Canada on Strike!

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

“Canada On Strike!”
South Park episode
Terrance and Phillip arguing with the head of the "WGA" Steven Aboutman
Episode no.	Season 12 Episode 171
Written by	Trey Parker
Directed by	Trey Parker
Production no.	1204
Original airdate	April 2, 2008
Season 12 episodes
South Park - Season 12 March 12, 2008 – TBA
Tonsil Trouble Britney's New Look Major Boobage Canada on Strike! Eek, A Penis! Over Logging Super Fun Time
← Season 11
List of South Park episodes

"Canada On Strike!" is episode 1204 (#171) of the animated series South Park.^[1] It was first broadcast on April 2, 2008. The episode parodies the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike and popular Internet videos.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Parallels to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike 3 Internet memes 3.1 Internet phenomena featured in the episode 3.2 Internet distribution 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plot

Canadians are disappointed when Canada Appreciation Day in the U.S. does not bring Canada the respect it deserves. The head of the "World Canadian Bureau" (abbreviated WGA in a running gag), Stephen Aboutman (his name is pronounced "abootman", a parody of a stereotypical feature of Canadian English) who is a parody of WGA President Patric Verrone leads Canadians in a strike to get Canada more money and respect. Terrance and Phillip try to talk sense into him, but are ignored. The strike suffers a severe blow when Danes ("the Canadians of Europe") come to fill the jobs left by Canadians.

During the episode, Kyle's Canadian adoptive brother (Ike) is seen to be supporting the strike by standing out in the cold holding a sign that says "honk if you support Canada", getting very little response.

Kyle wants the strike to end as he is concerned for his brother; the rest of the children do not seem worried until they start to get annoyed over the repeated reruns of Terrance and Phillip's show, due to the duo's Canadian heritage. They consider the possibility of watching American cartoons, but as soon as they try it by switching to Family Guy, Cartman rushes off the couch, violently turns off the TV, and shouts "We are NOT resorting to that!" (due to Cartman's hatred of Family Guy as seen in Cartoon Wars). Despite the reruns, Terrance and Phillip oppose the strike (similar to Trey Parker's and Matt Stone's opposition to the Writer's Guild of America Strike).

The children are thus convinced to negotiate the end of the strike.

The Canadians are simply demanding more money, such as "some of that Internet money," (in parody of the Writers Guild's requests for New Media residuals, particularly surrounding internet distribution) and tell the boys that if they can raise money on the Internet, they'll end the strike.

When the Canadians are watching the news, they hear that thousands of Danish people hope to replace the Canadian people, saying that Denmark is the Canada of Europe.

Kyle, Cartman, Stan, and Butters post a video on "YouToob" of Butters himself singing Samwell's song "What What (In the Butt)",^[2] which is an instant hit, with 10 million views (though, when asked by Tay Zonday later, Butters says that they have a few hundred thousand views). They are, however, forced to wait in line at the "Colorado Department of Internet Money", behind other YouTube phenomena such as Adam "Tay Zonday" Nyerere Bahner, The Star Wars Kid, Gary Brolsma, Tron Guy, and Chris Crocker, as well as Sneezing Panda, Afro Ninja, Dramatic Prairie Dog (Gopher) and Laughing Baby. The other YouTube celebrities begin to argue about who is the most famous, a quarrel which quickly descends into violence, and most of them end up killing each other. As a result, the boys end up being first in line and they receive 10 million "theoretical dollars," one for each viewing of the "YouToob" video.

They take the money to the WGA in Canada, but it is rejected since it's not real. Instead, the boys convince the international community to give Canada a consolation prize, which turns out to consist of Bennigan's coupons and gumballs for each citizen, so that the strike will end and the WGA leader can look like he did a good job. When the boys return home from Canada, Kyle sums up the episode's themes in a rapid-fire and eloquent speech:

“	We thought we could make money on the Internet. But while the Internet is new and exciting for creative people, it hasn't matured as a distribution mechanism to the extent that one should trade real and immediate opportunities for income for the promise of future online revenue. It will be a few years before digital distribution of media on the Internet can be monetized to an extent that necessitates content producers to forgo their fair value in more traditional media.	”
—Kyle

At that point, Stan agrees with him.

Back in Canada a week later, as a victory party is held to the tune of "Celebration," Terrance and Phillip arrive and uncover the outrageous cost of the strike, accusing the WGA head of trying to look good so they wouldn't "set him adrift" (cut him loose from power). As it turns out, Canada lost $10.4 million by going on strike, compared to the $3008 worth of coupons and bubblegum they got from the negotiations. Canada is outraged, and the WGA leader, along with his assistants, are literally set adrift on an ice floe.

[edit] Parallels to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike

• The Canadians were striking for more money, one of the many reasons for the writer's strike.
• The Terrance and Phillip show was only showing reruns, and not new episodes. While the writers were striking, a lot of television shows were on hiatus, and did not air any new episodes until the strike finally was settled.
• Stephen Aboutman stated that he wanted some 'Internet Money.' The writers talked briefly about the lawsuit between Viacom and YouTube, and the money issues during the strike.
• Stephen Aboutman is head of the World Canadian Bureau, under the acronym WGA. The WGA is the name of the writer's union.

[edit] Internet memes

[edit] Internet phenomena featured in the episode

• Tron Guy^[3]
• Gary Brolsma (The Numa Numa Guy)^[4]
• Star Wars kid^[5]
• The Sneezing Panda^[6]
• Afro Ninja^[7]
• The Laughing Baby^[8]
• Adam "Tay Zonday" Nyerere Bahner - "Chocolate Rain" (referred to in the episode as "Chocolate Rain guy")^[9]
• Chris Crocker^[10]
• Dramatic Prairie Dog^[11]
• Samwell - What What (In the Butt)^[12]

The Back Dorm Boys^[13], Bubb Rubb, and lonelygirl15^[14] are depicted as well; however, none of them have any speaking roles.

[edit] Internet distribution

This episode spawned its own popular internet video. The clip of Terrance and Phillip yelling an exchange with the strike leader of Canada was posted on YouTube, and became the most popular video for a few weeks. There were many follow-ups, including people reenacting the scene, a remix and even a clip of it with the K-Fee zombie popping up at the end.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Full episode at South Park Studios

Preceded by “Major Boobage”

South Park episodes

Followed by “Eek, A Penis!”