Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride

"Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride"
South Park episode
Biggayalsbiggayboatride.png
Big Gay Al's boat ride was designed to resemble the ride It's a Small World, an attraction at the Disneyland theme park.
Episode no. Season 1
Episode 4
Directed by Trey Parker
Written by Trey Parker
Matt Stone
Production code 104
Original air date September 3, 1997
Guest stars
Episode chronology
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"Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" is the fourth episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park and originally aired on September 3, 1997. The episode was written by series co-founders Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and directed by Parker. In this episode, Stan's dog, Sparky, is assumed to be gay after humping a rival male dog. Bowing to social pressure, Stan tries to make him more masculine, and as a result, Sparky runs away ending up at Big Gay Al's Big Gay Animal Sanctuary. After Stan understands homosexuality, he tries to make everyone accept it.

"Big Gay Al's Gay Boat Ride" addressed open homosexuality in a way that was uncommon for television at the time, which created some anxiety among Comedy Central executives. The network also initially objected to offensive remarks made by sports commentators in the episode, but the comments were kept in at the insistence of Parker and Stone. George Clooney made a guest appearance as Sparky, a throwaway part with no dialogue except for dog barks.

The episode marked the first appearance of Big Gay Al and generally received positive reviews for its portrayal of homosexuality. Creators Stone and Parker considered it their favorite episode of the first season, noting that it helped elevate the credibility and relevance of South Park during its early days.[1][2] It was nominated for both an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program and a GLAAD Award, and was the episode submitted when South Park won a CableACE Award for outstanding animated series.

Contents

Plot

Stan's new dog Sparky follows the boys to the bus stop one morning. To determine whether Sylvester, a local mutt, or Sparky is the toughest dog in South Park, Stan and Cartman encourage the dogs to fight, when Sparky suddenly leaps on top of Sylvester and begins humping him energetically. Sylvester runs away yelping, and Cartman declares that Sparky is apparently a "gay homosexual."

At football practice for the South Park Cows team, Stan's Uncle Jimbo and his buddy Ned show up and ask coach Chef whether the boys can beat the betting spread of 70 points. Impressed by a play from Stan, the quarterback and star, Jimbo and Ned run off to the bookmaker where Jimbo puts $500 on the team. As a result, everyone else bets all their money on the team, and they threaten Jimbo if the Cows lose. Intimidated, Jimbo and Ned seek a backup plan and learn that John Stamos's brother Richard will be singing "Lovin' You" at halftime. Consequently, they plan to blow up the mascot for Middle Park, the opposing team. They place a bomb on the horse mascot, set to detonate via a sonic triggering device as Richard Stamos sings the high F note in the song.

After practice, Sparky shows up and mounts another dog, Rex, who also runs away yelping with his tail between his legs. The next day, after class, Stan asks Mr. Garrison what a homosexual is, prompting Mr. Garrison to claim "Gay people are evil." As a result, Stan attempts to make his dog more masculine. First, he presents Sparky with Fifi, a female poodle, but fails miserably when Sparky steals Fifi's pearl collar. Thinking that homosexuality might not be bad, Stan calls up Jesus on his show Jesus and Pals to ask him what he thinks of homosexuality. Before he can answer, though, the show abruptly ends in time for Cartman's favorite show, "Marty's Movie Reviews". Frustrated, he rants about wanting a butch dog, a Rin Tin Tin. Sparky overhears this and runs away to the mountains, ending up at Big Gay Al's Big Gay Animal Sanctuary.

Concerned about his dog, Stan looks for him, missing the start of the football game. He finds Sparky at the Big Gay Animal Sanctuary, where he learns from Big Gay Al that homosexuality has been around for a long time, and Stan eventually accepts his dog's homosexuality. Meanwhile, Richard Stamos fails to hit the high note at half time, prompting Mr. Garrison to shout, "It's obvious where all the talent in that family went!" Returning to the final moments of the game, Stan steps in as the quarterback, passing the ball to Kyle for a touchdown that beats the betting spread as time runs out. In his speech after the game, Stan tells the people of South Park about the Big Gay Animal Sanctuary and that "it's okay to be gay."

He leads the people to the site of the Sanctuary, but it has mysteriously disappeared; people's runaway pets, however, return. Before leaving, Big Gay Al thanks Stan for enlightening everyone. Although the Cows beat the spread, Richard Stamos shows up to prove he can hit the high note that he missed earlier, triggering the bomb and killing the Cowboys' mascot.

