South Park - General Discussion

[Lantern7]

2 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

South Park  S25.E01: Pajama Day

Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny do not get to wear their pajamas to school on the most important day of the year. After failing to show respect for their teacher, PC Principal revokes Pajama Day privileges for the entire 4th grade class.  Cartman is distraught.  The kids aren’t going to stand for it but PC Principal refuses to back down.

Original Airdate: Wednesday, February 2 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central.

Okay, I can dig it. It's probably Garrison being Garrison and his students paying for it. Also: cops in PJs . . . which will lead to cops in PJs being way too aggressive.

Seriously, why would anyone sympathize with Garrison? Knowing PCP, he probably has a stick in his ass about treating everyone the same, even if the "victim" did some heinous shit in the past.

On 1/28/2022 at 9:06 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Those are pretty funny. But I’ve thought long and hard and I’ve decided that I’m done. I think I was starting to be done before the pandemic, and that just made it official. This show isn’t the release it used to be, and I’ve become disillusioned with Trey and Matt. I can’t endure one more season of Randy being the King Asshole. Maybe I’ll read about the episodes on the internet, but I’m just not interested in watching it anymore.

I get that. As much as the stories needed to grow beyond the kids, it could be said that Matt & Trey took Randy into the same kind of shit as Homer Simpson and Peter Griffith . . . only more R-rated, thanks to Comedy Central's unwavering trust in those guys.

What would it take for Randy to get back into geology? I'm not mocking you, @Spartan Girl. As fun as Tegridy Farms has been, Randy might need to move on to become someone who wouldn't get his wife and daughter killed, even if that timeline is permanently closed off.

On 1/29/2022 at 3:21 PM, AnimeMania said:

The season is only 6 episodes . . .

Dang. Any chance Comedy Central might be able to air the COVID stuff? I got Paramount+, I enjoyed both specials, but I don't think fans should have to feel forced to subscribe for exclusive stuff, even if part of it involves Cartman growing up to become a rabbi. I swear, when I saw him that first time, I hit pause and I laughed. Hard.

[Lantern7]

Heads up! The episode premieres tonight at 8 p.m. Comedy Central will run it six times through 11, and once after The Daily Show.

[madhacker]

ok am I reading too much into this or was the pajama episode a metaphor for the anti-vaxxers? Or am I just reading too much into it?

[Galileo908]

Garrison's back! Let's just pretend that whole "president for four years" is behind us now. This was honestly some of the best Garrison stuff in ages. The kids don't speak AT ALL and yet Garrison craps all over them.

I just missed a good old fashioned farce from this show. This was a good return to form.

Good to see Jimbo survived Covid. And Randy was only in one scene.

Oh my god, Butters wanting to shoot up the school, and Cartman tossing it aside because it's been done too much.

1 hour ago, madhacker said:

ok am I reading too much into this or was the pajama episode a metaphor for the anti-vaxxers? Or am I just reading too much into it?

I thought it was pretty obvious.

[Lantern7]

Nice to see the show back in its proper format. I liked the specials, but sometimes you need a smaller dose, even if it's still COVID-related/adjacent.

It's amazing that Garrison can barely be in an episode and still manage to cause the major conflicts. Sure, Wendy could have explained to PCP that Garrison had (typically) overreacted to the kids not helping him (intentionally or otherwise), and that the class didn't deserve to have their Pajama Day revoked . . . but where's the fun in that? You throw in Liane pleading her son's case . . . and next thing you know, we get people working in pajamas, people fighting for the right not to wear pajamas, and the news correspondent going way too far with metaphors. He should've been fired ages ago.

[Tachi Rocinante]

That was meh.  It was a ham-fisted shot aimed more at mask mandates than anti-vaxxers.

[rmontro]

On 1/28/2022 at 9:06 PM, Spartan Girl said:

I can’t endure one more season of Randy being the King Asshole.

If it's any comfort, Randy was barely in this one. 

 

17 hours ago, madhacker said:

ok am I reading too much into this or was the pajama episode a metaphor for the anti-vaxxers? Or am I just reading too much into it?

