Grid Effect

Last night was like the George Bush of South Park episodes: very divisive. I have to imagine most SP fans either loved it or hated it, mostly because it veered away from the elementary school humor (observing how inane the concerns of elementary school kids are) and focused on the pop culture satire, more specifically a satire on inspirational sports movies, and even more specifically, The Mighty Ducks.

Parker and Stone seem to be resorting more and more too honing in on one character, “Stanley’s Cup” was an example of just that. Outside of a brief appearance from Kyle, Stan was our lone protagonist. And was forced to coach a pee-wee hockey team (a la Emilio Estevez) to retain his bike from city council so he could continue his paper delivery job. I hate dissecting humor, because if it needs explained, then by the end of my explanation you are just going to be disinterested. But this is funny on multiple levels, particularly because most of the adults (his boss, the tow truck guy, the city councilman) Stan has to deal with are so outrageously unreasonable and inept.

The councilman stole the show, every time he chimed in with one of those ridiculously cliched voice overs narrating Stan’s experiences, I couldn’t help but laugh. The voice was verbatim the same voice Parker and Stone used a few years ago when they were parodying all of the Rob Schneider movies (”The Carrot”, “The Stapler”, etc). Essentially everyone from “Stanley’s Cup” was along the lines of: “Stan Marsh has lost his bike that he needs for his job. And now, to get it back, he is going to find out that coaching a pee-wee hockey team (record screeches), is harder than it seems.”

All in all, the episode seemed mailed-in to me, bordering on lazy. All the material was recycled from past episodes. Its a comedy so I am not criticizing the plot or anything, but nothing happened organically and that is generally where the best satire stems from. The humor was so aggressive too, there were even a two more Steve Irwin jokes thrown in for good measure, they weren’t really clever or funny, but solely to grate the nerves of people who were offended with the first go around. I am not one of those people, but the decision to add that in (which in all likelihood was done so after the fact) just seemed like a desperate ploy for attention.

I don’t expect anyone to heed my advice, but if Parker and Stone want to become socially controversial again, they’re going to need to put forth a better effort than this. Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman have set the bar so high (or low, depending on your perspective) that when they crack a couple of Steve Irwin jokes a few weeks after already doing so, most of anyone who was initially offended is now immune. This could be their point, but if its not funny (Again, I am not offended) then it doesn’t work. Anyhow, this is precisely one of the many reasons this show is great: no continuity. We start fresh next Wednesday.