Production

Conception and objections raised before airing

"(This episode) I think was sort of what really made South Park popular. I think this was our breakout show in a lot of ways. ... This was sort of the show we chose to represent the series."

Trey Parker[3]

"Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" was written by series co-founders Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and was directed by Parker. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on September 3, 1997. Parker and Stone considered "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" their favorite episode of the first season,[1] and they credit it with helping elevate the credibility and relevance of South Park during the early days of the series.[2] Although the first season of South Park received a great deal of criticism from commentators who felt the show was gross and offensive, Parker specifically defended the episodes "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" and "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", which he felt included moral values and a "sweet side to it" among the sophomoric humor.[4] Stone also said those two episodes became the specific shows people would most talk about when they discussed South Park.[3]

The plot for the episode originated from an idea by Parker and Stone to have a boy try to convince his gay dog not to be homosexual. When the episode was under production in 1997, it was relatively uncommon for a television series to openly address homosexuality in such overt terms, especially in a cartoon.[3] As a result, Parker and Stone said Comedy Central executives expressed more concern about "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" than any other previous South Park episode. Parker said of the network, "I don't think they ever really discouraged it, but they were definitely freaked out."[3] The network, however, did object to scenes in which one of the football sports commentators made offensive jokes and was silenced by the other commentator. The network particularly objected to a joke in which, after watching Kyle run, the commentator said, "I haven't seen a Jew run like that since Poland 1938", a reference to the county's occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II. The jokes were conceived based on a number of real-life offensive remarks sports commentators made and gotten in trouble for.[3] Stone said the scenes were meant to lampoon the commentators, not the subjects of the jokes. However, they were only allowed to stay in after what Stone called "a big fight" with Comedy Central. After the episode was scheduled to air, TV Guide refused to advertise it under its actual name for fear of offended readers, and instead called the episode "Big Al's Boat Ride".[3]

Production and animation

Actor George Clooney, a South Park fan, provided the barks of Sparky the dog in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride".[5]

Actor George Clooney provided the throwaway voice performance of Sparky, which is limited entirely to dog barks.[5] Clooney was a vocal South Park fan and was largely responsible for generating buzz about "The Spirit of Christmas", a 1995 animated short film by Parker and Stone that served as a precursor to South Park. Parker said they decided to cast a big name actor in the small role of Sparky because "we thought it was funny", and because they wanted to do something different from the animated series The Simpsons, which is known for having prominent guest appearances on a regular basis. Parker added, "Since South Park is sort of a show that rips on celebrity, we wanted to degrade them in other ways too. And we thought let's have celebrities on, but have them do really minor, unimportant things."[3] Comedy Central executives were excited at the prospect of having Clooney appear on the show, but Parker said they were disappointed to learn his role was so small.[3]

South Park animators created the episode using PowerAnimator, the Alias Systems Corporation animation program most commonly known as "Alias". It was particularly challenging for animators to design the complex scheme of lights during the episode's disco club scene. Eric Stough, director of animation for the series, said it took one of the technical directors "about half a day" to set up the brief scene.[6] Parker said he was particularly happy with the animation in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", and said he believed the series was starting to settle into the defined look the series has retained throughout the years. Parker said, "I think that this was where we finally felt like we got it right, we got the look of it right."[3] However, the animation includes some perspective errors, particularly during the football scenes, where Chef stands about as wide as a 10-yard marking on the field. Parker said the animators worked for a long time on the snow in the outdoor scenes, but ultimately decided they did not like how it came out.[3]

