The guys over at South Park have really outdone theirselves this time just like they do each and every episode. Cartman is truely their epitome of their whole creation.  Trey Parker and Matt Stone deserve nothing but praise for the type of boundry’s that they constantly push in today’s society.

Watch Cartman’s “Too Many Minorities”

I think I’m probably not very good at this patriotic Veteran’s day thing.  But then, I listen to Trey and Matt too much.

i hate conservatives, but i really fucking hate liberals – matt stone

not exactly bashful

My parents hate South Park. I think a lot of it is a generation gap problem. Yes its offensive, I know, but a lot of the things our parents watch are also offensive. A lot of it might have to do with the cartoons they grew up with. Looney Tunes never pushed the limits and it was just as offensive, if not worse, than South Park. The older cartoons were just racist, sexist, and bias towards certain groups of people. They openly made fun of different cultures and got away with it. South Park bring awareness to social issues, without taking a side in most cases, and doesn’t offend cultures. A lot of these perceptions about the show come form people who have never watched it.  Yeah, I’m aware of the language on the show and the sexual references and on and on. The big point though is if you watch the program with an open mind instead of being scared off by “dirty” words, then you’ll find it’s one of the smarter shows on television.

None of my peers really need to hear this because we’ve now grown up watching the show and we’ve all made references back to it. everything from “Cheesy Poofs” to “They took our jobs!” have become huge pieces of our pop culture and it makes us laugh plenty, but what sets the creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, aside from other comedy writers in their category – is their message. While it’s sometimes subtle and told through an analogy, every episode of South Park has a point. No one is safe from their territory either: Christianity, Scientology, Biker Gangs, High School Musical, Pokemon, The Election, and everything else you can possibly imagine. They use satire to make you think about these topics without directly bashing them or attacking people’s values.

You can watch any episode over all thirteen seasons online. If you have never watched the show I can’t push you hard enough to at least give it a try. It will probably offend you if you’re one of the people I’m directing this at who have never watched the show. Watch it with an open mind and try to appreciate it for what it is – satire. If you can’t comprehend this then you shouldn’t watch TV at all and you should start reading books more often so maybe someday you’ll be able to enjoy the art of subtlety.

I suppose the upside to this link, for everyone who already watches the show, is if you love it and you want to relive some of the classics without buying the DVDs – you now have access to them all. Here’s a list of some of the “swings they’ve taken recently”

1. Cartman tries to change the word “faggot” to mean annoying people who ride Harley’s
2. Kanye West can’t figure out why he’s a “Gay Fish” and his ego gets the best of him
3. Cartman wants in on the pirate crisis in Somalia
4. Butters tries his best at prostitution
5. The boys start a wrestling federation and battle with a fanatic of the real sport
6. A pinewood derby match gives us first contact
7. The economy is angered and we must console it

This is all from the current season, and it’s just a few issues amongst lots of other topics. Already offended? Good. Maybe that’s what you need. We all need to drift out of our comfort zones here and there. How do we expect to grow individually if we don’t hear the opinions of others. Being blind to the other side doesn’t make your side stronger. ignorance is less than bliss and it’s time you all did something about it. Am I saying get your news from South Park? Lord no! I’m saying it will help you see things for what they are – comedy. Nothing is so serious that we can’t look back on it and laugh. It’s the best medicine for a reason. Give it a chance, remove your expectations and just embrace it for what it is. I’m not calling South Park the final destination but it can be an important stepping stone for you as an individual – to fuel your character and to learn whats really important. Well, in this case, which I think is equally as important, it can teach you that some of the things we dwell on aren’t quite as important as we make them seem.

Hallowe’en approche toujours plus vite, et Life nous offre une petite rétrospective de stars costumées.
On y retrouve notamment Kyle MacLachlan, les Hanson, Dakota Fanning, Heidi Klum (dont j’admire le costume de 2007 ), Kim Kardashian et plein d’autres !

>Album Photo<

Jason Biggs est très mignon en Dorothy xD, Kyle avait en 2007 un costume qui pourrait inspirer les scénaristes de Desperate Housewives et Mariah Carey a (étrangement) une tendance à être plutôt décostumée… Oh et Paris Hilton est fidèle à elle-même.

Via Spurlock’s Twitter feed we find that yesterday he interviewed Matt Stone and Trey Parker.  There’s no specific word on whether or not this is for the Simpsons special, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned following Spurlock these last few months it’s that he’s involved in an enormous number of projects.  But it seems unlikely that he’d be interviewing the creators of the most successful non-Simpsons animated show for something other than his upcoming Simpsons thing.  So get ready for the obligatory quotes from Stone & Parker about how much The Simpsons meant for them, how it opened doors, how influential it’s been, etcetera. 

One of the things that really surprised and horrified me when I first came to the US was the huge emphasis on Halloween.  Even churches organized Halloween celebrations with kids dressed as witches and no one thought twice about feeding the monsters that came to their doors trick or treating.

Today there seems to be more talk about not celebrating Halloween because it has been so taken over by witches, covens and non Christian groups.  But is that the right attitude?  How could we redeem the celebration of Halloween and return it to the Christian celebration it once was?  How can we enter into the joy and celebration of God’s rhythm of feasting and add to the fun rather than trying to kill it?

The word Hallowe’en itself is a contraction of “Hallowed evening” the old English word for “holy” still seen in older translations of the Lord’s prayer .  The evening is hallowed because is is the beginning of the Feast of All Saints celebrated November 1st.  All greater feasts of the church calendar like Christmas and Easter begin in the evening the following the ancient Jewish practice of beginning the celebration of the Sabbath at sundown on Friday evening.  So it seems to me that ignoring Halloween and trying to just celebrate All Saints Day doesn’t really work.  What we need to do is reattach it to All Saints Day and regain its original and true significance.

So how can we do this?  Here are some possibilities:

Matt Stone conducts an alternative service – Thanksgiving for the Dead to reflect on lost loved ones and the saints who have gone before

Helen Hull Hitchcock from Women of Faith and Family suggests holding a children’s party at which children dress up as saints from past ages.  She has some other great suggestions that you can check out here

tom and I will be on the road this Halloween but here are some thoughts I have on celebrations we could do in the future to enter into the real meaning of Halloween

Plan a family heritage party. Invite people to do some work beforehand researching their family history and particularly the Christian saints who were a part of it.   Ask them to bring photos and stories to share.  Finish with a time of prayer for all those that have gone before us.

Several years ago when my youngest brother went to Greece where my father comes from he found out that it is possible that our family name Aroney comes from the name Aaron and that our family probably originated in Jerusalem many centuries ago.  It is probable that one of the reason they began the journey out of Jerusalem first to Constantinople then to Rhodes and finally to the tiny island of Kithera at the bottom of the Peloponnese mountains is because they became Christians.  There are a number of Greek orthodox priests in my father’s family history and my Aunt Mary was a very devout Greek Orthodox Christian.   I know less about my mother’s family history but would love to find out where her family too has had profound encounters with God.

Plan a Halloween pilgrimage. Again this might require some before time research.  Explore the Christian heritage of your community.  Where did the first Christians come from?  How did they interact with the native peoples?  Where was the first church established?  Who were some of the early Christians who impacted your community.  Plan a pilgrimage walk to the site of the first Christian community and if possible have a time of prayer and possibly even a eucharistic celebration to remember those who have gone before

What ideas do you have for a redeemed Halloween celebration?

Is pop culture nothing more than a safe haven for the left?  It is certainly easy to believe that, however, it isn’t true.

“Democrats piss me off,” are the words uttered by South Park’s most anti-politically correct character, Eric Cartman.  This can be seen as an overview for what drives the social and political commentary of the hit show.  Over the years creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have found a way to weigh in on every aspect of politics and pop culture that no one else would touch with a ten foot stick.

Last week’s South Park took on the recent issues surrounding the scandalous ACORN.  One of the show’s most ignorant characters, Butters, starts a “kissing company.”  He sells kisses to fellow students for money.  His small business turns into a prostitution ring, however, he is too boneheaded to realize it.  Knowing he needs assistance, he goes to the local ACORN office.

Of course, they help him out.  We even find out that some of the ACORN employees in the show are his customers.

We know that ACORN has not been covered by many media outlets but was widely reported on FOX News.  By acknowledging the scandal the show’s creators prove they follow FOX News or internet journalist Andrew Breitbart.  While the other networks tried to downplay ACORN’s corruption, South Park has clearly picked sides.

View the South Park segment on ACORN here.

Last Thursday night Sean Hannity responded to the episode on Fox News:

“I think that’s what they mean by making lemonade when somebody gives you a lemon.”

This is something South Park has done for years in taking shots at 9/11 truthers, radical environmentalists, Scientologists and the Hollywood elite.

While it is easy to dismiss many television shows as vocal avenues for the left, South Park continues to prove that it does not adhere to that standard.  The ACORN episode is a perfect example as they are not afraid to attack anyone, even the left that is usually protected in popular culture.

Earlier this year I wrote a piece titled “The South Park Generation” in which I discussed the politics of the show and why it resonates with young conservatives.  One of the biggest reasons that South Park is popular with Generation Y is because it constantly attacks the hyper-politically correct aspects of our culture.  It just so happens that most of the PC garbage they go after comes from the left, which is why young conservatives relate to the show.

I will continue to follow South Park as they take on the Left through their cutting edge social commentary.  The series will be called “Generation South Park” as the politics of this show provide a great intellectual window into Generation Y Conservatism.

(Season 13, Episode 9)

If I were a ho, I’d definitely want Butters as my bitch. Man, events spiraled out of control so quickly on this show. And yet Butters was in complete control the whole time. I loved how he stayed his kind and sweet self, and yet he fully embraced the lingo of the street pimp.

“Yes, I understand what you are saying. You don’t have to keep asking me.”

Wow, was that hilarious, because I’ve heard so many people from urban areas overuse the expression “You know what I’m saying.” So subtle, but brilliant.We didn’t have girls in my grade school selling their kisses for five dollars (well it wouldn’t have been that high back then anyway), but I can see why Butters saw it as a lucrative business. I was proud of him that he let those bitches go free and independent when he realizes he’s denying his girls love.

Still, he got them low-income housing opportunities via ACORN before he shut down, so that’s to be commended.

On the other end of the spectrum, we had Sgt. Yates of the South Park police force (a man) going undercover as a prostitute to try and track down this mysterious prostitution ring that suddenly cropped up in South Park. He also proved himself to be the worst undercover agent ever.

Someone should mention to them that you can arrest them as soon as they pay you. You don’ t have to go through with whatever depraved sexual act they’re paying for first. Even though you know it was coming, it was still funny every time.

Except for the last time, when it was beyond ridiculous even for South Park. Yates winds up falling in love with his pimp, marrying him and doesn’t spring the badge and gun on him until their first anniversary?! I don’t even want to know how he was performing sexually with these men … I really don’t.

South Park is my favourite television show of all time. It is hilarious, smart, witty and just pure genius.

I currently own nine seasons and am waiting patiently for more to be released here in Australia. I can’t get enough South Park. Each episode is original and funny in it’s own way. Matt Stone and Trey Parker have minds capable of comedic brilliance.

I love the way Trey and Matt aren’t afraid to go anywhere with South Park. They’ve made episodes condemning Scientology, ridiculing directors such as Stephen Spielberg and George Lucas, laughing at AIDS and even have an episode showing the Prophet Mohammed. I love how they make each episode relevant to current events at the time, but I can watch an episode made in 2000 and still laugh my ass off.

When I watch South Park, I laugh before the show even begins. I can’t contain myself. I can watch episodes over and over and still find myself in tears with laughter.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is, South Park is AWESOME and if you haven’t watched it before, you are missing out on life. If you don’t love South Park then you are lame. And if you do love South Park, talk to me about it in the comments!

New in at Cinema Books: The Simpsons An Uncensored, Unauthorized History by John Ortved, $27.00 cloth and The South Park Episode Guide Vol. 1 Seasons 1-5 created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, text by Sam Stall, $16.95 paper.  Time for all fans to bone up on the background of two of the most popular animated television shows of all time.  No photos in the unauthorized Simpsons but plenty of pictures in South Park  which is authorized.

Team America: World Police (2004)

 

Team America: World Police is a 2004 comedy film, written by Trey Parker, Matt Stone, and Pam Brady and directed by Parker, all of whom are also known for the popular animated series South Park. The film is a parody of big-budget action films and their associated clichés and stereotypes, the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the resulting war, with particular humorous emphasis on the global implications of American politics. The title of the film itself is derived from domestic and international political criticisms that the U.S. frequently and unilaterally tries to “police the world”.

Tagline: Putting the “F” back in Freedom.

The film, which features a cast entirely composed of marionettes (except for two live cats, two nurse sharks, a cockroach, and an adult male dressed as a giant statue of Kim Jong-il), focuses on a fictional team of political paramilitary policemen known as “Team America: World Police,” who attempt to save the world from a violent terrorist plot led by Kim Jong-il. The film was primarily inspired by Thunderbirds, a popular British TV show created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson which also featured an all-marionette cast.

Buy this Title Only $9.99!

The film was released in the United States on October 15, 2004 and, despite receiving mostly positive reviews, was a box office disappointment. Though it made $51 million it failed to exceed the performance of South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. The film was released on DVD in the United States on May 17, 2005, available in both R-rated and Unrated versions.

 Trivia:

• The very first footage screened for Paramount executives was of a poorly crafted puppet in front of a background of a badly drawn Eiffel Tower, prompting one executive in the audience to yell. “Oh god, they fucked us!” This was a prank pulled by the directors and the shot then pulls back to reveal a highly refined marionette manipulating the inferior one, then flies over beautifully detailed Parisian landscape full of believable yet cheesy marionettes. This actually ends up being the opening shot of the movie.
• The idea for the film came in 2003 when Matt Stone and Trey Parker were watching television and came across re-runs episodes of “Thunderbirds” (1965), which Parker had never seen. Instantly intrigued, the two decided a marionette action film would be “the perfect way to send up all those Jerry Bruckheimer movies”.

27x40 Mover Poster $19.99

• Before Trey Parker and Matt Stone settled on the final plot for this film, one of their original ideas was to do an all-puppet version of Armageddon (1998/I). They had been given a copy of the script and thought it was already funny as was; but thought that if they were to make it into an all-puppet movie; then it would substantially funnier. The main reason why this idea never came to fruition was because of legal problems with the studio who owned the rights to the film.
• Matt Stone referred to the puppet technique used in the film as “supercrappymation”.
• When Trey Parker and Matt Stone showed the first footage of the film at the 2004 San Diego Comic Convention, it began with the tagline (words flying at the screen) “Alec Baldwin, George Clooney, Janeane Garofalo, Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Sean Penn, Michael Moore, George W. Bush, John Kerry, Kim Jong-Il …. will all HATE this movie!” A teaser trailer shown in theaters used a longer list of names, including Alec Baldwin.
• Sean Penn was so insulted by his portrayal in the film, that he wrote an angry letter to Matt Stone and Trey Parker about it. The letter was later published by several Newspapers and Magazines.
• Team America first meets Gary performing in a play called “Lease”, an obvious parody of the popular broadway musical Rent in which several of the characters are struggling with AIDS.
• In the song “America FUCK YEAH” the word “Fuck” is used 37 times
• A billboard in Times Square reads “Chiodo: You Go Now.” The Chiodo Brothers are responsible for the puppets seen in the film.
• Marc Shaiman composed songs and a score for the movie, but the score was rejected by Paramount execs about three and a half weeks before the movie was released. Harry Gregson-Williams was hired to rewrite the score and compose it at the 11th hour. Shaiman’s songs, however, still remain in the finished film.
• The MPAA gave this film an R rating, accompanied with the specific explanation “For graphic crude and sexual behavior, violent images and strong language – all involving puppets.”
• During the attack on the Panama Canal, the puppets repeat the line “No me gusta” which is Spanish for “I don’t like it.”
• All of the puppets in the movie used the same two bodies (one for the males and one for the females) with different heads- except for Kim Jong Il, to make him look that much smaller.
• In the overhead shot of Gary lying in the giant puddle of vomit, it is actually Trey Parker wearing a pair of fake legs so his proportions more closely match those of the marionettes. The “vomit” was a mixture of soup and beer.
• The dress worn by Lisa during the film’s finale is a near-exact replica of the one worn by Kate Capshaw in the opening moments of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).
• The tavern scene is an homage to the Mos Eisley Cantina scene in Star Wars (1977). Many of the same camera angles and character positions are used, and many shots are replicated. The band is using the same instruments as the Cantina band and are playing a sound-alike which follows the chord progression of the original “Cantina Band Song.”
• In the style of the “Thunderbirds” (1965) show which the movie is a spoof of, close up shots of hands were not puppet hands but rather real hands dressed up to look like puppet hands.
• The statue in Kim Jong Il’s palace is actually a human in heavy makeup. In the first scene in which he appears, you can see his eyes blinking.
• All of the male puppet heads consist of nine different servo motors that control the various facial expressions/actions, while the female heads consist of seven in the head and two in the back.
• The leaves on the palm trees in Hollywood during the F.A.G. meeting are made out of dollar bills.
• During the film there are hints of how big the puppets actually are. Tree leaves made out of dollar bills, coin belt buckle etc. In Kim Jong Il’s singing scene, there is a shot of him in the entrance hall with the statue. The statue is slightly moving and it is actually a real sized person painted bronze.
• In the opening sequence in Paris when the Team America vehicle slides into a vendor, there are actually pawn chess pieces along the road.
• When Gary Johnston walks to the tavern in Cairo disguised as a Terrorist, in the background there is a “Coca-Cola” bottle cap mounted against a stone wall.
• When Lisa is at the Peace Ceremony with Kim Jong Il, Her hair sticks are in fact matches.
• When Team America arrives in Cairo, the woman in the grey dress with a black mask has what looks like to be oranges in a basket on her head. These are actually goldfish.
• WILHELM SCREAM: From the Korean guard in the high balcony that Gary shoots when he first walks into Kim Jong Il’s palace and says, “Don’t worry fellas, I’ve got my pass right here!”
• When the Film Actors Guild decides to go to North Korea, the members all shout “Qapla’!,” which is Klingon for success.
• When the camera first shows us the palace in North Korea, several of the smaller buildings are actually Chinese food take-out boxes.
• As a subtle detail in the opening scene in Paris, the streets are paved with croissants.
• During the fantasy sequence where several different countries are being destroyed, America is shown and a movie theatre is visible which is apparently showing the films I Heart Huckabees (2004) and Seed of Chucky (2004).
• The Paramount Logo, which starts the film, runs backwards.
• The Michael Moore puppet was stuffed with ham before it was blown up.
• Originally, Matt Damon (who Trey Parker and Matt Stone have admitted is really a “pretty cool guy”) was going to be portrayed as intelligent and articulate, but when they saw the puppet, they noted that it made him “look retarded” and decided to portray him as such.
• When the terrorist is seen by the little french kid, we hear Turkish music – it’s a song about a girl whom the singer fell in love with.
• When Team America arrives in Cairo and they are moving to the tavern, there is a mosque in the background. This is the Mohammad Ali mosque (aka the Alabaster Mosque) in Cairo.
• Household objects were used as props in order to, according to Trey Parker and Matt Stone, remind the audience the actual size of the puppets. A pair of nail clippers can be seen on a Team America’s utility belt in their first scene; in Cairo, a citizen is carrying a basket of Goldfish snacks on his head; and a set of palm trees have leaves made out of dollar bills.
• In the opening scene in Paris, the Mime resembles Trey Parker.
• During the palace scene, when the camera pans across the audience, some of the people near the sides and in the back appear to be 2D cardboard cut-outs.
• North Korea’s embassy in Prague demanded that the film be banned in the Czech Republic, saying the movie harmed their country’s reputation.
• In Russian Federation the movie is being shown translated by Dmitry Puchkov, an independent translator who’s famous under his nickname “Goblin”. All obscenities are translated to Russian obscenities, which is very unusual for movie translations in Russia. The movie has Russian rating “Not for people less than 18 ages old”.
• The motorcycle that the puppet Gary Johnston rides is a remote control red Harley Davidson VRSC, available at all good toy stores.
• Despite almost getting an NC-17 Rating in the States, the film was promoted as a “kids and family” movie in several European countries, and rated fit for all accordingly.
• According in an interview with Steve Jablonsky one of the co-composers of the music, he and the others wrote and recorded the score in 8 days.
• The Team America male puppets have the tails side of an American Susan B. Anthony one dollar coin on the front of their belts.
• Most of the Korean spoken in the movie is not Korean, but rather Asian-sounding gibberish. Three exceptions are – 1) When the North Korean soldier is torturing one of the team members, he is saying, “Die, you bastard.” – 2) When Kim Jong-il tells his soldiers to salvage Team America’s planes after the ambush, the soldiers reply with, “Yeh,” which is “Yes”. – 3) When Gary enters the North Korean palace, the North Korean soldiers are shouting, “Who are you, you bastard?”
• After the flooding scene in Panama, the puppets that were “drowned” had to be literally wrung out and dried so that they could be used in the next scenes.
• Due to a puppet sex-scene, the movie was given a NC-17 Rating by the MPAA. The scene was edited twelve times before they received the R rating they were shooting for. Trey Parker later admitted that the scene was originally added to distract the MPAA from the rest of the film’s subject matter. On Matt Stone’s urging, the scene was reinstated to the “unrated” DVD.
• The “Montage” song first appeared in the “Asspen” episode of “South Park” (1997). The song is played while Stan is training for a downhill ski race and the lyrics are slightly altered.
• Bill Pope agreed to be the movie’s director of photography because it was a refreshing change from the last few movies that he had done, like The Matrix Reloaded (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003) and Spider-Man 2 (2004), where large portions of filming were blue/green screen photography.
• George Clooney was a driving force in getting Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s “South Park” (1997) to air. He also appeared in the show and the subsequent movie. As to their puppetry portrayal in Team America: World Police (2004), both he and Matt Damon are quoted as saying they would have been offended if they weren’t in the film.
• Bill Pope had planned on shooting the film with anamorphic lenses in order to replicate the classic “action film look”, but was unable to because there were no anamorphic lenses available that could focus close enough to the puppets.
• This is the first movie by Trey Parker and Matt Stone to get under an “18″ rating in the Republic of Ireland.
• During the Alec Baldwin and Gary Johnston scene on stage at Kim Jong Il’s palace, in some shots the screens at either side of the stage show footage of the real Alec Baldwin in a tux, and Trey Parker recording the voice over.
• For the voice of Spottswoode, Daran Norris imitates the voice of Charlton Heston.
• 911 times 2356 equals 2,146,316.
• Team America was not the first “Thunderbirds” (1965) parody. When Thunderbirds was shown as part of the “Amazin’ Adventures” animated syndicated package as “Turbocharged Thunderbirds” in 1994 the dialogue and story were changed to make the show a comedy in the tradition of _What’s Up, Tiger Lily (1966)_ with two teenage hosts supposedly controlling the action in the footage. “Saturday Night Live” (1975) did their take in 1997 through 1998 with “The GoLords” taped shorts. MTV’s version was a short lived series called “Super Adventure Team” (1998) co-created by Dana Gould.

(Season 13, Episode

This has to be one of Stone and Parker’s most genius episodes yet. As a response to the summer of celebrity deaths, the duo came up with a concept addressing absolutely all of them. Trapped in purgatory, none of them can move on until all of them are ready to take that next step.

Which means they must not only accept that they are dead, but also they must be at peace with their lives. That could be a problem.

It’s never too late to do a Sixth Sense, and using Ike as the little boy who “sees dead celebrities … all the time” is a master stroke. Ike is one of the most entertaining characters on the show. And that opening scene of him running through his house shouting out celebrity names as they haunted him was hilarious!

I especially enjoyed that, even dead, Billy Mays continued to pitch products. But the best product of the night was Chipotlaway. Kyle could never get his head into the game because he couldn’t stop wondering why you would eat something that makes you get blood in your underwear. I’m going to have to back him on this.

Mays’ best moment came when he announced that in two easy steps he could get over this chair and whup some ass. But Mays wasn’t the reason the souls couldn’t move on. Of course, it was Michael Jackson.

Jackson has been a constant source of ribbing by the duo since South Park premiered twelve years ago. It was definitely fitting that they honored his passing in some way. I just didn’t expect it to be by having him possess Ike’s body.

The sight of Ike grabbing his crotch and doing Jackson’s moves and little noises he makes when he sings was hilarious. Even funnier was that the only way to put Jackson at peace was to give him what he always wanted in life: to be accepted as a little white girl.

So Ike wound up in a beauty pageant and Jackson got his peace and Ike came back wondering what the hell he was wearing. As bizarre as this is to say, I think that this episode of South Park was a great tribute to all of these celebrities, even Michael Jackson. It honored their contributions to our social consciousness, and addressed every single one of them at least once throughout the episode.

It also reminded me of just how many there were in just a few months. I know notable people are dying all the time, but it really does seem like the number of famous people passing this summer was unusually high.

After many months of suffering, South Park fans finally got their fix last night — and what a fix it was! The controversial toon kicked off the second half of its 13th season by targetting this past summer’s bevy of dead celebrities, including everyone from Michael Jackson (as the beloved Mr. Jefferson, of course) and TV pitchman/coke-fiend Billy Mays.

Here’s the basic plot: In a nod to The Sixth Sense (Trey Parker and Matt Stone just love M. Knight Shyamalan) Kyle’s adopted Canadian brother, Ike, begins seeing dead celebrities. As the story unfolds, we learn that all the celebrities who died this summer are stuck in Purgatory, as Wacko Jacko refuses to come to terms with his own death. The remedy for this? MJ possesses Ike’s body and enters a beauty pageant, so that the world can finally accept him as a little white girl.

I have no doubt this episode will be all over the news tomorrow, and everyone will have their own opinion as to whether or not Matt and Trey went too far (again). But before we all start running our mouths (I loved it to freakin’ pieces) let’s see what Billy Mays’ son thought of his father’s portrayal on the show. Here are a few of his thoughts, via his official Twitter:

I’m seriously honored that my dad is involved in this South Park Ep. He’d have gotten a kick out of this.
Highlight for me.. My dad’s ghost ‘pitching’ his threat to Patrick Swayze’s ghost after Pat told him to shut up.. LOL

So, honestly, if Billy Mays’ son is OK with the jokes then everyone else can just quit their bitching right now. Besides, it’s pretty obvious the only people who should be offended by tonight’s episode are fans of Chipotle. I’ve dined on the meaty goodness many times in my life and not once have I ended the night with blood in my underwear.

Matt and Trey are my heroes and after watching tonight’s mid-season premiere of “South Park” I’m ready to get a shirt made that says just that.The premiere episode entitled, “Dead Celebrities” focuses on Kyle’s little Canadian brother Ike, who is being haunted by the ghost of television infomercial demigod, Billy Mays.

But wait! There’s more!! This episode was entirely devoted to showcasing EVERY celebrity that died this summer, and because they create the episodes so quickly no one is exempt, David Carradine with a noose around his neck wearing fishnets, Natasha Richardson in ski gear, not even “Point Break’s” own freshly laid to rest Patrick Swayze or MTV’s DJ. AM. Alas, it was the ghost of Michael Jackson and his shrill cries of “you’re ignorant” and “tee hees” that made my eyes rain.

With a brilliant subplot tying together ‘mexican food to-go superking’s’ Chipotle and Billy Mays’  newest product “Chipotl-Away“, and a child’s beauty pageant ,they took no prisoners. I cried with laughter at the absurdity of  the lady from Poltergeist being thrown out of a hospital window and exploding on the ground after the ghost of Michael Jackson  calls her ignorant, possesses the EKG machine, and with a sonic boom, puts an end to her story line.

It is always an amazing treat tuning in week after week to see how far Matt and Trey are willing to take things. The pop culture commentary is hit on the nose in ways that Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert will never be able to replicate. It’s so perfectly gauche, witty,  tasteless and  perfectly executed. Enough of me polishing their knobs. Do yourself a favor and head over to southparkstudios.com and see what you’re missing.

The brand new logo for the all new season of the BBC’s Dr. Who has been revealed this week. The new logo will coinceide with the new season, (after the specials still featuring the current Doctor, David Tennant), and will also feature the brand new, Eleventh Doctor, played by Matt Stone.

HT: Paste Mag.
File Under: Woot.

I know this news was linked on Camden’s blog, as well as a few others, but I’m reposting it here: Studio heads roll as Hollywood counts cost of biggest flops.

So why did audiences not flock to exciting celluloid journeys such as “Land of the Lost” and “The Taking of Pelham”? South Park’s Trey Parker and Matt Stone narrate this internal training video for Universal which might clear things up:

I really enjoyed this interview between Matt Stone and Trey Parker and Charlie Rose.  Not only was it fun and interesting, but Trey Parker said something that vindicates the very title of my book. The Zen of South Park.

He said:

“The people screaming on this side, and the people screaming on that side are the same people.” After watching South Park, “all in all, at the end of the day they’ll be a little more Zen Buddhist.”

Well, if calling my book The Zen of South Park doesn’t make more sense than putting peanut-butter and jelly in the same jar, I don’t know what does.

What did you think of the interview?

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