cartman

(S11E04) This was a hilarious episode, and yet I couldn't help but feel it's the sort of episode that comes easy to its creators. The "snuke in Hillary's snizz" gag wasn't exactly inspired, considering the very first episode centered on a gigantic satellite in Cartman's ass and just last season another episode focused on Oprah's "minge." Then there was Cartman's fart torture and the scene toward the end where the Queen shoots herself, both of which I laughed at quite uproariously but that still seemed a bit too easy by South Park standards.

(S11E03) Sorry this review is a few days late, Becky, but I've been sick.

Overall, I thought this was a good episode, though it didn't floor me with hilarity the way some episodes do. Perhaps that was in large part to not quite understanding what the point of the episode was. Was it meant to mock those who see the Earth as a conscience entity that can actually choose to get rid of us the way the students of South Park get rid of lice? Or was the whole episode just a philosophical experiment and we're left to make up our own minds? Or maybe it was all just a really elaborate set up so they could do a gag about Angelina Jolie having crabs at the end of the episode.

(S11E01)

Cartman: Token forfeits! Whites win!

Given Michael Richards' tirade at a comedy club last November, it would have been easy for South Park to dedicate a show to ruthlessly bashing Richards and people who use the N-word, but South Park has never been about simple approaches. Ultimately, Stan realizes that a person who isn't black can never really understand the effect that word can have, but the episode also ingeniously shows how none of us are completely immune to thoughts of prejudice, it's just that some forms of intolerance are more, well, tolerated than others.

It's almost time to warm up the barbecue, invite your friends over, open a few beers, and then tell everyone to get the hell out of your house so you can watch South Park. That's right, the eleventh season of the show kicks off March 7 at 10:00pm on Comedy Central.

I'm ninety-nine percent sure I'll be reviewing the episodes again, since I know a lot of you love to talk about the show. South Park has never been timid in its satire, but last season it really gave a beat down to Al Gore; 9/11 conspiracy theories; Oprah and James Frey; censorship through intimidation; science vs. religion; and Scientology (again). I think season ten marked some of the best episodes of the series so far, and I can't wait to see what Matt and Trey have on tap for season eleven.

I know how it is. You read my posts on TV Squad and you think to yourself, 'man, I really wish there was some way I could thank Adam for all his hard work. God knows it's difficult to sit on one's butt and bang away on a keyboard.'

It is tough, but I manage. Anyway, if you want to show your appreciation, and my request for the R2-D2 DVD projector was too expensive for you, then why not buy me this awesome South Park figure set? Kenny, Kyle, Cartman and Stan are dressed as their band Fingerbang from the episode "Something You Can Do With Your Finger." They even come with interchangeable arms. These toys would bring me hours of enjoyment, and really, isn't that what life is about? Me being happy?

I find it kind of humorous that on the product description page they censor the word "fingerbang" as "f*ngerbang." Apparently replacing that one letter with an asterisk makes it impossible to figure out the word.

[via Jeff Pidgeon]

(S10E13)

Atheist in the future: Dawkins knew that logic and reason were the way of the future, but it wasn't until he met his beautiful wife that he learned using logic and reason isn't enough. You have to be a dick to everyone who doesn't think like you.

First of all, I don't watch a ton of science fiction, so who can tell me what the opening sequence was spoofing? It looked vaguely familiar, but my sci-fi exposure is rather limited. Help a brotha out, won't you?

(S10E10) Towards the end of this episode, Kyle gives his younger brother Ike the most sound advice I think anyone can give a kid who's immersed in his very first crush:

Kyle: You need to have a life. Have fun. Then ruin it by having a serious relationship.

Once again jabbing recent headlines with its sharp satirical stick, tomorrow night's South Park will focus on an affair happening between a student and a teacher. In the episode, titled "Miss Teacher Bangs A Boy," Cartman is chosen to be Hall Monitor and becomes offended when he finds out the affair happened on his watch. And we all know how much Cartman hates it when we don't respect his authoritah. You can watch a very quick clip of the episode here. Also, check out the picture on the right with Cartman decked out like Dog the Bounty Hunter. Maybe Matt and Trey plan to weigh in on the current debacle surrounding the famed bounty hunter and his recent arrest. I haven't even seen this episode and I think I love it already.

(S10E09) Almost immediately after the events of 9/11, conspiracy theories began to crop up, and probably faster than ever before now that we had the internet and a way to instantaneously transmit gross misinformation and conclusions rife with logical fallacies. I think Cartman best summed up this episode with a line from his song about finding the truth behind 9/11: "I can't base my logic on proof."

While Mr. Macke tries to find out which boy took a crap in one of the urinals, Cartman decides to finally get to the bottom of 9/11. He presents his finding in class, and by using tortured logic, doctored photos and actually 9/11 conspiracy theories that are easily debunked by anyone with the ability to think rationally, he proves to the class that it was in fact Kyle who was behind it all along. What's especially funny about this is that Cartman hates Kyle, and obviously began his research wanting to prove Kyle's involvement. The same bass-ackward approach is exactly what causes anti-Semites to blame 9/11 on a Jewish plot, and every kid from a liberal arts college with a DSL connection and a gravity bong to blame the event on a government plot meant to increase public favor for invading the Middle East. When Cartman points out that one fourth of the population believe there was a conspiracy behind 9/11, Stan wisely points out that one fourth of the population is probably retarded.

(S10E07) When you reach her room, Butters will keep a look out while Kenny opens the bedroom door, Kyle puts a pillow over my mom's head, and Stan shoots her in the face. --Cartman, plotting his mother's demise.

It's been an interesting season, and this wasn't a bad episode to go out on. Cartman's mom, both the sluttiest and most malleable woman on the planet, has almost given up on Cartman, who, as we know from his past exploits, has a tendency to engage in acts of complete, unmitigated evil. No matter how hard she tries, Cartman continues to manipulate her, so she does what any hip mother would do in this day and age, she relies on a reality TV show to try and set her son straight.

Unfortunately, hiring the nannies from Nanny 911 doesn't work, as Cartman's knack for manipulating authority figures sends one away screaming, and another to the insane asylum. Unfortunately, they never send Nanny Skesis, a nice little allusion to The Dark Crystal.

God must really want those kids dead. -- South Park

(S10E06) I'm like, totally cereal, guys.

If nothing else, last night's episode proved that South Park is still an equal opportunity offender. In this episode, Al Gore comes to South Park to warn everyone about Manbearpig (read: global warming), a creature who is half man, half bear, and half pig. Or possibly half man and half bearpig. No one really knows for sure because Gore is apparently the only one who believes he exists.

Last night South Park, in a way only South Park can, managed to mix Family Guy and the recent kerfuffle over cartoons involving the Prophet Muhammed into a scathing indictment of both. In the South Park universe, the "offensive Muhammed cartoon" is an episode of Family Guy which the Fox Network decides to censor. Cartman convinces Kyle to join him on his quest to get the episode off the air. It turns out Cartman doesn't care about the offensive episode, he just really, really, hates Family Guy, calling it poorly-written and accusing it of using interchangeable jokes, rather than jokes that actually have something to do with the plot.

I've said it on this blog and elsewhere that Family Guy's humor can be very jarring at times. Whatever plot there is has to be ground to a halt in order to insert as many one-off gags as possible. There's no effort on behalf of the writers to try and weave jokes into the story, jokes simply pop in and out wherever they seem to fit. In that regard, it's not even comparable to shows like South Park and The Simpsons, which take a more substantive approach to their humor and satire, even if South Park appears to delve into the same scatological humor as Family Guy at times.