Michael Smith, a childhood acquaintance of Parker and a basis for the Ned Gerblansky character, claims Big Gay Al was based in part on a real-life resident of Fairplay, Colorado. Smith, a minister at a Fairplay church, said of the man, "We just call him Big Al, but he cross-dresses every year for Fairplay Day. He lives out of town, which is why Big Gay Al's cartoon pet sanctuary is set out in the hills."[7] However, Stone said the name Big Gay Al and the idea of his gay animal sanctuary came from Pam Brady, a producer and writer with the show.[3] Big Gay Al became one of the most popular and easily recognizable of the non-regular South Park characters,[8][9] and was featured in the 1999 film, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut as the MC of a United Service Organizations show. Although not a major role, Big Gay Al performs a large musical number called "I'm Super (Thanks for Asking)", which was featured in the motion picture soundtrack.[8] The episode also included the first appearance of Jesus and Pals, the public access television talk show hosted by Jesus Christ. The show was mentioned in the episode "Weight Gain 4000", but actual footage from the show was not featured.[10] Parker and Stone specifically sought to introduce Jesus and Pals, and the idea of Jesus as a South Park resident, as a reference to their original "The Spirit of Christmas" cartoon.[11] Comedy Central censors were concerned about this portrayal of Jesus in South Park, but did not prevent Parker and Stone from following through with it.[3]

The speech Big Gay Al gives while taking Stan on a boat ride through his animal sanctuary were based on actual speeches animation director Eric Stough made while working as a "jungle cruise director" at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida.[3] The dirt smudges on the football player's helmets and uniforms were deliberately designed to look like smudges on construction paper. This was done to maintain the show's deliberately crude visual style they first created with construction paper in "The Spirit of Christmas" and the pilot episode, "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe". The characters Butters Stotch and Clyde Donovan are featured during the football game, although neither has been identified by name yet in the series. During a football crowd scene, a white character can be seen that looks identical to Token Black, an African-American character introduced later in the series. The background character is wearing the same shirt Token wears, which Parker explained was the result of an animator placing a different head on the body in order to create a filler character for the crowd. The moment when Big Gay Al says, "My work here is done" and disappears into a suitcase is Stone's favorite part of the episode, even though he admitted, "It's makes no sense". Parker said the moment was written that way simply because the duo could not decide how to get rid of the character. Parker said, "We didn't want him around all the time, (so we asked) how do we not make him a character each week."[3]

Theme

"Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" explores the central theme of homosexuality, particularly through the gay characters Sparky and Big Gay Al, who would go on to play a more prominent role in the fifth season episode, "Cripple Fight".[12] The episode encourages tolerance of homosexuality, with protagonist Stan initially displaying anger and dismay upon learning that his dog is gay, but eventually learning to accept homosexuality and concluding that we should accept others for who they are.[13][14][15] Big Gay Al displays several exaggerated gay stereotypes, including his lisping voice and flamboyant wardrobe, which includes an ascot tie. Although some have described the depiction as inflammatory, other commentators have said the stereotypes are used as functions of satire. Nick Marx and Matt Sienkiewicz, PhD students in media and cultural studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, said in a 2009 journal article, "These episodes function not as part of a larger discursive web, but as media texts encoded in a manner similar to that of The Simpsons."[16]

"Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" also explores and satirizes people's reactions to homosexuality through Stan and other characters who react to Sparky's behavior. For example, Stan admits he does not even know what being gay includes, except simply that it "is bad". Also, when Cartman says to Stan, "maybe he's [the dog] at the mall buying leather pants", satirizing the stereotype that all gay men are engaged in the leather subculture.[17] The episode also mocks the hatred and misunderstandings about homosexuality often expressed by zealots and right-wing extremists who regularly attack LGBT people and culture, including Christian ministers Jerry Falwell and Fred Phelps. This is partially illustrated in this episode by Father Maxi's attempts to "pray away" the dog's homosexuality and Mr. Garrison's condemnation rooting from the internalized fear of his own sexuality.[18] Basing his comment off this episode, Gardiner commented that South Park had a "Queer Lite" attitude towards homosexuality, stating "they are unemphatically tolerant, polymorphously perverse, ambiguously gay affirmative".[19]

Cultural references

The South Park football team plays a rival team from Middle Park, Colorado. Like South Park itself, Middle Park is an actual basin in the Rocky Mountains of north-central Colorado. Stone said the Middle Park kids were made to seem richer and cooler than the South Park students because that was the perception real South Park residents have of the actual Middle Park.[3] Richard Stamos, who sings during halftime in the episode's football game, is the fictional brother of John Stamos, a real-life actor best known for his roles of Full House and ER.[12] Parker and Stone did not know Stamos when they wrote "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", but Parker said they assumed he was "a big douche" because of his role on Full House, which Parker called "just the most horrible thing ever put on television". Since the episode aired, however, Parker and Stone have become acquainted with Stamos and found him to be "a really, really cool guy". John Stamos told them he loved the inclusion of the Richard Stamos character in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride".[3] Richard Stamos sings "Lovin' You", a 1975 hit single by singer-songwriter Minnie Riperton.[20] Parker chose it because he felt it was a popular song in the gay community, and also because, "I've just always hated that song. I hate any song from that era, really. It's just a horrible time for music."[3]

