Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods
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| “Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods” | |
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| South Park episode | |
 Cartman trying out for the Cheesy Poof commercial |
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| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 24 |
| Written by | Trey Parker David Goodman |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Production no. | 211 |
| Original airdate | September 2, 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 | |
"Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods" is the 24th episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It was originally broadcast on September 2, 1998.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
The class go on a school trip to the local planetarium. Cartman is tempted by a Cheesy Poofs truck outside, auditioning kids to sing the Cheesy Poofs song on their next TV advertisment. The kids all think they will hate the "plane'arium" (as pronounced by the planetarium director, Dr. Adams, because of a bone disorder), but after watching the star show, they want to go back again after the field trip. Not only do they go back, they all start volunteering to work at the planetarium. This turns out to be because the director is using a brainwashing device on them.
Cartman sings the Cheesy Poofs song and then gets selected to sing it on TV, after cheating and browbeating his way past the other contestants. His performance is so bad, though, that only one word of it is used in the final ad.
In the meantime, school counselor Mr. Mackey, who uses an ancient school counselor technique called a "mind meld", and school nurse Nurse Gollum have learned of the mind control device through a kid who escaped the planetarium named Van Gelder. They race to stop Dr. Adams, and final showdown occurs at the planetarium, with Stan, Kyle, Mr. Mackey and Nurse Gollum against Dr. Adams and Officer Barbrady (brainwashed to believe that he is Elvis). The boys, Mackey, and Nurse Gollum are successfully captured, tied down, and brainwashed.
However, Cartman, angry at the other boys for missing his commercial debut, kicks the star projector, sending the full blast of the mind control machine into Dr. Adams' brain. With no one around to say anything, Dr. Adams becomes a mindless shell of a man collapsed against the back wall. Cartman is elated that he not only was on TV, but saved the day as well.
[edit] Kenny's death
Stan and Kyle are trying to figure out the brainwashing device while Kenny is in the main projector room, when they accidentally set the device to its highest setting. Kenny's head explodes when his brain is overloaded by the signal of the brainwashing device. Stan and Kyle then say:
- Stan: Oh my god! We've killed Kenny!
- Kyle: We're bastards!
[edit] Pop culture references
- The "I Love Cheesy Poofs" song is sung to the melody of NPR's "All Things Considered".
- The laser rock shows at the planetarium are to the music of Kenny Loggins and James Taylor.
- During Cartman's first audition, Cartman sings the Cheesy Poofs theme and adds, "I'm talking Night Court in its fifth season lame!"
- The poor child with her mother during the callback auditions looks like Cosette from the novel Les Misérables.
- For his audition, Cartman sings the Donna Summer song She Works Hard for the Money.
- Dr. Adams brainwashes Officer Barbrady to think he's Elvis, whom Mr. Mackey confuses for Charlton Heston.
- While Cartman was auditioning, he does Michael Jackson's moonwalk.
[edit] Star Trek references
- The entire episode is a direct parody of the original Star Trek episode "Dagger of the Mind", including the names of the guest characters.
- The uniforms worn by the volunteers at the planetarium have the same design as those worn by the sanitarium staff in the Trek episode.
- There is a scene which features a mind meld.
- The name of the planetarium is the "Tantalus V Observatory", a reference to the Tantalus Penal Colony in the Star Trek episode.
- The text "Me transmitte sursum, Caledoni!" appears over an archway at the planetarium. This Latin phrase translates to "Bring me up, Scotsman" (see Beam me up, Scotty), and it was previously featured in Henry Beard's book Latin for Even More Occasions.
- When the school nurse is inspecting Van Gelder, music taken from Star Trek can be heard in the background.
- A news anchor refers to a news reporter as a "34-year-old Asian man who looks strikingly similar to Ricardo Montalbán." Montalban played the title character in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, whose full name was Khan Noonien Singh, named after an Asian friend of Gene Roddenberry.
- Near the end of the episode, right after Dr. Adams has been hit by his mind control machine, Kyle's line "Can you imagine it, Stan? A mind...emptied by that thing..." is identical, in text and delivery, to Captain Kirk's line from the end of the episode Dagger of the Mind, when the same thing happened to the director of the sanitarium.
[edit] Roger Ebert references
- Dr. Adams says at one point, "Stars are actually made of hot gas, which is exactly what comes out of Roger Ebert's mouth".
- Ebert is represented in one of the constellations, providing the source of the episode title. He is shown with a scowl and a thumbs down.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Rodger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods at South Park Studios Episode Guide
| Preceded by “Chickenpox” |
South Park episodes | Followed by “Clubhouses” |
