Smug Alert!

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South Park episode
"Smug Alert!"
South Park is destroyed yet again.
Episode no.	141
Airdate	March 29, 2006
South Park - Season 10 March 22, 2006 – November 15, 2006
The Return of Chef Smug Alert! Cartoon Wars Part I Cartoon Wars Part II A Million Little Fibers Manbearpig Tsst Make Love, Not Warcraft Mystery of the Urinal Deuce Miss Teacher Bangs a Boy Hell on Earth 2006 Go God Go Go God Go XII Stanley's Cup

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Smug Alert! is episode 141 of South Park. It first aired on March 29, 2006.

1 Plot
2 "People Now"
3 Trivia
4 Pop Culture References
5 External links

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Kyle's father Gerald buys a new hybrid car, and drives around showing it off to everyone; he then begins an unwelcome campaign to convert the other townspeople to environmentally-friendly vehicles. He has started to annoy his friend Randy, who complains that Gerald now preachily talks with his eyes closed, and that he almost likes the smell of his own farts. Deciding that they cannot live among such backward attitudes, Gerald decides that the family must move: to San Francisco.

Stan is horrified that Kyle is leaving; Gerald tells him that the family will not return to South Park until everyone feels the same way as him about the environment. After they leave, Stan writes a song about the importance of hybrid cars, which gets on the radio and, incredibly, causes everyone to drive hybrids (and act as smugly as Gerald about it). Stan is praised for opening everyone's eyes, then meets Ranger McFriendly, protector of the environment, who surprisingly criticizes what Stan has done; for, although smog rates are down, people who drive hybrids create a toxic gas in the air called "smug". South Park now has the second-highest levels in the country, after San Francisco.

In San Francisco, Kyle's father is glad to meet like-minded "progressive" people, who, mid-conversation, loudly fart, bend over and sniff with pleasure, then resume discussing their philosophies. Kyle finds it difficult to fit in with the other kids, who spend their time taking drugs to deal with their parents' "smugginess". Kyle refuses the offer of LSD, but after seeing that his dad is even more arrogant than before (sniffing his own fart), Kyle asks for "maybe just half a hit," while Ike asks for three.

Meanwhile, Cartman, who was joyous over Kyle leaving, tries to fill the void by ripping on Butters, whom he now calls a "stupid Jew," but finds him too nice and unwilling to defend himself like Kyle. He quickly, as Stan had predicted, becomes bored without his nemesis around.

The cloud of smug over South Park develops, and begins to combine with that of San Francisco. In a series of scenes parodying the film The Perfect Storm, McFriendly then reveals that the cloud of smug from George Clooney's 78th Academy Awards acceptance speech — which claimed that Hollywood was "ahead of the curve" on social issues — will soon drift into the center of the "super cell" and create "the perfect storm of self-satisfaction", which would completely destroy San Francisco and South Park.

Stan is forced into help the town eliminate hybrid cars, but Cartman — desperate to get Kyle back so he can resume hating him — secretly goes to San Francisco with Butters, planning to infiltrate the city and rescue his foe. Afraid of San Francisco's liberal and hippie movements (which he hates), Cartman wears an "anti-smug suit" (connected to a hose with an air supply managed by Butters). Just as the storm hits, Cartman finds the Broflovskis in their house, completely stoned on drugs/smug. The scene fades out. Later, the storm has destroyed thousands of homes in South Park, while San Francisco has "disappeared up its own asshole", leading everyone to think Kyle's family is dead; but the Broflovskis reappear, explaining they mysteriously awoke on a bus, and thanking a "guardian angel", not knowing that Cartman saved them.

With all their cars destroyed, the townspeople vow never again to buy hybrids. But Kyle points out that hybrids really are a good thing; the people who drive them should just not be smug about it, or act as if they're above everybody else. But the people admit they are not ready to drive them without being smug - "it's simply too much to ask" - so they return to driving SUV and other high fuel consumption vehicles. Cartman talks to Kyle, and they get into a fight; as Kyle storms away, Cartman expresses relief to have the status quo returned.

[edit] "People Now"

The lyrics of Stan's song are:

Come on People now, People Now;
People now, Come on People now.
Got to drive hybrids people now, people now, people now, people now
Hybrids are for people now, people now,
Good for people driving people now, get a hybrid be good people now

We have got to all be people now, people driving hybrid people now;
people now people hybrid now,
hybrid people now driving people now
Come on people lets be people now, hybrid driving people now
Come on everybody be people now.

[edit] Trivia

Isaac Hayes is no longer a credited cast member. In the opening sequence, the likeness of Chef is now replaced with Darth Chef.
The hybrid cars seen most in the episode are called the Toyonda Pious and Hindsight, parodying the Toyota Prius and the Honda Insight.
Though George Clooney and the South Park creators are close friends (voice-over work for the show as well as Clooney's promotion of the short "The Spirit of Christmas" playing a key role in helping the series get off the ground) his liberal views have caused Stone and Parker to mock him in recent years.
All quotes from the Clooney acceptance speech are the real words he used, although it is Trey Parker saying them rather than actual audio footage of the speech.
Gerald's license plate says "1TMYMPG" – pronounced "Want my miles per gallon?".
The car crusher Stan uses is the same one used in Grand Theft Auto III.

[edit] Pop Culture References

The song Cartman sings at Kyle's going-away party is a slightly altered version of the chorus to Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye by one-hit-wonder Steam.
Ranger McFriendly may be a reference to Officer Friendly from Princess, a Flash cartoon Matt and Trey created.
One of the shops in San Francisco is called Jen and Berry's Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream, which is an obvious play on Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt. It is shown at the corner of Haight Street and Ashbury Street, where there is an actual Ben & Jerry's.
The George Clooney smug cloud entering Arizona parodies the cloud entering Arizona and Area 51 in Independence Day.
The song that Stan writes (entitled "People Now") slightly parodies The Youngbloods' "Get Together".
In Kyle's San Francisco room there is a poster of "MC Dreidel", a hybrid-parody of Matisyahu and MC Hammer.
The scene when the Broflovski family meets their neighbours in San Francisco is a parody of the growing usage of Double-barrelled surnames.
"A Smuggy Day (In San Francisco Town)" is a parody of "A Foggy Day (in London Town)".
This episode was parodied in a series of commercials for the Volkswagen Passat which aired in mid-2006, where drivers of flashy cars drove around with megaphones announcing the reasons for their vehicle choice. The closing shot shows the rear of a Passat with "Lowest Ego Emissions".
While Stan is writing his song, a poster of Mad Max from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior can be seen on his wall.
The scene where the radio DJ is speaking and you only see the jaw area of his face may be a reference to the female radio DJ from the film The Warriors.