More of a metaphor for maskers vs. anti-maskers.  But they tend to go hand in hand.

When Mr. Garrison was talking about his love affairs, I remembered seeing some stories about parents being angry about some teachers sharing their LGBTQ experiences with their classes.  For a moment I wondered if they were spoofing that, but I don't think so.  Garrison has always been like that, and South Park is just way ahead of its time.

[Spartan Girl]

2 hours ago, rmontro said:

South Park is just way ahead of its time.

And yet, judging from what I heard about this episode, they keep insisting on “both siding” the mask issue of the pandemic. 🙄

[aghst]

Matt and Trey have always been both siders haven't they?

Not surprising they'd hew to that.

[opus]

I don't have Paramount +. How many specials have I missed?

[Lantern7]

38 minutes ago, opus said:

I don't have Paramount +. How many specials have I missed?

Two. Both mostly set in the future.

[opus]

8 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

Two. Both mostly set in the future.

Thanks

[DoctorAtomic]

I liked the 'pajama day' theme, and the kids going bonkers over it. 

I did like how fast everything escalated to fascism and calling everyone nazis on both sides. And then the police chief just arrested everyone. Where the news caster was speaking German and wearing a nazi uniform to report on pajama day at the school. 

I don't get the Matt Damon jokes, but I still like that they hammered him. 

[Amarsir]

On 2/4/2022 at 10:01 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't get the Matt Damon jokes, but I still like that they hammered him. 

Matt Damon did a high-profile commercial for crypto dot com. He's basically urging people to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, with the tagline "Fortune favors the brave."  And since the commercial came out 3 months ago, most of these coins have dropped a lot. (50% for bitcoin.) Plus bitcoin mining needs a lot of energy, which is bad for the environment and thus pretty hypocritical for Damon. So he definitely earned his target status on this one.

On 2/3/2022 at 2:26 PM, rmontro said:

More of a metaphor for maskers vs. anti-maskers.  But they tend to go hand in hand.

It wasn't even that much about masks, more about the way we behave around them. If the metaphor is strict, does pajamas = mask? So PC principal was banning "masks" from kids who want them? That doesn't track.

Of course yes, the restaurant saying "wear them to go to your table then take them off" is pretty direct. (Though arguably that's one of the less-strong cases for masks anyway.) But overall it's about demonstrative actions with no practical effect. I thought back to the whole "wearing ribbons' thing that really hit a peak in the 90s. Or more recently, people clashing with their employers over the right to wear BLM or MAGA clothing. 

If you want their position on the COVID vaccine, they were pretty clear in the special. Clyde was the only one who didn't get it, and he's an idiot who refused "for shellfish reasons". 

[Lantern7]

From SPS:

Quote

NEW YORK - Monday, February 7th – On this week's episode of “South Park,” “The Big Fix,” Stan’s horrified to realize he’s misinterpreted some of the greatest writing of all time.

I don't have much of a clue on this. Maybe it relates to censorship? You think the guys would have the onions to do their version of Maus? I'm wondering about plot because this clip doesn't seem to be related.

It's amazing that Randy hasn't been punched in the face at all.

[AnimeMania]

S25.E02: The Big Fix

The Marshes invite some friends over for dinner. Stan’s horrified to realize he’s misinterpreted some of the greatest writing of all time.

Original Airdate: February 9, 2022        8pm ET/PT    Comedy Central 
 

[Lantern7]

I forgot to bring up that Comedy Central was running the episode tonight at 8 and 9 p.m., as opposed to just 10. I guess this will happen for the remain8ng episodes.

Okay, so we got a story heavy on Randy and weed, but it was funny. After I post this, I’m going to dive into HBO Max to verify that that one kid’s name WASN’T “Tolkien” all this time. It’s probably a retcon, but damn it makes more sense than a black kid named “Token.”

Aren't there two black kids at South Park Elementary? Right, that girl was not relevant to the plot.

Heh . . . Randy now has competition, and the guy is also good with making up words (“Credigree”) and putting on an exaggerated accent.

