South Park Disses Reality TV

What do three of pop culture's harshest critics think about reality TV? We'll find out tonight, when South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone collaborate with All in the Family mastermind Norman Lear on the show's seventh season premiere (airing 10 pm/ET on Comedy Central). In the episode, the boys — including Kenny, who's officially back from the dead — discover Earth is nothing more than a reality TV show produced for, and by, aliens. We hear Lear's not exactly a big fan of reality TV, but what about Parker and Stone?

TV Guide Online: When you both were on Jimmy Kimmel Live last week, Are You Hot's Lorenzo Lamas threatened to kick your asses. Could he have done it?
Trey Parker: No. (Laughs)
Matt Stone: He's not a very big guy.
Parker: Seriously, his arms are about as big around as my wrists.

TVGO: Since you've seen him up close, could you rate him on face, body and sex appeal for me?
Parker: Well, he's [expletive], [expletive] and [expletive]. (Stone Laughs)

TVGO: Okay, now let's hear it. What do you think of reality TV?
Parker: People want to group all reality TV shows together, but just like anything else, there's those that are produced well, and those that aren't. Joe Millionaire had all those viewers, but those producers should not be working. It was horrible.
Stone: It was a great idea.
Parker: It was a great idea, and it could have been awesome, but they just don't know what they were doing. And then you look at a show like The Surreal Life and it's just slick, and it's well done, and they tried to make it interesting. It was just so much better put together.

TVGO: What's the verdict on American Idol?
Parker: That show's genius. [Kelly Clarkson] sold a bunch of singles, right? That show therefore shows us way more about our culture than The West Wing does. You really can make someone a pop star.

TVGO: Trey, years ago, you were upset that you weren't asked to be the groom on Fox's Who Wants to Marry a Multi-Millionaire. Should you be ABC's next Bachelor?
Parker: It seems like too big of a time commitment. And plus, all the women they pick are just horses. I really thought you were gonna tune in, and they were gonna have these really eligible, awesome women that are hot, smart and have a career. Point me that way — I would love that, right. But then they're like, "Here's Susan, she works at Hooters."