# South Park - 10/7. A Question. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2009, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191 "2009-10-09T14:54:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/21 "2009-10-10T10:17:54Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > So who was the last person to die and when? I’m wondering on the lead time between plot and getting it on air. Patrick Swayze died September 14th. And did this air on the Oct 7 or the 9th?. It first aired on Oct. 7. But lead time is pretty meaningless when it comes to South Park. They can have a show written and animated in less than a week. In the case of [“About Last Night,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/About_Last_Night..._%28South_Park%29) they even were working on that episode the morning of its airday due to filling in such things as lines from Obama’s victory speech and McCain’s concession speech, although most of that episode was actually worked on in advance under the assumption that Obama would win the election. They actually got in a joke referring to Obama’s maternal grandmother passing away, which occurred just a few days before the election. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/22 "2009-10-10T14:10:37Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Mickey D’s sold their controlling interest in Chiptotle a few years ago. Their biggest shareholders are now various VC firms and institutional investors. I did not know that. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/23 "2009-10-10T20:52:57Z")
How long has Ike been able to speak understandable sentences and hold conversations? the last eps I saw had him still babbling in baby talk… It was nice hearing “Mr Jefferson” again, I used to think he was annoying, but I was being ignorant the Ghost Hunters plotline was _MEH_, that show is rather tedious… ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/24 "2009-10-10T21:42:41Z")
Regarding lead time, I seem to remember them spoofing the Elian Gonzalez closet extraction less than a week after it happened. Regarding Chipotle, meh. Q’Doba and Baja Fresh are a lot better, and never make me crap blood. Regarding Ghost Hunters, I was watching that show right before this episode aired, and the parody was hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2009, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/25 "2009-10-10T22:29:24Z")
> [@](#): > > Ricardo Montalbán Shit, I did not know he was gone as well, my Dad had a Cordoba.☹ ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/26 "2009-10-11T04:54:07Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > Well they never peed their pants, but the rest was pretty accurate. Oooh I heard a creek! I’m so scared! Of course if they didn’t have people overly sensitive to random noises there’d be no show to watch. I take it that you haven’t actually watched it, then. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/27 "2009-10-11T05:00:14Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I figured it must be DJ AM. From the wiki page: > [@](#): > > Some of the ghosts that Ike sees or are waiting on the plane in Purgatory are Billy Mays, who is advertising various products, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Bea Arthur, Patrick Swayze, Natasha Richardson, Dom DeLuise, Ted Kennedy, John Hughes, Walter Cronkite, Ed McMahon, Adam “DJ AM” Goldstein, Arturo Gatti, Steve McNair, Ricardo Montalbán, David Carradine, Les Paul and Oscar Mayer Jr., all of whom died between January and September 2009. Damn, I only caught about half of those. Any guesses on the rest of the plane load? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/28 "2009-10-11T11:47:48Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > I take it that you haven’t actually watched it, then. > > Carry on. I’ve watched it and also thought South Park got the essense of it. I was in a room full of people who thought the same thing. We were howling over it. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/29 "2009-10-11T11:56:14Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > It first aired on Oct. 7. But lead time is pretty meaningless when it comes to South Park. They can have a show written and animated in less than a week. In the case of [“About Last Night,”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/About_Last_Night..._%28South_Park%29) they even were working on that episode the morning of its airday due to filling in such things as lines from Obama’s victory speech and McCain’s concession speech, although most of that episode was actually worked on in advance under the assumption that Obama would win the election. They actually got in a joke referring to Obama’s maternal grandmother passing away, which occurred just a few days before the election. That’s amazing. It was 23 days for the 10/7 episode. Patrick Swayze was the last of the people in it and he died Sept 14th. But the more I think about it I think they may have been even closer to the mark then they know. Michael Jackson continues to show up in the news so it’s like he doesn’t know he’s dead. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/30 "2009-10-11T16:00:04Z")
What was that last line? Hell is a “towing gate” ? ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/31 "2009-10-11T16:35:03Z")
I think the joke was that the plane would have to be towed to the gate instead of being able to taxi itself in, implying even more delays. I could be wrong, though; I’ve never heard the term “towing gate” before. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/32 "2009-10-11T17:19:11Z")
On further research, there is indeed such a thing as a “towing gate”, but I’d’a thought this was common at most modern airports. Heck, the old-style alternative of wheeling a staircase up to the hatch and having the passengers walk across the tarmac might even be _less_ convenient, although I could understand delays in getting towed to a gate if the airport is busy, which I assume Hell International is. I guess I don’t travel by air often enough to immediately get the joke. A reference to having to go through security yet again would have made the point more clearly. ---
**Author:** ![nivlac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3bc359/32.png) [@nivlac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nivlac)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/33 "2009-10-11T21:27:15Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > Umm, no it wasn’t. That bit in no way resembled the actual show, and isn’t that essential to parody? You must be watching a different show than I am!!! The parody was dead on. Like all parodies there’s exaggerations of course, but the parts about hearing noises and seeing unusual things are dead on. Also the stupid shooting in the dark using infrared or whatever matched the show. Ghost Hunters is one of the most ridiculous shows on the air, but it is good for a laugh. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2009, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/34 "2009-10-11T23:09:36Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > On further research, there is indeed such a thing as a “towing gate”, but I’d’a thought this was common at most modern airports. Heck, the old-style alternative of wheeling a staircase up to the hatch and having the passengers walk across the tarmac might even be _less_ convenient, although I could understand delays in getting towed to a gate if the airport is busy, which I assume Hell International is. The staircase thing is absolutely a pain in the butt. The Las Cabos airport is like that. (8 gates and you have to walk outside to the staircase for all of them) > [@](#): > > I guess I don’t travel by air often enough to immediately get the joke. A reference to having to go through security yet again would have made the point more clearly. Since hell would be an international flight, you could have customs, the declaration forms to fill out, luggage searches, security and all kinds of fun. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/35 "2009-10-12T00:08:42Z")
They could have made a joke that the customs agents had already gone home for the evening and they had to stay on the plane. This would have jabbed at the lingering celeb effect AND the recent snafu Continental Airlines had when a plane was diverted to Rochester. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2009, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191/36 "2009-10-14T03:58:25Z")
> [@DigitalC](#): > > I lost it when the pageant judge caught the little girls kiss and rubbed it on his junk. I found myself thinking about that . . . Suppose it had been male judges publicly masturbating at a conventional beauty contest with adult women? Would that be funny? Could be, depends how they play it, but it would be a different joke, because viewing beautiful women as sex objects is presumptively normal (whatever feminists might say). The premise here is that kiddie-pageants sexualize little girls, that is **not** normal, therefore men who will respond to all that as intended (and who else would judge such a pageant?) are perverts by definition, and perverts will do anything, like masturbating in public. Or something. Funny, I guess, but not as funny nor as clever as the one with NAMBLA. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-10-7-a-question/513191.md?page=1)