Matt & Trey managed to capture the horror that is not knowing something everyone else knew. Stan looked shook as fuck.

ETA: I knew it!

Edited February 10, 2022 by Lantern7

[rmontro]

Sorry Spartan Girl, Randy's back.

That was awesome, Token's name all along has been Tolkien.  And the doctor's response to Stan:  "Wow, f--- you".  Hilarious.  And the class keeping Tolkien outside in the hall while they discussed how to make sure he didn't feel isolated.  Instant classic.

[Galileo908]

My usual 8pm gigs aren't on this week, and I thought this show only aired a new one then just for last week. Guess I was mistaken.

And well, it's a Randy episode. But also a Token one, and we haven't seen one of those in a long time.

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Matt & Trey managed to capture the horror that is not knowing something everyone else knew. Stan looked shook as fuck.

Stan's existential crisis of Token's real name (Tolkien) was just so hilarious to me. That's one way to address that particular elephant in the room. Of course, Tolkien and Mr. Black were, well, the token characters the whole time in this and never got to do anything in this. And now Randy has competition with Credigree Weed. I loved that.

You know, Mr. Black had the same voice as Randy...up until the end. And now Randy has competition with Credigree Weed. I loved that. I hope this war continues.

It's been long established that Trey is a big fan of the Hobbit (mainly Ralph Bakshi's Hobbit movie), and it's been a while since he'd been able to flex that muscle.

 

[rmontro]

13 hours ago, Galileo908 said:

It's been long established that Trey is a big fan of the Hobbit (mainly Ralph Bakshi's Hobbit movie), and it's been a while since he'd been able to flex that muscle.

I guess that explains why Stan kept saying "Tolkien, who wrote The Hobbit and stuff" instead of "Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings".  I thought that was slightly odd.  And even though I am a massive Tolkien fan, I also liked that "Token" didn't like Tolkien, and described as dragon shit or whatever he said.

And not to be that guy, but Tolkien is actually pronounced Tol-KEEN, but who cares?  It's very common for people to pronounce it Tol-ken, so the story still makes sense.

[cdnalor]

Are there people who don't pronounce the L in Tolkien?  It's the second part I've never been sure about, pronouncing it either Tol-ken or Tol-key-en at various times.  Now it's said to be Tol-keen, which I dunno if I like.

Don't get me started on Dr. Seuss...

[rmontro]

4 hours ago, cdnalor said:

Are there people who don't pronounce the L in Tolkien?  It's the second part I've never been sure about, pronouncing it either Tol-ken or Tol-key-en at various times.  Now it's said to be Tol-keen, which I dunno if I like.

From what I understand it's Tol-keen, but I'm with you, I don't like it either.  As for the L, I think a lot of people just drop it out of laziness or from saying the name so fast.

[DoctorAtomic]

I know it's not the most popular, but I like Randy plots. I think getting the weed farm was a great narrative choice. It makes sense someone would get into the business.

It was total jerk move to make the billboard, but TokenTolkien's dad certainly liked the money. 

The scene with the doctor tearing into Stan was brilliant. And then they doubled down with the book voice over. And tripled with Ebony and Ivory! 

I liked how Stan kept escalating about Tolkien and everyone knew. 

I hope they continue this plot of competing farms though. 

9 hours ago, rmontro said:

And even though I am a massive Tolkien fan, I also liked that "Token" didn't like Tolkien, and described as dragon shit or whatever he said.

"Jive-ass dragon shit." Even better. 

Randy's weed is actually good. Just because you name a strain after Elves doesn't mean it's good. 

Edited February 11, 2022 by DoctorAtomic

[Ottis]

On 2/2/2022 at 8:36 PM, madhacker said:

ok am I reading too much into this or was the pajama episode a metaphor for the anti-vaxxers? Or am I just reading too much into it?

It's a metaphor for BOTH anti and pro vaxxers, IMO. And it does a better job than the COVID specials, which seemed like a hodge-podge of random things.

On 2/4/2022 at 10:01 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I don't get the Matt Damon jokes, but I still like that they hammered him. 

