Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!
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| “Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!” | |
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| South Park episode | |
 Charlie Manson takes the boys to the mall to see Mr. Hankey. |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 29 |
| Written by | Trey Parker Nancy M. Pimental |
| Directed by | Eric Stough |
| Production no. | 216 |
| Original airdate | December 9, 1998 |
| Season 2 episodes | |
| South Park - Season 2 April 1, 1998 – January 20, 1999 |
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| ← Season 1 | Season 3 → |
| List of South Park episodes | |
"Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" is the 29th episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on December 9, 1998.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Stan asks his parents for permission to go to Cartman's grandmother's house in Nebraska for the holidays, but is denied, then sent to his room for refusing to eat dinner. Feeling disillusioned with the idea of family, he runs off to Cartman's house just in time to join the other boys. Along the way to his Grandma's house, Cartman and his mother sing, driving the other boys crazy. They also see a sign for an appearance of Mr. Hankey in a mall near where Cartman's grandmother lives. When they finally make it to the house, Cartman hopes to receive a cool present, instead he gets a shirt. Cartman's relatives are there, all of whom share Cartman's mannerisms. At dinner, they meet Cartman's Uncle Howard, live via satellite from the state prison. Later that night, the boys hear someone breaking into the house and discover that it is Uncle Howard and another inmate, Charlie Manson.
The boys want to go to the mall to see Mr. Hankey, but no one in the family will take them. Cartman is asked to keep an eye on his cousin Elvin. Looking for action, Charlie offers to take the boys to the mall. At the "Mall of Nebraska" Kenny goes off with Charlie to a secluded part of the mall and Cartman disciplines his cousin Elvin. Meanwhile, Charlie has become obsessed with holiday specials and takes time out to watch The Grinchiepoo. Kyle and Stan meet "Mr. Hankey", whom Kyle exposes as a fake and a riot breaks out. The boys (and Charlie) escape from the mall when the riot police recognize Charlie, and they get into a televised high speed chase with the police.
Back at the Cartman household, everyone is watching Terrance and Phillip, and don't seem to care much when Charlie arrives and together with Uncle Howard proceeds to hold everyone hostage. Stan's parents arrive and express their disappointment (and anger) in him. Stan asks to make an escape with Uncle Howard and Charlie. Uncle Howard says he can, but Charlie talks to him about the meaning of family, which makes him change his mind. Charlie and Uncle Howard surrender and sing a holiday-special style song. Stan's parents agree that they were unreasonable when denying him a Christmas with his friends, so they tell him to come back home for Christmas and that they will hold off punishing him until after Christmas.
[edit] Kenny's death
Near the end of the episode, when Uncle Howard and Charlie decide to surrender, Charlie asks that "somebody show the police a white flag". Kenny is the one that gets out the door with a white flag, but a policeman says "Look out! He's got a white flag!" and all the policemen start shooting him. Charlie says "Oh my god, they killed the little orange coat kid!", and Kyle says "You bastards!". After everybody is handcuffed, two policemen start beating Kenny's corpse and handcuff him, too.
[edit] Trivia
- Dian Bachar, Trey Parker and Matt Stone's college friend, voices the role of the fake Mr. Hankey at the mall.
- Manson's prisoner number is 06660.
[edit] Cultural references
- The title is a play on a line in "A Charlie Brown Christmas", the famous Peanuts special.
- The chase sequence parodies the "Escape from the Hospital" scene of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, when the main characters are chased by the T-1000.
- The Grinchiepoo and the "Poos in Pooville" is a play on the Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss featuring "Whos in Whoville".
- Terrance and Phillip are seen on television farting on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
- At the end of the episode, Manson's jail cell has books on a shelf created by him, and one was called "Are you there God? It's me, Manson" which is a reference to the book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
- Manson's forehead swastika, after his change of heart, is replaced with a happy face. During the car chase, it also briefly turns into a Visitor.
- When Uncle Howard decides how to escape the police, he says, "We're coming out through the bathroom window," a variation of the title of the Beatles song "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window".
- They never refer to Manson as "Charles", the name he's better known as, just "Charlie", most likely for the sake of the Charlie Brown parody.
- Manson steals Cartman's grandpa's car. Before the famous murders, Manson did time in prison for stealing cars.
- Before the murders, Manson tried to make it as a singer/musician. His big musical number may allude to this.
[edit] References to previous episodes
- In the scene where Manson says to the boys 'They're gaining on us' during the chase, the tattoo on his forehead is changed into that of an alien from "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe," referencing the fact that the same line was used in a chase scene in the aforementioned episode.
- When Cartman wakes up after his uncle and Charlie Manson break in, he is wearing a 'Beef Cake' t-shirt, referring back to the episode "Weight Gain 4000".
- When Manson takes the boys back to the Cartman home, there is a news reporter named Robert Pooner, a name that appeared in the beginning of "The Spirit of Christmas", the original South Park short made by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Park.
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
[edit] External links
- Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson at the South Park Studios Episode Guide
| Preceded by “Spookyfish” |
South Park episodes | Followed by “Gnomes” |
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