| "Ass Burgers" | |||
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| South Park episode | |||
Kyle inspires Cartman to start a food stand selling hamburgers. |
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| Episode no. | Season 15 Episode 8 |
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| Directed by | Trey Parker | ||
| Written by | Trey Parker | ||
| Production code | 1508 | ||
| Original air date | October 5, 2011 | ||
| Episode chronology | |||
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| South Park (season 15) List of South Park episodes |
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"Ass Burgers" is the eighth episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 217th episode of the series overall. A continuation of the events of the previous episode, "You're Getting Old", "Ass Burgers" first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 5, 2011.[1]
The episode was written by series co-creator Trey Parker and is rated TV-MA L in the United States. In its original American broadcast, "Ass Burgers" was watched by 2.941 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
Contents |
Continuing the events of "You're Getting Old", Stan is attempting to adapt to his parents' divorce while his cynicism causes him to explode in class out of frustration. Stan's depression is mistakenly diagnosed as Asperger's because he received a flu vaccination a year earlier. Taken to an Asperger's Group Therapy Center, Stan is greeted by a doctor who states that the syndrome is a "disease" that he knows very little about, while passing assorted very oddly behaving people. When left alone, all the people quickly drop their act, and the false doctor reveals that not only do none of the present have the condition, they do not even believe that it exists. Stan learns that the center is actually a front for cynical self-perceived freedom fighters who believe that the world really has turned into feces, and that some kind of supernatural force is preventing the rest of the world from noticing. They do not actually know who this enemy is; and speculate that it could be aliens, robots from the future, or mutants. The leader, who is a parody of Morpheus from The Matrix, gives Stan a glass of Jameson Irish Whiskey as a "serum" so he can interact with the "illusion world."
As this occurs, Cartman, upon mishearing the condition as "Ass burgers", attempts to fake this condition at school by stuffing his underwear with hamburgers. Although this fails, Cartman gives one of the hamburgers to Kyle and another student, who declare them delicious without knowing that Cartman had them in his underwear. This inspires Cartman to start a food stand at which he will sell hamburgers that he has farted on. While drunk, Stan unsuccessfully attempts to make amends with Kyle, but Kyle refuses to forgive him. The next day, Stan returns to the center and is once again plied with whiskey. This time, he is sent armed to a secret meeting being attended by corporate representatives of America's most popular fast food chains, which have lost business due to the popularity of Cartman Burger. The representatives deduce that Cartman Burgers contain ingredients from all of their products, which are infused into Cartman Burgers via some type of gas. When Stan arrives and loses consciousness from the alcohol, the restaurant agents tie him up and interrogate him about the secret ingredient.
As Stan does not know the ingredient, the representatives subsequently monitor a conversation between him and Kyle over the ingredient, but when Kyle tells Stan that only Cartman knows the secret ingredient, the restaurant agents storm the stand before the severely drunk freedom fighters arrive and gun them down. Stan, however, refuses to drink any more whiskey, and realizes that although he may no longer be with both of his parents and Kyle is no longer his best friend, he is now excited by the prospect of change rather than scared of it, claiming this could be the start of new, original adventures for everybody.
However, at that moment, Randy appears and announces that he and Sharon have worked out their differences and are getting back together. Sharon then explains to Stan that sometimes people need to stick to what they know, even if it means remaining unhappy, which upsets Stan, as it contradicts his epiphany. In montage, the Marshes move back into their home together while Kyle breaks off his friendship with Cartman after finding out just exactly what the secret ingredient is. After Stan wakes up on a subsequent morning, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny invite him to the movies with them. Resigned to his fate, Stan half-heartedly joins them, taking a swig of whiskey on his way out.
In its original American broadcast on October 5, 2011, "Ass Burgers" was watched by 2.941 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.[2] Ryan McGhee of The A.V. Club graded the episode a B+, stating, "We may end up down the road far from where we started, only to realize we moved so incrementally that we didn’t notice along the way. Hopefully, the show’s ability to combine puerile humor with sharp social commentary doesn’t disappear, whatever road it takes."[3]
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