, including the gown Matt Stone wore to the Oscars in 2000 and the original cut-outs and story boards from the early seasons of the show
  • A life-size replica of "South Park" Avenue
  • Interactive stations with social networking uploading capabilities, including a Create Your Own Avatar station, "South Park" photo booth and a Face Painting station featuring famous "South Park" characters including Mitch Connor
  • A Big Wheel pedal racetrack
  • A school cafeteria where Cheesy Poofs will be given away!
  • A Voice of the Fan confessional booth where South Park will interview the fans about their favorite "South Park" moment, challenge them to sing the Cheesy Poof song or the "South Park" theme song.  The best recordings may be used on COMEDY CENTRAL, SouthParkStudios.com or on the upcoming Year of the Fan DVD.
  • An MC'd center stage with "South Park" karaoke, costume competition, trivia contests and more!

• "South Park" Documentary: Viewers will get an exclusive inside look into the making of a "South Park" episode.  A documentary crew was given an all-access pass to Stone and Parker's world at South Park Studios in Los Angeles.  The documentary will air on COMEDY CENTRAL this fall. COMEDY CENTRAL Home Entertainment will release the director's cut of the DVD in November with new footage and bonus episodes from the 15th season and fan-interactive opportunities.

• Cheesy Poofs:  "South Park's" iconic snack will hit the market for a limited-run this fall in Wal-Mart stores nation-wide.

• New "South Park" Merchandise And In-Store Locations: To celebrate the Year of the Fan, we have expanded our merchandise and retail presence to include:
  • A custom, limited edition KidRobot blind box series launching this fall nationwide.  Kid Robot will premiere two exclusive figurines at Comic-Con in San Diego this July, featuring Dead Kenny and Mysterion, as well as a Mysterion t-shirt.
  • New consumer electronics accessories launching exclusively at Best Buy, including USB drives, iPad cases, iPhone/Pod cases, wireless mouse and mouse pads.
  • New partnerships with JunkFood, New Era and a new series of figures from Mezco.
  • Expanded retail presence including placement at Macy's, Old Navy, JC Penney's, Best Buy, TRU, Target, Casual Male and more.

• Art Exhibit: 15 Artists Interpret "South Park" curated by famed street artist and pop surrealist painter, Ron English, opened on March 28 at Opera Gallery in New York City.  English hand-picked 14 artists drawn from the street and the pop surrealism movement to join him in displaying their "South Park" interpretations, making that a total of 15 artists in honor of "South Park's" 15th season.  Unified by their love of the hit series and the passion they brought to their work, their art features the "South Park" characters and the iconic moments throughout the series history.  The exhibit will also be displayed at the Ultimate "South Park" Fan Experience at Comic-Con.

• Fans voted on SouthParkStudios.com for the 15 best "South Park" episodes of all-time and shared their votes on Facebook, Twitter and blogs.  Each week SouthParkStudios.com will host a "Fan's Favorite Episodes" where one fan's Top 15 list will be featured, along with his or her name and personalized "South Park" Avatar.

• SouthParkStudios.com finds the ultimate fan with the new "South Park Pop Quiz," developed by SMERC.  Fans can challenge friends and compete with other fans around the world in the ultimate "South Park" trivia contest to prove their South Park IQ.

• "South Park" Avatars take over Facebook profiles across the web.  "South Park" fans used the new Avatar creator to make and upload a "South Park" version of themselves as their Facebook profile picture.

"South Park" launched on August 13, 1997 and premiered its 15th season on April 27.  The series airs Wednesday nights at 10:00 p.m. and repeats later that night at 12:00 a.m. (all times ET/PT).  Fans can follow all of The Year of the Fan activities at SouthParkStudios.com.  A truly global phenomenon with a devoted fan following worldwide, "South Park" remains one of the highest rated shows on terrestrial broadcasters around the world.  The series is syndicated in more than 130 territories and translated into 30-plus languages.

Co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are executive producers, along with Anne Garefino, of the Emmy® and Peabody® Award-winning "South Park."  Frank C. Agnone II is the supervising producer.  Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman are producers.  "South Park's" Web site is www.southparkstudios.com.

COMEDY CENTRAL, the only all-comedy network, currently is seen in more than 98 million homes nationwide.  COMEDY CENTRAL is owned by, and is a registered trademark of Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned division of Viacom Inc.'s (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B) MTV Networks.  COMEDY CENTRAL's Internet address is www.comedycentral.com.  For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs COMEDY CENTRAL's press Web site, at www.comedycentral.com/press.  Follow @ComedyCentralPR on Twitter for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

MTV Networks, a division of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world's leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products.  The company's portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 400 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Nick Jr., TeenNick, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, SPIKE, TV Land, Atom, GameTrailers and Xfire.

SOURCE COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications