clemente

I thought it was pretty good, the Big Wheel chase was some funny stuff. But I think it could have been better if it cut the Family Guy stuff. It wasn't anything more than "We dislike Family Guy" and ended up injecting a third subject into the episode that only served to take time away from the stronger and funnier censoring and Mohammed stories.

Jadow

haha about same as a taco that shits ice cream or the gilgamek priests and their giant spider.

Matthew Chmiel

Errr, the "Family Guy" bashing in last night's episode is what connected all the subplots together and made last night's episode a story (and it makes the bashing of the Scientologists, Muslims, Catholics, censorship, and Family Guy all make sense).

HistoryProf

same here....just after kyle crashes.

wmansir

Exactly. Besides Cartman's rant near the end of the episode they also hit your point when someone asks "which cartoon would be insensitive enough to show a picture of the prophet Mohamed?" and the answer is "The cartoon that's always pushing buttons with their careless toilet humor...Family Guy."

wmansir

End of episode Recap:

Air Force One helicopter lands. President Bush meets the president of Fox and insists the FG episode be censored for national security. The Fox president responds "Mr. President, there's something about the Family Guy writing staff I think you should know...", dramatic zoom on Bush and the scene cuts off.

Narrator: Next Week on South Park....the race continues, Carman reaches the Family Guy studio and learns the shocking secret behind the Family Guy writing staff...

[shots of Cartman sneaking to FG studio. Inside the cubicals are dark as Cartman approaches the camera and his face is lit by a soft glowing light]

Cartman: This explains everything.

Narrator: And the entire nation buries it's head in sand...

[shots of streets covered in sand and people. cut to news desk.]

News Anchor: The idea has swept the nation, but where will we find enough sand for everyone?

Narrator: And the battle between good and evil is finally waged...

[Cartman and Kyle wrestle/fight in a office engulfed in flames.]

Cartman: Kyle quit it. Stop it Kyle.

Narrator: Will the cartoon be allowed to appear uncensored? Will Family Guy be destroyed? Will television executives fight for free speech? or will Comedy central puss out? Tune in to see part two of Family Guy next week on South Park.

credits.

lotsofdvds

I watched the episode again last night and something just struck me the right way, I don't even know if it was supposed to be funny. When Bush and the Fox President are talking, they keep calling each other Mr. President. Struck me funny, don't know why.

Also thought it was strange that Matt voiced Bush this time. Trey usually does it.

Rascal

I never watched an entire SP episode until last night. I'm wondering if the "surprise" is the writers are Muslim? I've heard that there may not be a second part. In the past CC either didn't broadcast it or an actual sequel wasnt' planned (despite a cliff hanger ending).

grunter

Once again, zero funny and 110% full-on preachy.

The once-mighty "South Park" has seriously lost its way.

PixyJunket

I LOVE that "Next Week on South Park" clip. I honestly think that it'd be funnier if there wasn't a part two given that clip. I think the humor is Cartman's "This explains everything!" and then NOT seeing what he sees. Of course, there's the "simple" side of South Park fandom that needs to have everything spelled out for them and would probably get pissed if there wasn't a part two (see: Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut).

PixyJunket

Just curious: What, to you, was the "Once-Mighty South Park?"

Groucho

The Family Guy parodies where ironically funnier than anything that's ever actually been on the actual show.

Brain Stew

Quoted for truth.

grunter

The show is no longer about these fucked-up little 8 year-olds or the crazy inhabitants of the town called South Park. It's issue driven to a fault.

It's extremely rare nowadays to get an episode that doesn't comment on something that politically catches Matt and Trey's exceedingly judgmental eye.

Episodes like "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers," "AWESOME-O," "Scott Tenorman Must Die" and "Raisins" are no longer the centerpiece of the show. Instead we get some dreadfully obvious metaphor about free speech and a playground taunt by Matt and Trey about a competing cult cartoon.

PixyJunket

I won't disagree that a lot of the show is issue driven, but it's still very much about fucked-up little 9 year olds and the crazy inhabitants of the town called South Park. I think the town over-reacting to the cartoon of Muhammad and their idea of burying their heads in the sand was a perfect example of that. We're only three episodes into this season.. and yes, they've all been issue-driven but you might be jumping the gun.

Here's are episodes from last year that weren't heavily "issue driven:"
Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina
Die Hippie, Die
Wing
The Losing Edge
The Death of Eric Cartman
Erection Day
Marjorine
Ginger Kids
Free Willzyx
Bloody Mary

And here are the ones that were more "topical:"
Best Friends Forever (Terry Schaivo)
Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow (New Orleans flooding)
Follow that Egg! (Gay Marriage)
Trapped in the Closet (Scientology)

That's 10 vs. 4 by my count (may be different to someone else). I think they've been fairly consistent over the last five or so years by splitting the episodes between those focusing on a particular issue and those that do not, though they do try to have a "message" in most episodes.. but hardly deterring from the humor. Some do, yes, but it's a small percentage in my opinion.. and while the humor moves up and down, I think the show has been on the same page from season five to the present. Just my two cents.

Mopower

I agree with all of what you said. They need fun episodes again that don't always have to have an obvious social-political commentary. It's getting old.

lotsofdvds

The post above yours shows quite well that the "fun" episodes outweigh the topical ones.

magiccmom

Yeah, and after showing an episode about how you cant show Mohammed on TV then the next episode has a show called "Jesus and Pals" type Springer Show! I love America~!!!

Mopower

Yeah I know but that post wasn't there until after I posted mine. Please forgive me.

Brain Stew

Except for the fact that "Die Hippie Die" was built around the "Little Eichmanns" comment that a professor said, "Bloody Mary" was against Alcoholics Anonymous, and "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina" against gender reassignment surgery.

SleepyW

I guess I didn't "get" this episode. If not for reading here about the backstory of Matt and Trey disliking FG, I would have been lost. I got a few chuckles here and there, but I felt like I was waiting for something to happen the whole show, but it never did. ALmost felt like an episode of Twin Peaks - occasional jokes spattered here and there, but the rest was just weird - like I was missing out on the inside joke--which is probably the case.

grunter

"Wing" lampooned the ridiculous over-saturated prevalence of reality television and "The Losing Edge" was ripped directly from newspaper accounts of parents of sports-playing children taking the games too seriously and hauling off and pounding on each other.

lotsofdvds

And the Lord of the Rings one lampooned Blockbuster's late return policy and AWESOME-O was mocking the military industrial complex and the Hollywood greenlighting machine... blabbidy blah blah blah.

Brain Stew

At the very least, you're in a dream world if you think "Die Hippie Die" wasn't political.

PixyJunket

Yeah, I'm sure you can pull something relating to an "issue" out of each episode if you wanted to.. but the ones I listed above for season nine (except for maybe Bloody Mary) aren't as heavy-handed with it than the ones I put under "topical." If you want to only focus on how the show satires societal issues, that's all you're going to see out of it.. but it's certainly not a new behavior for the show. It may have been a valid complaint during seasons four through six as they transitioned away from the purely shock and vulgarity-centric first three seasons, but by now you should know the show what the show is about.