# South Park 3.29 **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 30, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496 "2006-03-30T03:33:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/21 "2006-03-30T17:26:15Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Were they lampooning any particular movie or show with Cartman’s deep sea suit? No particular one I can think of. It seemed to be mostly just an extention of the “Cartman hates hippies” thing. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/22 "2006-03-30T17:38:27Z")
> [@Moe](#): > > Not only that. He’s the one who actually _discovered_ the show. It’s my understanding that he came across an animated xmas card that Trey and Matt made and thought it was so hilarious he passed it around. The buzz created from this lead, in some way, to the show on Comedy Central. > > Anyone else hear it this way? Or is this just a rumor? That’s a hugely exaggerated version of events that almost everyone seems to take for granted. A Fox executive commissioned Stone and Parker to make _Spirit of Christmas_ as an in-house Christmas card kind of thing. Thousands went out, and they were quickly copied and passed along, or simply passed along. The short became very popular on the festival circuit. George Clooney was as involved in the process as hundreds of other people. Anyway, not a funny episode. I laughed _once_: Ike’s “I’m _totally_ tripping balls.” Oh, and I liked Kyle’s “Don’t belittle my people, fat-ass!” at the end – (from _Spirit of Christmas_, BTW.) Other than that… No joy in Muddville. That episode itself was more smug than anything the smuggest hybrid-driving denizen of San Francisco could ever hope to aspire to. “Smug” is not a quality that Parker and Stone have any business deriding – especially since the things they tend to be smug pricks about don’t generally have the upside of reasonable fuel economy. Who loves the smell of their own farts? They do, and they love to waft them our way with their reactionary bullshit looney Libertarian tirades. Usually, they manage to do it in an amusing way, so they get a pass. This one just smelled of cabbage. ---
**Author:** ![Jayrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Jayrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayrot)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/23 "2006-03-30T21:22:28Z")
I liked this episode, even though it probably came the closest so far to “hitting home” (i.e. pretty brutal ripping on San Fran). If people are unhappy with the “hot-topic of the week”, I fear you’re watching the wrong show. That what SP is now. They’re like Weird Al Yankovic or The Daily Show – they’ll never die, cause they’ll never run out of material. Unlike The Simpsons who have needed to rely on more and more absurd plotlines, there will always be new celebrity, politician, or social issue for SP to mock. Which, of course, is not to say that they won’t do it in some completely absurd way. ---
**Author:** ![ISiddiqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/97f17d/32.png) [@ISiddiqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ISiddiqui)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/24 "2006-03-30T21:27:59Z")
> [@neutron star](#): > > Also, at this point, any episode of SP that deals with a social issue gets an automatic strike against it from the outset. The best episodes have nearly always been the non-preachy kind, and they seem to be in very short supply lately. Aroo? The Terry Schiavo episode (or the one with the ‘Golden PSP’) was brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/25 "2006-03-30T21:39:09Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I laughed once: Ike’s “I’m totally tripping balls.” Does Ike usually were a business suit when travelling? Because that had me laughing my ass off. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/26 "2006-03-30T22:08:43Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Were they lampooning any particular movie or show with Cartman’s deep sea suit? I think it’s the one where most of the earth freezes over. Day After Tomorrow? There was a guy in a suit in that one – not a deep sea suit, but something that had a life line of some sort. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/27 "2006-03-30T22:18:46Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > “Smug” is not a quality that Parker and Stone have any business deriding That’s fer damn sure. Stone & Parker, while they can be fucking hilarious, also bug the shit out of me. That said, I’m pretty good at trying to ignore them and just watch the work, and this was kinda funny. I live here, and I know a few people who do have hybrids, and I’ve not heard a peep from them unless someone asks (usually in the form of, “Why are we only going six MPH over this tiny slope?”). So I don’t see it as the crisis they were trying to present. The fart-smelling was funny; I do know some pretty pretentious folk here. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/28 "2006-03-30T22:22:13Z")
> [@Dag Otto](#): > > Does Ike usually were a business suit when travelling? Because that had me laughing my ass off. I was wondering if the hat was supposed to be an [Orthodox](http://www.askmoses.com/qa_detail.html?h=413&o=1331)[thing.](http://www.israelimages.com/files/19529.htm) ---
**Author:** ![neutron\_star](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/51bf81/32.png) [@neutron\_star](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neutron_star)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/29 "2006-03-30T23:32:43Z")
> [@ISiddiqui](#): > > Aroo? The Terry Schiavo episode (or the one with the ‘Golden PSP’) was brilliant! Well, I did say “nearly always.” That episode was funny, and some of the other current events episodes were even better, but nothing can compare with, say, “AMESOM-O” or “Good Times With Weapons.” ---
