South Park centers on the adventures of four small-town Colorado 3rd-graders (now 4th-graders): Cartman, a spoiled, obese, cruel, vile, frighteningly authentic and instantly popular character; Kyle, a Jewish boy, the most philosophical and troubled of the group; Kenny, a poor kid with white-trash parents who inevitably dies during every episode of the early seasons. His utterances are rendered inaudible by his orange jumpsuit, and Stan - the closest to a 'normal' eight year old you're likely to find in the show. Over the years the ensemble of supporting characters has become immense, ranging from Jesus Christ to a talking, genetically engineered towel. Kenny was replaced for some time by 'Butters', who could actually speak intelligibly. Constantly satirising current social issues, pushing the boundaries of bad taste, and deliberately animated to appear as low-budget as possible, South Park's enormous popularity has made it TV's most successful cartoon since The Simpsons.