Top 10 South Park cold opens that hooked us instantly

While most shows ease into their stories, South Park has made the cold open into a high art form. Since 1997, Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s paper-cutout madhouse has kept everyone from couch potatoes to TV bigwigs gawking at just how ballsy, tight, and on-point their openers are. There is nothing like that signature South Park opener: you’re dropped right into the madness, the episode is off to the races, and you are already hooked before you even hear that “goin’ down to South Park” theme.

Writers and critics can’t get enough of it. Industry folks love to pick these scenes apart because South Park doesn’t just toss out a gag and call it a day. They drop you into the story, set the tone, serve up the main problem, and then elevate the absurdity level and twist your expectations.

And don’t get us started on the “But, Therefore” rule Parker and Stone swear by: every story beat leads to the next, like some domino effect, not a random string of gags. People call it “deceptively simple but powerfully effective,” but there is wizardry involved.

It’s a hit with fans, too. Those cold opens are a whole event; half the internet is arguing five minutes after they air. In a world where everyone is scrolling TikTok or flipping to something else, South Park still manages to glue eyeballs to the screen from the very first second.

So, which cold opens crushed it? We dug through the thinkpieces, the fan rankings, and all the hot takes to give you the ultimate top 10 South Park cold opens that reeled us in.

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Top 10 South Park cold opens

“Pinkeye” (Season 1, Episode 7)

Pinkeye is wild right out of the gate, as it is South Park’s first cold open. We have Kenny dying (again) in some over-the-top, ridiculous way, and then, thanks to some medical mistake, he turns into a zombie.

That opening is pure energy. You’re instantly sucked in without the time for small talk. The shock factor defines South Park's unapologetic, rule-breaking style. And this wasn’t just about being edgy. The cold open caught on as other cartoons, even some live-action shows, jumped on that train. They saw how it made everything move faster and kept viewers glued to the screen.

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“Scott Tenorman Must Die” (Season 5, Episode 4)

Scott Tenorman Must Die doesn’t exactly tiptoe into the shallow end. It kicks off with Cartman getting scammed by an older kid, which you kind of expect. But then things get into total, unhinged darkness way faster than you’re ready for.

You settle in thinking you’re getting the usual Cartman shenanigans, maybe some poop jokes. But this episode raises the stakes so hard your jaw unhinges. It’s like a masterclass in how to take a basic prank war and morph it into something you’ll need to unpack later.

And if you want to see Cartman distilled into pure, undiluted evil, this is it. He played for a fool at first, but you can see the gears turning. He’s petty, he’s underestimated, and he is ever vindictive. People always reference this episode when they talk about twisting audience expectations.

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“Casa Bonita” (Season 7, Episode 11)

Right outta the gate, this South Park episode just chucks you into Cartman’s full-blown meltdown over not getting an invite to Kyle’s birthday bash at Casa Bonita, the actual, gloriously tacky Colorado restaurant. What starts as Cartman getting snubbed just snowballs into him plotting some next-level, elaborate schemes.

You have to admit, it hits close to home. That mix of petty jealousy and overblown drama is a childhood flashback. It’s ridiculous and believable because the emotional stakes feel real, even as Cartman’s plans go off the rails.

And the way the story kicks off is a classic Parker and Stone move. Cartman wants in; Kyle says nope. So, Cartman’s brain immediately jumps to unleashing chaos. It’s like a master class in turning tiny problems into total insanity.

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“Make Love, Not Warcraft” (Season 10, Episode 8)

This South Park cold open just hits you in the face. The boys get totally wrecked by some random rogue player in World of Warcraft, and suddenly, you’re not just watching a show, you’re in the trenches with them. The sequence is animated in WoW style, so props to South Park for going all-in on the details. They didn’t just poke fun; they became the game for a minute.

And TV folks took notes. The choice to mimic the game’s graphics in the opening became a reference point for effective parody in TV writing and production. Everybody tried to do their own version after that.

But the real magic is that you instantly feel for the guys. They get trashed, humiliated, and left powerless, and you’re sitting there wondering what now. That’s how you pull an audience in.

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“AWESOM-O” (Season 8, Episode 5)

So AWESOM-O kicks off with pure chaos. Cartman is dressed up like a busted tin can, pretending to be a robot so he can dig up Butters’ secrets. Only Cartman would come up with something this ridiculous. It’s classic him.

Right away, you get it: Butters is painfully sweet and clueless, while Cartman is up to his usual greasy tricks. That mix is hilarious and heartbreaking. You’re laughing, but also bracing yourself for whatever dumpster fire Cartman is about to light.

People in TV writing circles love to bring this episode up. They say it’s a benchmark in how to set up a story fast, with barely any wasted motion.

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“Fishsticks” (Season 13, Episode 5)

The episode starts with Jimmy spitballing this goofy little pun, “Do you like fish sticks?” that snowballs into total pop culture chaos. One dumb joke spirals into this whole ridiculous takedown of fame, ego, and who really owns an idea.

Notably, they drag Kanye West into it big time, and he becomes a full-on meme. It just shows how South Park can hijack celebrity culture whenever they feel like it.

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“The Death of Eric Cartman” (Season 9, Episode 6)

This episode kicks off with Cartman being his usual gremlin self: he scarfs down all the KFC chicken skin, leaving the rest of the boys in absolute disbelief. Their revenge is that they just straight up ghost him, ignoring Cartman so hard that the guy actually thinks he is dead.

Things spiral fast. What starts as pure, childish pettiness rockets into a metaphysical mess. TV writers probably use this as a case study in how to escalate a joke until it breaks the universe.

And that cold open is legendary. The episode keeps popping up on “best of” lists, and if you turn on cable at 2 am, odds are you’ll catch it in reruns. It has got that kind of staying power.

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“Up the Down Steroid” (Season 8, Episode 2)

Cartman fakes a disability to get into the Special Olympics. There’s no sugarcoating, just straight into the moral deep end. The show doesn’t tiptoe around. It grabs you by the collar and talks about the stuff nobody wants to touch.

Critics and fans were all over the place with this one. Some folks loved the guts; others did not. It’s the classic South Park gamble: push way too far, but maybe, just maybe, make you think about where the line should be.

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“Tonsil Trouble” (Season 12, Episode 1)

This cold open kicks off sunny and way too cheery for South Park. Then, Cartman gets HIV from a tonsil surgery. The whole theme does a 180 so fast you’re left blinking. Fans love how they twist the mood on a dime.

And that fake-happy hospital scene is almost cruel, knowing what is coming. It totally plays on Cartman’s garbage luck and sets you up for the whole episode. This is where Cartman goes full psycho, zero chill, and laser-focused on dragging Kyle down with him. The tone shift makes his revenge trip even funnier, because you’re already off balance.

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Season 27 premiere (“Sermon on the ’Mount”)

South Park kicked off season 27 by lighting social media on fire. In this cold open, President Donald Trump tangled with Satan in bed. The jokes hit hard, and the deepfake stuff is crazy. South Park still knows how to push every button, even after all these years.

People went gaga online. The episode shot straight to the top of trending lists, viewership went up, and the actual White House had to say something about it.