During the beginning of Mr. Garrison's class, Cartman writes an essay on the TV series Simon & Simon instead of Asian culture. Also, Bill suggested that Stan take Sparky to a Barbra Streisand concert. The disappearance of Big Gay Al at the end of the episode is a spoof of Dr. Lao's disappearance at the end of the movie The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.[12] Big Gay Al's ride also features a number of miniature characters, among them Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano, singing a song called "We Are Gay", which is a parody of the ride "It's a Small World", an attraction at the Disneyland theme park.[18] Boitano was featured in "The Spirit of Christmas", and would later be the basis for the original song "What Would Brian Boitano Do?" from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.[3] The song played during the closing credits of "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" is "Now You're a Man" by DVDA, a punk rock band that Parker and Stone founded. This song was also featured in their film Orgazmo.[12]

In the original cut of this episode, the sports announcer makes a statement about another tackle remarking that he had never seen so many children molested since "the last time Michael Jackson came to town." This is a reference to allegations of child molestation against Michael Jackson in 1993. Jackson was never charged, and the case was settled outside of court.[18] In addition, the sports announcer states he hadn't seen a "beating like that since Rodney King", referencing to an incident in 1991 where King was beaten by six LAPD police officers. The incident sparked tensions in LA that eventually led to the 1992 LA Riots.[21] When Pip is tackled later, the commentator states that he hasn't seen an Englishman take a blow like that since Hugh Grant. This references Grant's arrest in June 1995, when he was caught performing a lewd act in public with a Hollywood prostitute.[20][22] Grant was fined $1,180, placed on probation for two years, and was ordered to complete an AIDS education program.[23][24]

Release and reception

Comedy Central representatives told media outlets the episode received overwhelmingly positive responses from viewers who identified themselves as gay.[25] Chicago Tribune writer Allan Johnson praised the tolerance toward homosexuality displayed in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", which he rated the tenth greatest episode in the series' history.[26] In 2003, the Chicago-based RedEye ranked it the fifth greatest South Park episode.[27] Jonathan Van Meter of The New York Times Magazine called the episode "one of their best shows", and praised the episode for mixing a moral message with the jokes, as well as a sentimental relationship between Stan and Sparky. Van Meter wrote, "What often keeps the show form being offensive is this kind of sweetness – and that it's funny."[1]

The Advertiser, a North Yorkshire-based publication, called the episode "one of the all-time best".[20] Lorne Chan of the San Antonio Express-News declared it the second best sport-themed South Park, behind "Up the Down Steroid", praising its satire of gambling on elementary schools and sports events.[28] Rick Marin of Newsweek described the episode as "gleefully offensive and profoundly silly", but praised it as "juxtaposing cute and crude, jaded and juvenile".[29] Travis Fickett of IGN gave the episode a 8.4 out of 10 rating and identified several "great moments". In particular, he praised closeted-homosexual Mr. Garrison's claim that gay people are evil and have a "black vomitous fluid" running through their veins, and the moment when Jesus was about to explain his feelings regarding homosexuality only to be cut off by "Marty's Movie Reviews".[30]

Colorado for Family Values, a Christian advocacy group with a history of lobbying against homosexuality, used "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" in its materials when trying to mobilize Colorado to censor South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut in 1999. The group circulated a "South Park Action Kit", which included analyses of the South Park episode content, sample transcripts, reviews and tips on how to keep the movie from playing in local theaters. The kit also included a "Homosexual Issue Analysis", which focused on "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" and warned the episode taught children "tolerance and acceptance of homosexuality through the perverse idea that Stan's dog, Sparky, is a homosexual dog". According to Westword, a Denver-based alternative weekly newspaper, this anti-South Park effort by Colorado for Family Values was largerly ignored and decried by most Coloradoians.[31]

"Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" was the first episode of the series to be nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.[32] It was also nominated for a GLAAD Award.[33] Matt Parker and Trey Stone chose "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" to represent South Park in their submission to the CableACE Awards in 1997. The series won the CableACE Award for Animated Programming Special or Series as a result. It was the last year the CableACE Awards were given out before they were discontinued.[3] Out magazine, one of the most widely circulated gay and lesbian publication in the United States, listed Big Gay Al among the most influential individuals in the gay and lesbian community in 1998. Big Gay Al was the only fictional character listed in the "Entertainment" section of the magazine's "Out 100" list.[9]

"Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" was released, alongside five other episodes, in a three-VHS set on May 5, 1998, marking the first time South Park was made available on video. The episode was released on the "Volume II" video, along with "Weight Gain 4000"; other featured episodes included "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", "Volcano", "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig" and "Death".[34] The episode, along with the other 12 from the first season, was also included in the DVD release "South Park: The Complete First Season", which was released on November 12, 2002.[35] Parker and Stone recorded commentary tracks for each episode, but they were not included with the DVDS due to "standards" issues with some of the statements; Parker and Stone refused to allow the tracks to be edited and censored, so they were released in a CD completely separately from the DVDs.[36][37]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Van Meter, Jonathan (1998-08-15). "Jumping through the hoops for South Park: Is the outrageous TV show insidious 'creep culture' or just a crude, funny, disturbing, adorable, obnoxious little cartoon that has become something of a phenomenon?". The Hamilton Spectator (Hamilton, Ontario): p. W5. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Trey Parker, Matt Stone. (2003) (Audio commentary). South Park: The Complete First Season: "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo". [CD]. Comedy Central. 
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 Trey Parker, Matt Stone. (2003) (Audio commentary). South Park: The Complete First Season: "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride". [CD]. Comedy Central. 
  4. ↑ "Entertainment Digest". Broadcast News. 1998-08-25. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Grennan, Karin (1998-02-13). "Going down to "South Park": The most talked about 30 minutes on television are also the most offensive. But fans like it that way". Ventura County Star (Ventura County, California): p. TO18. 
  6. ↑ Cheplic, Matt (May 1998). ""As Crappy As Possible": The Method Behind the Madness of South Park". Millimeter. ISSN 0164-9655. 
  7. ↑ McVeigh, Karen (1999-04-28). "Welcome to South Park life; Spirit of Fairplay that is a cult phenomenon". Daily Record: p. 26. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Griffin, John (1999-06-30). "Terribly, terribly good: However scatological, South Park is a clever mix of dumb, daring". The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec): p. F7. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 "Wainwright, Van Sant, Wenner, Mizrahi, Gore, and the Paulks headline the Out 100". Business Wire (Burbank, California). 1998-12-16. 
  10. ↑ Stall, Sam (2009). The South Park Episode Guide: Volume 1, Seasons 1-5. New York City, New York: Running Press. p. 13. ISBN 0762435615. 
  11. ↑ Trey Parker, Matt Stone. (2003) (Audio commentary). South Park: The Complete First Season: "Weight Gain 4000". [CD]. Comedy Central. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Tropiano, Michael; Stephen Tropiano (2002). The prime time closet. Applause Theatre & Cinema Books. p. 299. ISBN 9781557835574. http://books.google.com/?id=-84TDYVOjKUC&q=Big+Gay+Al%27s+Big+Gay+BoatRide&dq=Big+Gay+Al%27s+Big+Gay+BoatRide. 
