South Park started in 1997, when I was 11. As you might imagine, my parents decided it wasn't quite appropriate content for an 11-year-old. They were right to think so, but the show was something of an instant classic. My world was awash in references to things I didn't get because I didn't watch the show. By the time I could decide to watch it on my own, the show had been running so long, that I told myself I wouldn't much like it.

I'm not sure why I made that decision, but here we are, 17 years later, and I'm making my way through all of the seasons on Hulu, and the experience is a little odd. On the one hand, the show is fresh and hilarious because I've never watched it before. The pop-culture is sometimes a little dated, but that's to be expected from a show that's run for so long.

On the other, the sense of nostalgia is strong because I'm finally getting the context of the many, many catch phrases that I heard all through middle and high school. Hell, many of them I still hear.

It's crude both in polish and humor, but they also dig so deeply into some of the bullshit of our modern world, I have to give credit to the writing staff. They can go from Terrance and Phillip fart jokes to perfect lampoons of 24-hour news cycles, local politics, global warming, and hostile corporate takeover. It's actually pretty impressive.

While I can't say it's overrated because it's obviously been wildly successful, but I can definitely say I was way off in my estimation of it until now.

So maybe I'm 17 years late, but better late than never, eh?