(S12E04) The South Park guys are going after the Writer's Guild of America, and it's about time.
Trey Parker and Matt Stone are not members of any of the unions, and they negotiated Internet profit-sharing before it became an issue for the WGA. They have also remained consistent with their dislike of the Hollywood creative elite (including actors and writers, although they are both) and their willingness to take a different viewpoint than the popular media.
And what a jab they took at the writers! They basically said that anybody can do what they do and the striking writers were acting in an ignorant and unrealistic manner. They went further to say that they are being replaced by sources such as YouTube (or rather, YouToob) videos and that their strike victory was only a token one. I wonder, after this episode, if the WGA board found itself in the same restaurant as Matt and Trey at the same time, would they get up and leave in protest?
Was the Canadian strike leader "Steve Abootman" a parody of anybody in particular or was he a general pastiche of the WGA leadership? He sounded a little like Cartman. No surprise there since Trey Parker does most of the ancillary voices himself.
This was really a musical episode! Two songs within a 22 minute show. We had "Canada On Strike" and "What What In The Butt", the latter of which seemed a mild satire on the Matt Damon/Ben Affleck videos from Jimmy Kimmel Live! Between the music and setting up Canada as the enemy, it was a lite version of South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut.
How awesome was the battle royal scene with all the YouTube people? I'm surprised they missed "LonelyGirl15", but maybe that was because that particular sensation was staged. I didn't even recognize all of them, but I certainly remembered the Star Wars Kid and Chris "Leave Britney Alone" Crocker. I knew the fight would lead to fatalities as it always does on this show. It would be hilarious if that clip made it to YouTube (and it probably will). Who were you rooting for in the YouTube battle royal?
The Canadians themselves had some scintillating conversation. "I'm not your guy, friend." "I'm not your friend, buddy." "I'm not your buddy, guy."
For the record, I don't agree with their opinion of the WGA Strike. I do think writers are important to the creative process and don't feel the strike was in vain (although the writers did make compromises to end the strike, but who doesn't make compromises for work nowadays?).
The creators of South Park tend to borrow camera shots from famous movies or other shows. I recall them using a scene with Jimmy carrying a prostitute that was taken from An Officer and a Gentlemen. With that in mind, can anybody tell me if the crowd pan from near the end of the episode was taken from some other movie or television scene?
Matt and Trey seemed particularly scathing and pretentious in their beliefs in this episode, but it was a damn funny episode. In that regard, I am torn with regards to my feelings toward this one. I am, however, happy to see South Park get back on track to the focus and humor from the previous seasons.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
4-02-2008 @ 11:47PM
Wii60 said...
It's about time they did. I thought they'd make fun of the WGA the first episode back.
Some of the jokes fell flat this week, but it was still funny and the message was great. The epic showdown between the internet celebrities was great too.
This show is so brilliant, it makes me feel HIV-positive.
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4-03-2008 @ 12:16AM
Jeremy Stanley said...
*sigh*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbGkxcY7YFU
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4-03-2008 @ 2:46AM
Nathaniel said...
I don't know what to think now that I know that was such a direct parody...
4-03-2008 @ 12:41AM
mayorjimmy said...
As usual, Trey and Matt hit the nail head on. I mean seriously, what DID the writers win? Unless you followed the strike closely (like if say, you write for a blog about TV) then pretty much all you know about the strike is
1 - it happened
2 - it's over
3 - TV did not implode and we all got along just fine on reruns, internet, and whatnot.
4 - nobody REALLY gave a rat's @ss
i mean come on, you didn't actually think a bunch of uber-well-paid executives were just going to hand over the keys to the kingdom did you? Yes there's money to be made off the internet and digital distribution. How much is yet to be determined. So why would the execs just give away possible future profits to a group of easily replaced people? oh and don't tell me they aren't easily replaced. if you think the American public demands QUALITY entertainment, well then you need to go surf youtube some more and check out just what kind of mindless crap is on the top of the most watched list.
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4-03-2008 @ 7:45AM
Blake said...
A 2% raise equals the keys to the kingdom now?
4-03-2008 @ 1:54AM
Chuck said...
Sorry Jeremy, Butters's was funnier
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4-03-2008 @ 1:05AM
Oreo said...
I loved this episode. It explains perfectly what happened, the writers gave up but wanted to save face.
I also love the guy going "Now God want hate us wen we have anal sex", it was completely random, I loved it.
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4-06-2008 @ 4:53PM
Samuel said...
I usually find South Park funny, but this new season sucks so far. This episode shows exactly how detached Trey Parker has become from the real world.
Writers weren't just striking for the arbitrary want of "more money". It's not as if writers are that well paid, and they can never count on that paycheck being there next week.
