South Park's Trey Parker Doesn't Want To Offend Anyone

After airing for 26 seasons on Comedy Central, "South Park" may be the biggest and most successful franchise that the network has ever had. With only animated sitcoms like "The Simpsons" and "Family Guy" boasting the same kind of longevity, it looks like Trey Parker and Matt Stone's seminal, cutting-edge flavor of satire is in pretty good company.

Of course, though "South Park" has been a lightning rod for controversy over the years (via Collider), the show remains increasingly popular, with fans tuning in regularly despite, or perhaps because, of all of the buzz. Along with April Stewart, the duo of Parker and Stone also voice most of the characters on the show, meaning an unusually massive chunk of what the series is about comes directly from the creators.

Still, even with the show's regular line-crossing sense of humor and the way its creators seem to take joy in the tarring and feathering of almost everything imaginable, Parker says that he genuinely doesn't enjoy offending people with "South Park."

Trey Parker and Matt Stone met up with The Hollywood Reporter in 2011 discuss their increasingly busy schedules and how they really feel about offending viewers inside and outside their audience on a semi-regular basis. Surprisingly, though, Parker said that he really doesn't like that aspect of "South Park" as much as fans might think he does.

"When someone goes, 'Oh, this group is really pissed off at what you said,' there's not a piece of my body that goes, 'Sweet!' " Parker explained. "That means I did it wrong. I'm just trying to make people laugh." Since there are so many countless examples of "South Park" going for the jugular over the years, this might come as a genuine surprise to long-time viewers of the series.

For his part, Stone backed up the assertion from his partner and series co-creator. "He's genuinely a true artist," Stone agreed. He further elaborated and admitted that he has much more of a temper compared to his writing partner and that Parker actively avoids confrontation. Well, with the 26th season of the series currently teeing up, the duo can probably expect a lot more controversy coming their way once again, regardless of Parker's discomfort.