  13. ↑ Young, George (1998-11-05). "It's stupidity, stupid". The Economist: p. 79. 
  14. ↑ Marin, Rick (1998-03-23). "The Rude Tube". Newsweek: p. 56. 
  15. ↑ Osisek, Greg (1998-12-05). ""South Park" is a lesson in morality". Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, Pennsylvania): p. A-10. 
  16. ↑ Marx, Nick; Sienkiewicz, Matt (July 2009). "Beyond a Cutout World: Ethnic Humor and Discursive Integration in South Park". Journal of Film and Video 61 (2): 5. doi:10.1353/jfv.0.0025. 
  17. ↑ Weinstock, Jeffrey Andrew (2008). Taking South Park Seriously. SUNY Press. p. 116. ISBN 9780791475652. http://books.google.com/?id=AJbNJm2W1UgC. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Leslie, Stratyner; James R. Keller (2009). The Deep End of South Park. McFarland. p. 106. ISBN 9780786443079. http://books.google.com/?id=q_dHbk7CdOkC&dq=Big+Gay+Al%27s+Big+Gay+Boat+Ride. 
  19. ↑ Leslie, Stratyner; James R. Keller (2009). The Deep End of South Park. McFarland. pp. 73. ISBN 9780786443079. http://books.google.com/?id=q_dHbk7CdOkC&dq=Big+Gay+Al%27s+Big+Gay+Boat+Ride. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "Heartbeat, South Park". North Yorkshire. 1998-07-27. 
  21. ↑ Cannon, Lou (1999). Official Negligence: How Rodney King and the riots changed Los Angeles and the LAPD. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press. ISBN 0-8133-3725-9. 
  22. ↑ Wilson, Jeff (June 27, 1995). "Suave, Charm and Good Looks: Why Would Hugh Grant Pay for Sex?". Associated Press. 
  23. ↑ Moyes, Jojo (July 12, 1995). "Grant pays for his 'lewd conduct'". The Independent. p. 1. 
  24. ↑ "British actor pleads no contest to lewd conduct". Deutsche Presse-Agentur. July 12, 1995. 
  25. ↑ Rosenberg, Howard (1997-10-15). "Yes, I know it's sick, but still...". The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California): p. F1. 
  26. ↑ Johnson, Allan (Wednesday, April 9, 2003). "Whoever thought this show would last 100 episodes?". Chicago Tribune. pp. 1. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=0FA4FD24CBC62155&p_docnum=6&p_queryname=2. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
  27. ↑ "Celebrate with cheesy poofs". Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois): p. 64. 2003-04-09. 
  28. ↑ Lorne, Chan (Friday, November 30, 2007). "The Chanifesto". San Antonio Express-News (TX). pp. 2. http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=11D41B780A20A2D8&p_docnum=2&p_queryname=1. Retrieved 2009-07-31. 
  29. ↑ Marin, Rick (March 23, 1998). "The Rude Tube". Newsweek. http://www.newsweek.com/id/91265. Retrieved 2009-08-02. 
  30. ↑ Fickett, Travis (November 29, 2007). "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride Review". IGN TV. http://tv.ign.com/articles/838/838596p1.html. Retrieved 2009-07-24. 
  31. ↑ Janovy, C.J. (1999-11-25). "Since Amendment 2 passed seven years ago, Colorado Springs has learned a lesson in Family Values". Westword (Denver, Colorado). 
  32. ↑ "Emmy Awards: 1998". http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Awards/Emmy_Awards/1998. Retrieved 2009-01-25. 
  33. ↑ "GLAAD Media Awards: 1998" Retrieved on 2008-08-09.
  34. ↑ "Comedy Central's South Park – Three Collectible Videos Available For The First Time With Made-For-Video Footage Featuring Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone". Business Wire (Burbank, California). 1998-03-26. 
  35. ↑ Lawson, Terry (2002-11-12). "4-disc "Rings" could take up a whole weekend". Detroit Free Press (Detroit, Michigan). 
  36. ↑ Owen, Rob (2002-11-22). ""South Park" warped and worthy". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania): p. 39. 
  37. ↑ Pratt, Doug (2005). Doug Pratt's DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More!. UNET 2 Corporation. p. 1123. ISBN 1932916016. 