I found the mocking in SP funny as hell, because I hate that commercial. Sometimes you don't succeed because of factors you can't control, not because you are a loser. Either way, you lose all your money, apparently!

On 2/10/2022 at 4:04 PM, rmontro said:

From what I understand it's Tol-keen, but I'm with you, I don't like it either.

Everyone I have heard say the name through my lifetime has pronounced it "Tolk-ee-an." Now, it may well be wrong IRL. But it makes the whole premise of this "Token/Tokien" episode moot.

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by Ottis

[rmontro]

1 hour ago, Ottis said:

Everyone I have heard say the name through my lifetime has pronounced it "Tolk-ee-an." Now, it may well be wrong IRL. But it makes the whole premise of this "Token/Tokien" episode moot.

I admit I've never heard it pronounced "Tolk-ee-an", I usually hear "Tol-ken", or occasionally the supposed correct "Tol-keen".  But for the purpose of the story, it doesn't really matter how people pronounce it.  It only matters how Token/Tolkien's parents pronounce it.

[Ottis]

3 hours ago, rmontro said:

I admit I've never heard it pronounced "Tolk-ee-an", I usually hear "Tol-ken", or occasionally the supposed correct "Tol-keen".  But for the purpose of the story, it doesn't really matter how people pronounce it.  It only matters how Token/Tolkien's parents pronounce it.

However, if the name of the author were pronounced “Tolk-ee-an,” no one would have heard “Token,” and the plot would be moot. That was my point. 

[Tachi Rocinante]

Worst. Retcon. Ever.

Oh, and fuck Randy.

[rmontro]

16 hours ago, Ottis said:

However, if the name of the author were pronounced “Tolk-ee-an,” no one would have heard “Token,” and the plot would be moot. That was my point. 

Got it.  I'm just saying that if his parents pronounced it "Tol-ken", then his name would be "Tol-ken", and Stan at least ended up hearing "Token".  And anyone else who heard "Token" is a POS, apparently.  Anyway, the author's name is commonly mispronounced.

 

3 hours ago, Tachi Rocinante said:

Worst. Retcon. Ever.

I guess everyone can't like it.

[DoctorAtomic]

I tend to think by the time when kids are watching a show that their parents watched when it first aired, the statute of limitations on continuity runs out; see also Doctor Who, The Simpsons, Family Guy.

We all know Token was called 'Token' in 1997. No one is pretending otherwise, and we have actual evidence of that posted here. I can roll with it. Having only Stan think he was 'Token' made it funnier. It doesn't work if it was Cartman. 

 

Edited February 12, 2022 by DoctorAtomic

[Lantern7]

About to turn in, and I found a brief description for "City People":

Quote

“City People”: CARTMAN IS FURIOUS WITH HIS MOM WHEN SHE TELLS HIM ABOUT HER NEW JOB.

Here's a clip:

Anyone else thinking that Liane is going back to her old ways? Maybe appearing on the cover of an anniversary issue of Crack Whore Magazine?

Eh, probably not. I don't think we've gotten an episode with her front-and-center since "Shots!"

Edited February 14, 2022 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

Quick heads-up: new episode will air tomorrow at 8 p.m. as well at 10 p.m. There's no 9 p.m. airing; Comedy Central will be running the first two episodes of the season. There's one more rerun at 11:45, though I would set the DVR up earlier because The Daily Show sometimes doesn't go the full 45 minutes.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Lantern7

[SG429]

On 2/12/2022 at 2:47 PM, DoctorAtomic said:

I tend to think by the time when kids are watching a show that their parents watched when it first aired, the statute of limitations on continuity runs out; see also Doctor Who, The Simpsons, Family Guy.

We all know Token was called 'Token' in 1997. No one is pretending otherwise, and we have actual evidence of that posted here. I can roll with it. Having only Stan think he was 'Token' made it funnier. It doesn't work if it was Cartman. 

 

Watching Season 20 Ep 4 from 2016, "Wieners Out." Cartman's wearing "Token's Life Matters" T-shirt.