**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:** [March 31, 2006, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/30 "2006-03-31T00:25:24Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > And do you think Clooney is annoyed or amused by this one? He is, after all, on friendly terms with the guy (voiced the Baked Potato doctor in the movie, and Sparky the Dog on an episode.) I doubt he’s annoyed by it, seeing as how they paid tribute to him by doing an homage to his movie _The Perfect Storm_. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/31 "2006-03-31T01:39:24Z")
I think it’s ironic that the “smug” was represented as a storm system that threatened a heavily-populated coastal city. since Clooney has made a bit of news in the past couple of days by donating his Oscar booty (the loot-bag, not the statuette,) to United Way’s Katrina relief fund. It brought in $45,000 at auction. Ooh! How smug! Oh, wait, that’s just being a stand-up guy. Trey Parker can be funny, but if he came into my pub, I’d leave. What a douchebag. ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/32 "2006-03-31T02:35:15Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > Oh, wait, that’s just being a stand-up guy. Trey Parker can be funny, What about Stone? Is he just eye-candy? ---
**Author:** ![pizzabrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e9c0ed/32.png) [@pizzabrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pizzabrat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/33 "2006-03-31T02:38:25Z")
BTW, I loved this ep, if only for the characters singing “_thanks!_”. That always gets me. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/34 "2006-03-31T02:41:36Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > It brought in $45,000 at auction. You reckon if you’re wealthy that is chicken feed and smug in itself? ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/35 "2006-03-31T03:19:52Z")
> [@pizzabrat](#): > > What about Stone? Is he just eye-candy? Matt Stone has never had any Oscar swag. > [@carnivorousplant](#): > > You reckon if you’re wealthy that is chicken feed and smug in itself? Nope. I think Mr. Clooney is a good citizen whose acts are proportionate to his means. I don’t think anyone who could characterize him as ‘smug’ really has a clear understanding of what the word means – and the idea that Trey Parker and Matt Stone are throwing around the word ‘smug’ is just absurdly hypocritical; they’re two of the smuggest jerks on the planet, and their work is often stunk up by the monotonous insertion of their smug, arrogant, and self-righteous dribble. Like, irony-of-ironies, last night. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/36 "2006-03-31T04:16:48Z")
> [@Larry Mudd](#): > > I think Mr. Clooney is a good citizen whose acts are proportionate to his means. . I don’t know jack about the folks involved. Just doesn’t seem like a lot of money in their circles. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/37 "2006-03-31T04:39:37Z")
Overall, I liked this episode, but it felt a little…forced. As though they were only lampooning people who drive hybrid cars so they can say “See? We’re equal-opportunity! We make fun of liberals too!” When the truth is, compared to the other subjects they’ve made fun of, there just isn’t a lot of material about hybrid cars, so they had to exaggerate to make it funny. There is a ring of truth to hybrid car owners being smug, but I get the feeling they don’t even really feel that strongly about it and were just trying to make a funny cartoon. I’m surprised they didn’t do more with Kyle tripping out on acid. They could’ve shown a first person view or something. I’m sure George Clooney thinks the smug cloud was funny. If there was anybody in Hollywood who can take a joke, it’s probably him. I could almost see him issuing a fake angry response, parodying Tom Cruise and Isaac Hayes’ response to the Scientology episode. If I were to guess, I’d say they probably had this episode halfway finished, then decided to switch gears and focus all their effort on the Chef episode while this one was supposed to be in development. It feels like they threw it together much more quickly. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/38 "2006-03-31T05:19:00Z")
My Dad brags about his hybrid – but only WRT to the money he saves on gas. ---
**Author:** ![minty\_green](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@minty\_green](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minty_green)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/39 "2006-03-31T05:26:35Z")
> [@KJ](#): > > I’m sure George Clooney thinks the smug cloud was funny. If there was anybody in Hollywood who can take a joke, it’s probably him. I agree that Clooney could probably take a joke without any problem. God, if only there had been a fucking _joke_ in this episode, instead of a bunch of boring smugness. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496/40 "2006-03-31T09:30:23Z")
> [@](#): > > As though they were only lampooning people who drive hybrid cars so they can say “See? We’re equal-opportunity! We make fun of liberals too!” Uh, I’d say that by and large, SP _mostly_ makes fun of, and reserves its deepest barbs for, liberals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-park-3-29/350496.md?page=3)