Corporations are making millions off of the internet, and the writers (who weren't seeing a single cent off of it all) wanted to get in on the ground floor so they didn't have to negotiate in a decade when the corporations are making HUNDREDS of millions.
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4-03-2008 @ 1:25AM
Aaron Slater said...
How long ago did they write this one? They totally missed the Rick Rolling phenomenon...
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4-03-2008 @ 1:28AM
E.T. said...
Strange Matt and Trey didn't know the Star Wars Kid is Canadian, shouldn't he have that strange heads like all Canadians have on the show.
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4-03-2008 @ 1:37AM
Eli said...
I was disappointed with this weeks episode... it seemed uninspired, as if Trey and Matt wanted to just say "The writers' strike was lame" and stretch it out to 22 minutes. I was actually bored for most of the episode, and when I wasn't nodding off, I was rolling my eyes at the blatant self-awareness. There were barely any actual jokes in the YouToob Battle Royale scene; they just relied on pop culture references to carry the scene. It reminded me of Meet the Spartans. The WGA scenes had a few clever lines, but as a whole, it was very tired; none of the auxiliary characters really had much... character. Even the "buddy, friend, guy" gag got old fast.
The few Ike parts were great; that's the South Park I know and love. I laughed at the anal sex joke. The rest just seemed forced. IMO, it doesn't come close to measuring up to, say, Britney's New Look.
By the way, Brad, Butters' "What What (In The Butt)" is a nearly direct (and brilliant) adaptation of the popular video of the same name (Jeremy posted the link above). And if you look closely enough, you can indeed see LG15 in the background.
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4-03-2008 @ 1:39AM
Phish said...
i 100% agree with them, thats why this show is so awesome, its sooo RELEVANT.
WGA did a stupid thing, and it was a token victory, thats obvious.
they didnt get the main thing they were asking for, which was for animation and reality writers to fall under their nazi-like grip.
writers are extremely valuable, however, only the talented ones who have proved themselves shoule be rewarded, and they are! they are usually made producers.
the less talented writers, should strive to succeed just like EVERYONE else in the real world!
striking for more money when you dont really deserve it is the same as extortion!
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4-03-2008 @ 1:43AM
Vito said...
I do so love the "topical" South Park episodes these days. What was that bit about losing something with multiple viewings? Almost never happens when they decide they aren't going to "get" somebody. Remind me exactly why that room full of YouTube stars is better than Family Guy? Oh, right, because they made it a plotline. Well, that makes it much more creative.
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4-03-2008 @ 3:10AM
YouFaceTheTick said...
Rarely write this but I agreed with their take on something. The WGA's strike was ridiculous, knowing this Parker and Stone took aim and nailed the WGA. Too bad they're the only people in Hollywood with the 'nads to go after something as worthless as a writer's guild.
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4-03-2008 @ 3:51AM
somemale said...
I need a Butters - 'what what in your butt' ringtone!!
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4-03-2008 @ 5:19AM
Blake said...
This was such crappy satire. The representation of the real WGA's demands was ridiculously slanted and misinformed. Writers demanding a two cents on the dollar payout from content they had a strong hand in creating is nowhere NEAR the same as a whole country randomly asking for "internet money." And what about residuals for DVDs and VHS tapes? Could they not find a halfway decent way to parallel that or were they just ignorant of what actually happened? If executives who run the companies can make money from content distributed on the internet, then why shouldn't the people who frigging WROTE IT? I'm not surprised multimillionaires Matt and Trey don't give a shit about all the people who rake in 30 to 50 grand a year doing the same thing they do. Interestingly enough, this was one of the laziest written episodes of any TV show I've seen in my life. "HURRR LET'S LIST INTERNET FADS AND THEN HAVE THEM KILL EACH OTHER! HURRR!" They couldn't even come up with a goddamn original thing for Butters to do. Instead they basically plagiarized someone else's work.
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4-03-2008 @ 10:58PM
Phish said...
seems like blake is one of those loser writers, who lost 3 months pay, standing in line like a douchebag, to get bubble gum!
or even worse, he's not one, so that makes him a complete idiot
4-03-2008 @ 6:07AM
Peku said...
I thought this was the first really great episode of the season. Loved every moment of it and to me it seems like they totally nailed WGA.
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4-03-2008 @ 7:53AM
Mike said...
All of the internet celebrity videos... Somehow I hadn't seen them all.
http://redgreenblur.com/blog/archive/2008/04/02/south-park-internet-people.aspx
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4-03-2008 @ 8:39AM
Karen said...
Lonelygirl15 was standing in the background. I kept expecting her to be referred to, but she never was.
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