Edited February 17, 2022 by SG429
spelling

[Perfect Xero]

22 minutes ago, SG429 said:

Watching Season 20 Ep 4 from 2016, "Wieners Out." Cartman's wearing "Token's Life Matters" T-shirt.

As Kyle says and Cartman confirms in the episode, Cartman is an idiot who doesn't know how to spell Tolkien

[Galileo908]

The gentrifiers won. The city people are moving into South Park and driving up prices everywhere. The city people acting and talking like birds was so silly. Honestly, I was surprised to see the realtors again. Cartman is right, it IS all a scam. Someone's been watching those HGTV shows. As a guy in my thirties, seeing the realtors throw their backs out posing for pictures just hit home a little too hard.

I love that Cartman is only selling his friends' houses. Just to get back at his mom for the audacity of getting a job. "And my personal favorite: Kyle's House" just slayed me. And it actually led to something: What happened with Token Tolkien's house after the Blacks moved out? It's empty, still furnished, and shot to hell. Oh, and that Coney Island Hot Dog Stand is real. I thought the ending was weak until the reveal that Cartman has to live in that stand now. That's so great. For once, something he did has actual consequences for himself.

With a title like "City People," it was only inevitable that the City Wok Guy would show up to do his thing. At least they got it out of the way early. (remember, he's a white guy that thinks he's Chinese and everyone is just rolling with it)

Edited February 17, 2022 by Galileo908

[Lantern7]

Cartman episode. Can't go wrong with one of those.

Question that's been on my mind, I know it's been on yours: how do the Cartmans live? I think Matt & Trey decided that Liane had been a whore long enough. She doesn't work until this episode. Where is the money coming from? They probably should have been living in the hot dog place from the beginning.

I'm surprised none of the City People got shot. Isn't Jimbo supposed to be a hunter? Eh, maybe he's still recovering from COVID.

Cartman's scheme fell apart, but it's fun to see how fr he can go. He's like Butters . . . .only instead of a closet full of costumes, he's got a garage of random shit to put him ahead of everyone else. In this case: camera equipment and a small green screen to simulate being a realtor.

[Amarsir]

Now this was a classic South Park. Cartman's cynicism gives him insight to manipulate the world for his own benefit. Charicatures based on trendy buzzwords. The mayor being all reactionary. And no Randy.

My favorite little detail is the minor twist in pronunciation from City Wok guy. If you didn't catch it, every time he uses "city" as an adjective it's pronounced "shitty" like we're used to. But the one time it was used as a noun, no "h".

Regarding last week's episode, if you go to official episode descriptions from streaming or on Comedy Central, any past mention of "Token" has been changed to "Tolkien". I don't know if they'll go so far as to re-render any old episodes, though it wouldn't shock me if they did. That's a really great addition to the joke to pretend it really was just us all along.

[aghst]

You had to suspend disbelief that a kid could show homes.

Did he sell a single home?

They made city folk look like non humans almost, just kept repeating brand names as if they're like cows mooing all the time.

In fact, most city clients wouldn't let some elementary or Jr. high school  kid show them homes if they were serious about moving there.

The cynical satire is that realtors use social media, filters, dumb poses and videos with close-up shots to lure buyers in.

Sure that's probably why home prices are going up mainly because realtors are using Instagram to market properties.🙄

You see on shows like MDNY where realtors have dedicated video production crews making over-produced media for multimillion dollar properties.

But they're going to do that for a dilapidated hot dog trailer?

Cartman is so emotionally demanding that he won't let Leane work.  Well how can she be catering to his high-maintenance ass in that shit hold hot dog trailer?

 

 

[DoctorAtomic]

I really liked the topic because the same is happening where I live. Housing is way way up like they were saying on the show. I was surprised the Cartman's only rent the house though. How were they paying rent? Was she still making porn? 

The 'city talk' was hilarious - wifi, bottled water?! Tesla. Tesla. I guess they were coming from Denver because I was thinking that legal weed would be a draw. And no Randy on the Chamber of Commerce? People have been been buying his weed for years. Is SoPiPa still there too? 

