Cartman, under the impression that Somalia’s pirates are the old walk-the-plank, eye-patch-wearing, skull-and-crossbones flying sort, dragooned a bunch of pals all the way around the world, only to find indigent North Africans wracked by disease and poverty. It was a fine South Park, complete with an excellent, profane pirate song (“We’ll cut off your c— and feed it to a croc”), and predictable but no less funny depictions of the French as pretentious cowards.
The line everyone will be talking about was the single, impeccably vicious swipe at the media coverage of Susan Boyle: little Ike said if he had to hear one more time about her performance, he’d, um, do something involving vomit and testicles.
And then, in a moment meant to echo news events, South Park did one of the things it does best: It made you feel badly for humans who’ve recently been our enemies. A group of American sharpshooters picked off a slew of Somali pirates, each killed with a single bullet. This stunned the mouthy Cartman and his pals into silence, and as the credits rolled, I’ll bet a lot of living rooms were silent, too.
Did you watch? What did you think?
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You know you made it big when South Park goes after you. lol
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/04/23/tv-tonight-thursday-april-23rd-2009/
The episode definitely improved once they boarded the French ship. Loved the song, the realization that everyone’s already heard Susan Boyle (and it is officially old news), and the creators’ reminder of our tendency to demonize enemies. I know the sharpshooters were saving the people on board, but they’re accurate enough to kill each one of them with one bullet; doesn’t that mean they could’ve take them down without killing them?
I am a Somali and this is extremely offending to me.
Sure you are.
Loved the episode.
Ken, I’m also really enjoying these frequent mini-reviews of yours. Keep ‘em coming!
The episode didn’t take an “impeccably vicious swipe at Susan Boyle”; it took a swipe at the over-the-top media hype surrounding her performance. Sheesh …
No1important, no1 cares, it’s called freedom of speech and it was hilarious…if you get offended then you should never watch SP.
Kyle H. They were saving a singular captain, not people, on a small boat. If they had shot them in the legs or arms then they could have easily had a chance to kill the captain before the boat could have been boarded.
I’d like to second those enjoying Ken’s mini reviews on here. I particularly like that you’re taking a measured view on shows that either don’t get a lot of coverage or whose coverage is coloured by various media slants on the progress of the show – ie. Dollhouse’s struggling ratings or Supernatural’s rabid fanbase. You just let the episodes speak for themselves. Great stuff.
classic Cartman – classic South Park!
@James
Read the article carefully, please. It says “impeccably vicious swipe at the MEDIA COVERAGE of Susan Boyle”, not Susan Boyle
@Kyle H.: Hadn’t the pirates already killed someone?
great
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HOW do they write and animate these things so quickly? I loved this episode. Timely, hilarious, and thought-provoking.
Thanks Ken – another spot on quick review! More please.
“I’M A SOMALIAN” what a bunch of crap its just a cartoon don’t like it don’t watch it
@Kyle H.: The loss of life is never something to be happy about, but I think it’s safe to say the sharpshooters didn’t kill the pirates because they prefer killing, but because they had to ensure that the pirates wouldn’t retaliate against the hostages.
“Did you watch? What did you think?”
Do you really care Ken? What if I hadn’t seen it yet? How about a SPOILER alert next time.
I think they make these episodes in four days (I could be wrong). That explains the new jokes. Still fresh.
http://tvdonewright.com/2009/04/23/killing-tv-top-pirated-show-from-april-13-19/
Most shows get tiresome after they’ve been on for a few seasons, but this show just keeps getting better. i just wish they’d make more episodes per season.
I am so glad they made fun of Susan Boyle. I empathize with Ike!
I am so glad they made fun of Susan Boyle. I empathize with Ike!
I can’t wait to see this episode, the season’s been wicked so far….as usual.
was a great show. the song was very funny and you have to remember that it is written mostly from the kids point of view. so of course it can be stupid.
How great was that episode! The last few weeks hadn’t been so good, but this one was back in fine form.
The one stupid thing is that they forgot that the French have been killing Somalian pirates for much longer before that pretentious Obama started doing anything about it.
I don’t see the Americans hunting down pirates all the way to the desert or making commando ops overtaking ships, and so on.
i object to the description of Obama as “that pretentious Obama”.
I loved this episode but i tnink last weeks one was a bit funnier. Still great episode.
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“South Park” is still the best show on television which satirizes everything in the media. The way it did more than most media coverage in telling real truth about the men who are Somalian pirates and the chilling final minute shows that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are still doing something that belongs on the air after 13 years. Kudos to both for another fantastic season of the only spoiler proof show!
I am amazed these guys stay so consistently fresh, relevant, and hilarious each season. They literally must wait until the last minute to create the shows in order to keep incorporating such recent events, which make them even funnier. I hope this show stays on forever!
“Quote:
The one stupid thing is that they forgot that the French have been killing Somalian pirates for much longer before that pretentious Obama started doing anything about it.
I don’t see the Americans hunting down pirates all the way to the desert or making commando ops overtaking ships, and so on.”
Thanks I wasn’t in the mood to comment this part of the episode. I’m a huge fan of south Park and for me this episode has been ruined by this rather failed humour on “french cowardice”. I mean stereotyping peoples is sometimes what’s make south park funny but why are we french depicted so badly? I mean the captain of the Ponant risked his life trying to get in contact with the french fleet as much as richard phillips did, they both saved their crews… Especially when you know that basically french and spanish ships are doing all the job over there… French fleet didn’t wait the americans to save its own citizens and citizens from other countries in that area.
I lkd Ike and Kevin btw