So did anyone else think that South Park jumped the shark tonight? Yeah, they’ve had some stinkers, especially the past couple of years. But tonight was supposed to be their fall premier. And with everything that happened over the summer (the Ground Zero mosque, Mel Gibson going apeshit, various crazy congressional candidates) they would have had a treasure trove of material to draw upon.
But what do they do? Basically just a one joke premise (and not a very funny one at that) about NASCAR fans being perceived as a bunch of dumb, racist hicks. I’ll admit, I chuckled when he hit Danica Patrick, but I think that’s the only laugh that came out of me.
Also what was the deal with the Vagisil guy having an Amish beard? Is that actually what the inventor of Vagisil looks like? Or did they just do that to make the character look goofy?
South Park did Mel Gibson going apeshit like 5 years ago.
I laughed my ass off at Eric eating the Vagasil…at least in the first scene, and then they beat that horse to death. Also loved the 2 and a Half Men joke.
I have a feeling this episode was made quite a while ago, and they’re still working on the “topical” episodes. Expect something like that next week.
You realize that Comedy Central is very gun-shy about any shows dealing with Islam or Mohammed. After the Episode #200-201 fiasco of last season, I don’t see CC greenlighting a Ground Zero Mosque episode any time soon. They may censor it heavily or even refuse to run it. They have a track record of bowing down to any criticism in the wake of such an episode.
Next week’s… (skip if you avoid previews)
is apparently going to be centered around Jersey Shore. Not exactly TORN FROM THE HEADLINES material.
I didn’t mind tonights episode too much. I’m a snooty F1 fan who doesn’t enjoy NASCAR at all, because I’m not a inbred hick loser.
I kid!
I think my only genuine laugh might have been the appearance of the Vagisil-branded car. Otherwise it was mostly one weak joke repeated ad nauseum.
I didn’t expect much, but Cartman driving around the track yelling like a white trash redneck and Butters calling everything gay just cracked me up.
I can’t recall* . . . Do Vagisil’s ad-disclaimers actually include, “May cause short-term memory loss”?
*I had Vagisil for lunch.
What’s wonderful is how Cartman is able to kill so many people with no consequences, and no reason given why not! Because he’s Cartman! 
Truly a Heroic Sociopath!
There were a couple of flashes in last night’s episode. I liked Cartman’s speech about why poor people stay poor, and Kenny’s near-death was nostalgic. But, they really struck out on the butters/cartman pairing…by far, this is the weakest episode featuring them together. They could have had a great episode simply by having eric and butters hanging out together. Usually, when they have a bad episode, it’s when a new one-shot character is used that just isn’t funny (the vagisil guy and his wife, oprah’s anus/vagina, the head lice, etc. etc. etc.) that eats up all the screen time that should have been devoted to the kids.
I normally enjoy the Cartman/Butters centric episodes, but I was also disappointed with this one. Seriously, NASCAR fans deserve a whole episode defending them from their redneck stereotype? Is the stereotype even that far off? (*ducks)
I recognize that not every episode has to be a biting social commentary, and I did laugh out loud at points, but I expected more than basically one joke (two if you count the Vagisil thing) from the season premier. It would have been fine for the middle of the season but it really wasn’t strong enough for fans who’ve been waiting months for a new episode.
Wow, I’m surprised at some of these comments. I’ve been disappointed in many of the episodes in the last two years since they often seem to be one long joke that isn’t all that funny, but I thought last night’s episode was hilarious.
But then again, maybe it was just because I was doped up on vicodin all night…(had mouth surgery)
I loved it. I almost died when Cartman started doing his, “dumb and poor,” routine for the pre-race press conference. “We gonna drive real fast and turn left!”
Also, God help me, I laughed every single time Cartman started talking earnestly about wanting to be poor and stupid.
Well, they don’t have to do it about Islam itself. Just make it about people’s reactions to the mosque, and work in some commentary about religious freedom.
It actually is the middle of the season. Episode #8 of Season 14. Although, you’re right. The mid-season premiere should have been stronger, especially after a 6 month break.
I don’t know. :dubious: Kyle made a speech in #201 about tolerance and not giving in to threats and Comedy Central bleeped it mercilessly. And it supposedly (according to Trey Parker and Matt Stone) contained no references to Muhammad or Islam. As Jesus said, I don’t think they would touch it with a 60 foot pole.
I usually am pretty generous with my standards, but even I thought this was a little weak for a premiere. If it was a random episode it might have been fine though.
The comments about NASCAR enthusiasts were a little painfully randomly mean, even when filtered through “we’re not dicks, really it’s Cartman, really”.
That’s kind of sad. TV needs a jester. If it goes beyond depiction of Mohammed and into the territory of merely covering Islam related topics, that’s tragic. If it goes further into censoring other controversies, then… I don’t know… 
Hey, even if the Eric/Butters duo isn’t used to it’s maximum potential, hell even if it’s used for the bare minimum potential, that of a reason to include Butters at all, it’s still worth it. I think I would be happy with an episode of South Park that consisted entirely of the Butter voice actor reading some random text in the Butter voice. That would truly suffice.
That was just about what Butters’s last lines in the episode sounded like. And the way he trailed off into incoherent babbling was hilarious.
I kinda liked it, but then again, I HATE NASCAR in oh-so-many ways.
I wonder if it was intentional that the Vagisil car looked so much like the Valvoline cars
Yes, it was the vicodin. The last episode stank.