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Season 1
"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" · "Weight Gain 4000" · "Volcano" · "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" · "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig" · "Death" · "Pinkeye" · "Damien" · "Starvin' Marvin" · "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" · "Tom's Rhinoplasty" · "Mecha-Streisand" · "Cartman's Mom Is a Dirty Slut"
Season 2
"Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus" · "Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut" · "Chickenlover" · "Ike's Wee Wee" · "Conjoined Fetus Lady" · "The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka" · "City on the Edge of Forever" · "Summer Sucks" · "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" · "Chickenpox" · "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods" · "Clubhouses" · "Cow Days" · "Chef Aid" · "Spookyfish" · "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" · "Gnomes" · "Prehistoric Ice Man"
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"Rainforest Schmainforest" · "Spontaneous Combustion" · "The Succubus" · "Jackovasaurus" · "Tweek vs. Craig" · "Sexual Harassment Panda" · "Cat Orgy" · "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" · "Jewbilee" · "Korn's Groovy Pirate Ghost Mystery" · "Chinpokomon" · "Hooked on Monkey Fonics" · "Starvin' Marvin in Space" · "The Red Badge of Gayness" · "Mr. Hankey's Christmas Classics" · "Are You There God? It's Me, Jesus" · "World Wide Recorder Concert"
Season 4
"The Tooth Fairy Tats 2000" · "Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000" · "Timmy 2000" · "Quintuplets 2000" · "Cartman Joins NAMBLA" · "Cherokee Hair Tampons" · "Chef Goes Nanners" · "Something You Can Do with Your Finger" · "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" · "Probably" · "4th Grade" · "Trapper Keeper" · "Helen Keller! The Musical" · "Pip" · "Fat Camp" · "The Wacky Molestation Adventure" · "A Very Crappy Christmas"
Season 5
"It Hits the Fan" · "Cripple Fight" · "Super Best Friends" · "Scott Tenorman Must Die" · "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow" · "Cartmanland" · "Proper Condom Use" · "Towelie" · "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" · "How to Eat with Your Butt" · "The Entity" · "Here Comes the Neighborhood" · "Kenny Dies" · "Butters' Very Own Episode"
Season 6
"Jared Has Aides" · "Asspen" · "Freak Strike" · "Fun with Veal" · "The New Terrance and Phillip Movie Trailer" · "Professor Chaos" · "Simpsons Already Did It" · "Red Hot Catholic Love" · "Free Hat" · "Bebe's Boobs Destroy Society" · "Child Abduction Is Not Funny" · "A Ladder to Heaven" · "The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers" · "The Death Camp of Tolerance" · "The Biggest Douche in the Universe" · "My Future Self 'n' Me" · "Red Sleigh Down"
Season 7
"Cancelled" · "Krazy Kripples" · "Toilet Paper" · "I'm a Little Bit Country" · "Fat Butt and Pancake Head" · "Lil' Crime Stoppers" · "Red Man's Greed" · "South Park Is Gay!" · "Christian Rock Hard" · "Grey Dawn" · "Casa Bonita" · "All About Mormons" · "Butt Out" · "Raisins" · "It's Christmas in Canada"
Season 8
"Good Times with Weapons" · "Up the Down Steroid" · "The Passion of the Jew" · "You Got F'd in the A" · "AWESOM-O" · "The Jeffersons" · "Goobacks" · "Douche and Turd" · "Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes" · "Pre-School" · "Quest for Ratings" · "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" · "Cartman's Incredible Gift" · "Woodland Critter Christmas"
Season 9
"Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina" · "Die Hippie, Die" · "Wing" · "Best Friends Forever" · "The Losing Edge" · "The Death of Eric Cartman" · "Erection Day" · "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" · "Marjorine" · "Follow That Egg!" · "Ginger Kids" · "Trapped in the Closet" · "Free Willzyx" · "Bloody Mary"
Season 10
"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"
Season 11
"With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" · "Cartman Sucks" · "Lice Capades" · "The Snuke"  · "Fantastic Easter Special" · "D-Yikes!" · "Night of the Living Homeless" · "Le Petit Tourette" · "More Crap" · "Imaginationland Episode I" · "Imaginationland Episode II" · "Imaginationland Episode III" · "Guitar Queer-O" · "The List"
Season 12
"Tonsil Trouble" · "Britney's New Look" · "Major Boobage" · "Canada on Strike" · "Eek, a Penis!" · "Over Logging" · "Super Fun Time" · "The China Probrem" · "The Breast Cancer Show Ever" · "Pandemic" · "Pandemic 2: The Startling" · "About Last Night..." · "Elementary School Musical" · "The Ungroundable"
Season 13
"The Ring" · "The Coon" · "Margaritaville" · "Eat, Pray, Queef" · "Fishsticks" · "Pinewood Derby" · "Fatbeard" · "Dead Celebrities" · "Butters' Bottom Bitch" · "W.T.F." · "Whale Whores" · "The F Word" · "Dances with Smurfs" · "Pee"
Season 14
"Sexual Healing" · "The Tale of Scrotie McBoogerballs" · "Medicinal Fried Chicken" · "You Have 0 Friends" · "200" · "201" · "Crippled Summer" · "Poor and Stupid" · "It's a Jersey Thing" · "Insheeption" · "Coon 2: Hindsight" · "Mysterion Rises" · "Coon vs. Coon and Friends" · "Crème Fraiche"