Cartman's commercial was great, it was all Wendy's house, Kyle's house. The 'city outfits' were great; guy with the blue dyed hair; bike uniform, scarf. 

So the Tolkien farm is still going! And my CC said 'Tolkien'!

4 hours ago, aghst said:

Did he sell a single home?

Yes and no. He drove up the market, but Leane said that 'none of them would clear escrow'. So it seemed to me that the city people made offers that were accepted, but it wouldn't go through. 

I don't know about real estate agents not doing anything though. Mine took me and my dog to 12 properties over two days and we closed on my first choice in less than a month. Three weeks I think. 

[Galileo908]

23 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

I'm surprised none of the City People got shot. Isn't Jimbo supposed to be a hunter? Eh, maybe he's still recovering from COVID.

Did he actually fire any shots? If he did, he forgot to say "They're coming right for us" or "thin out their numbers."

[lynxfx]

10 hours ago, Amarsir said:

Regarding last week's episode, if you go to official episode descriptions from streaming or on Comedy Central, any past mention of "Token" has been changed to "Tolkien". I don't know if they'll go so far as to re-render any old episodes, though it wouldn't shock me if they did.

I play the south park phone destroyer game and they updated the spelling of all the Token cards the next day.

I thought this week was pure classic SP. 

[Lantern7]

*sigh* It's Sunday night, tomorrow is a holiday in the U.S., and I keep reloading the SPS site. No news on this week's episode, no indication on whether there would be a new episode this week.

[rmontro]

13 hours ago, Lantern7 said:

*sigh* It's Sunday night, tomorrow is a holiday in the U.S., and I keep reloading the SPS site. No news on this week's episode, no indication on whether there would be a new episode this week.

According to my guide, there is no new episode this week, or next week either.

[opus]

8 hours ago, rmontro said:

According to my guide, there is no new episode this week, or next week either.

Mine has episode 4 listed for next Wednesday (March 2)

[rmontro]

17 hours ago, opus said:

Mine has episode 4 listed for next Wednesday (March 2)

Hmm, mine has episode 4 listed for 10pm (Eastern) on that date.  It says it's a repeat, but episode 4 would be a new one.  The others had been airing at 8pm IIRC.  Odd.

[opus]

6 hours ago, rmontro said:

Hmm, mine has episode 4 listed for 10pm (Eastern) on that date.  It says it's a repeat, but episode 4 would be a new one.  The others had been airing at 8pm IIRC.  Odd.

Yes. I show repeats till the new one at 10.

[Welshman in Ca]

11 hours ago, opus said:

Yes. I show repeats till the new one at 10.

I've given up trying to record new episodes as they all appear as new if they're on a different channel to when they were first shown. My DVR had 40 odd episodes being recorded even though it was set for "first showing only" and I had to delete from the series being recorded.

[rmontro]

14 hours ago, opus said:

Yes. I show repeats till the new one at 10.

Now mine shows the new episode at 8, with a rerun of it at 10.  I think I'm done with trying to look that far ahead lol.

[Female83]

If we don't get a new promo on Monday, it means it's another Dark Week. 

[Lantern7]

New episode. The panic can now end.

Quote

“BACK TO THE COLD WAR”: A lot is riding on Butter’s ability to crush the competition in the all-important dressage championship

Dressage? As in “equestrian”? Nice . . . though I’m hoping Butters doesn’t end up accidentally killing people on horseback.

Here’s the teaser:

Well, Mr. Mackey going nuts in the face of global terror is a change of pace from using Tweak. Sweet keyboard tie, though.

Edited February 28, 2022 by Lantern7

[Galileo908]

Now we know why there was no episode last week: animating horses takes time. Especially when they poop and get a boner. And having sex. Was not expecting horsedick this week, let alone typing that sentence.

Appreciated Mackey getting time to shine this week. So you only want to go to war because you're afraid of getting old and your dick stops working, so you get nostalgic for the Cold War? Eh. Wasn't really feeling this episode.

We finally know what PC in PC Principal stands for: Peter Charles.