<P> The first season was a ratings success for Comedy Central . The Nielsen ratings rose from 1.3 to 6.4 from the first to the tenth episode . Several episodes received award nominations, including for a 1998 Emmy Award in the "Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)" and a GLAAD Award in the "Outstanding TV--Individual Episode" category for the episode "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride". During the season, South Park won a CableACE Award for "Best Animated Series" and was nominated for a 1998 Annie Award in the "Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Primetime or Late Night Television Program". </P> <P> The show was a financial success for Comedy Central and helped the network transform into "a cable industry power almost overnight". Despite this, critics gave the season mixed reviews . Parents Television Council rated it so offensive that it "shouldn't have been made": "it doesn't just push the envelope; it knocks it off the table", while another critic thought of it as "coming pretty damn close" to being a "perfect" television series season . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> No . overall </Th> <Th> No. in season </Th> <Th> Title </Th> <Th> Directed by </Th> <Th> Written by </Th> <Th> Original air date </Th> <Th> Prod . code </Th> <Th> U.S. viewers (millions) </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Td> </Td> <Td> "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> August 13, 1997 (1997 - 08 - 13) </Td> <Td> 101 </Td> <Td> 0.98 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> Cartman tells his friends Stan, Kyle, and Kenny he had a dream about being abducted by aliens . The boys realize that this did actually happen when Kyle's baby brother, Ike is abducted also . They manage to rescue Ike while the aliens conclude that cows are the most intelligent species on the planet . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Td> </Td> <Td> "Volcano" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> August 20, 1997 (1997 - 08 - 20) </Td> <Td> 103 </Td> <Td> 1.0 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> Stan's uncle Jimbo and his friend Ned take the four boys on a hunting trip in the mountains . Stan's father, a geologist, discovers that the mountain is a volcano about to erupt and convinces the townspeople to dig a trench for diverting the lava . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Td> </Td> <Td> "Weight Gain 4000" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> August 27, 1997 (1997 - 08 - 27) </Td> <Td> 102 </Td> <Td> N / A </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> The town prepares for an event involving Kathie Lee Gifford presenting an award to Cartman . He tries to lose weight but instead, becomes even more obese from a body gaining supplement called Weight Gain 4000 . Meanwhile the boy's teacher, Mr. Garrison, attempts to assassinate Gifford . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> </Th> <Td> </Td> <Td> "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> September 3, 1997 (1997 - 09 - 03) </Td> <Td> 104 </Td> <Td> N / A </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> Stan's new, gay dog runs away and finds the town's most flamboyant, gayest man, Big Gay Al . South Park Cows lose a football game against a rival team as Jimbo and Ned fail to sabotage the game . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 5 </Th> <Td> 5 </Td> <Td> "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig" </Td> <Td> (uncredited) </Td> <Td> Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Dan Sterling </Td> <Td> September 10, 1997 (1997 - 09 - 10) </Td> <Td> 105 </Td> <Td> N / A </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> The boys try to breed a pig with an elephant and look for Dr. Alphonse Mephesto's help . Instead, Dr. Mephisto creates a clone of Stan that terrorizes the town . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 6 </Th> <Td> 6 </Td> <Td> "Death" </Td> <Td> Matt Stone </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> September 17, 1997 (1997 - 09 - 17) </Td> <Td> 106 </Td> <Td> 1.3 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> Stan's grandfather attempts suicide and tries to enlist the boy's help . Kyle's mother organizes a boycott against the boys' favorite television series Terrence and Phillip in protest of its toilet humor . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 7 </Th> <Td> 7 </Td> <Td> "Pinkeye" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Philip Stark </Td> <Td> October 29, 1997 (1997 - 10 - 29) </Td> <Td> 107 </Td> <Td> 2.7 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> Kenny is killed by the Mir space station and becomes a zombie . This goes unnoticed as he is thought to have dressed up for Halloween . The citizens who get bitten become zombies but instead are diagnosed with pinkeye . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 8 </Th> <Td> 8 </Td> <Td> "Starvin' Marvin" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker </Td> <Td> Trey Parker </Td> <Td> November 19, 1997 (1997 - 11 - 19) </Td> <Td> 109 </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> A starving Ethiopian child is accidentally sent to South Park . Cartman is sent back to Ethiopia instead, while mutant turkeys begin rampaging the town . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 9 </Th> <Td> 9 </Td> <Td> "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> Trey Parker </Td> <Td> December 17, 1997 (1997 - 12 - 17) </Td> <Td> 110 </Td> <Td> 4.5 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> As a Jew, Kyle feels excluded from the rest of the town during Christmas and is comforted by Mr. Hankey, a talking, singing feces . Kyle's mom protests the school's Christmas play leading to the removal of all religious aspects of Christmas from the entire town . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 10 </Th> <Td> 10 </Td> <Td> "Damien" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> February 4, 1998 (1998 - 02 - 04) </Td> <Td> 108 </Td> <Td> 5.1 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> A new student arranges a boxing match between Satan and Jesus . The South Park residents bet on Satan due to his enormous size and muscular physique, but Satan throws the fight and wins everybody's money after having bet on Jesus . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 11 </Th> <Td> 11 </Td> <Td> "Tom's Rhinoplasty" </Td> <Td> (uncredited) </Td> <Td> Trey Parker </Td> <Td> February 11, 1998 (1998 - 02 - 11) </Td> <Td> 111 </Td> <Td> 4.1 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> Mr. Garrison gets a rhinoplasty and quits teaching to become a model . Stan develops a crush on the substitute teacher, but she is discovered to be an Iraqi fugitive and is kidnapped by insurgents . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 12 </Th> <Td> 12 </Td> <Td> "Mecha - Streisand" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker </Td> <Td> Trey Parker, Philip Stark and Matt Stone </Td> <Td> February 18, 1998 (1998 - 02 - 18) </Td> <Td> 112 </Td> <Td> 5.4 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> Mr. Garrison takes his class on an archaeological dig where Cartman finds a mysterious triangle . Barbra Streisand steals this triangle and becomes Mecha - Streisand, a giant robot that wreaks havoc upon the town . </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> 13 </Th> <Td> 13 </Td> <Td> "Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut" </Td> <Td> Trey Parker </Td> <Td> Trey Parker and David R. Goodman </Td> <Td> February 25, 1998 (1998 - 02 - 25) </Td> <Td> 113 </Td> <Td> 6.4 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td_colspan="8"> Cartman attempts to find his real father only to find that his mother slept with just about every man in town . Aided by Stan and Kyle, he manages to raise the money for a paternity DNA test after sending a video to America's Stupidest Home Videos . </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> No . overall </Th> <Th> No. in season </Th> <Th> Title </Th> <Th> Directed by </Th> <Th> Written by </Th> <Th> Original air date </Th> <Th> Prod . code </Th> <Th> U.S. viewers (millions) </Th> </Tr>

When was the first episode of south park released