How South Park Came Up With That Famous Election Episode – Looper

“South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker are not big fans of U.S. politics being primarily controlled by political parties. In 2004, their frustration continued as the world got wrapped up in whether John Kerry or George W. Bush would win the 2004 presidential election. According to Parker, the two were especially tired of politics after making “Team America: World Police,” a film cast with puppets that made fun of everyone from Matt Damon to Bush.

“I think that one was right after we had finished ‘Team America.’ And it was kind of this big thing where everyone’s like ‘Oh, the election, the election—what are you going to do, guys?’ And we’re like, you know, I don’t give a f*** about either one of these [candidates]. And it kind of came out of that,” Parker told Variety in September 2016 for a story celebrating the 20th anniversary of “South Park.”

In the same interview, Stone was a bit clearer about the metaphor, saying the choice between a douche and a turd sandwich is simply the lesser-of-two-evil choice he believes most Americans get every election cycle. “It’s just a funny way of saying less of two evils. Because ‘evil’ doesn’t really capture the sense in some elections, where it’s not really fighting evil—it just feels like, bleh.”