Sarcastaball
"Sarcastaball" | |
---|---|
South Park episode | |
Episode no. | Season 16 Episode 8 |
Directed by | Trey Parker |
Written by | Trey Parker |
Production code | 1608 |
Original air date | September 26, 2012 |
"Sarcastaball" is the eighth episode of the
The episode references the
Plot
When
When Cartman tells Butters that his inability to be nice to people makes him a poor Sarcastaball player, Butters tells him that everyone has a creamy goo inside them that can make them good to others. Butters shows Cartman a closet filled of jars of this "goo", which turns out to be semen that he has stored from his nocturnal emissions, some of which he has Cartman and the other players ingest, not knowing what it is, in order to improve their game. This tactic spreads until a popular sports drink made of Butters' semen is publicly marketed as "Butters' Creamy Goo" and endorsed by professional players.
Meanwhile, after Randy's wife, Sharon, expresses to Randy her concern that he has become unable to speak without being sarcastic, they consult a doctor, who tells them that sarcasm has caused Randy irreversible brain damage. Randy then goes to his son's Sarcastaball game to plead with the crowd that sarcasm, and the game based on it, is dangerous. Stan and Cartman tell Randy that when Butters says that competitiveness can be compassionate, he is not being sarcastic, but entirely sincere, and that Randy is simply too grumpy to consider that the game can be played sincerely. When Stan gives Randy some of the "sports drink" to boost his feelings of caring and goodness, Randy realizes it is semen. As a result, Butters is grounded for having others consume his semen despite being unaware of what semen and sarcasm actually are. When Butters subsequently experiences an erection, his father tells him it is a "friendly compass" that informs him when friends are near, and that it is pointing up to heaven, because Jesus is his friend.
Critical reception
Michael O'Brien of Screen Invasion praised the episode's criticism of the September 2012 replacement referee controversy, observing that the series' timing enables it to produce episodes that are relevant, though he opined that the running sarcasm dialogue "runs tedious at about the halfway point" and "teeter-totters on the line of hit and miss". O'Brien nonetheless stated that he laughed out loud during the Butters storyline.[4]
Lindsey Bahr of
Max Nicholson of IGN thought the episode's topical humor, double entendre and juvenile running gags gave it the potential to be a classic, but that it was clear the show was "scrambling to make ends meet in certain areas." In particular, Nicholson found Butters' B-story weaker than Randy's, claiming that after the third or fourth repetition the joke had lost its impact. However, he still found that Randy kept the episode from becoming disappointing, and concludes that despite its weaker points, Randy's story made Sarcastaball "assuredly succeed."[6]
Carter Dotson of TV Fanatic, while conceding he "wanted to throw up at times" while watching the episode, found its lampooning of football "on-target", in particular its treatment of sports radio host Jim Rome and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, and stated that the series' ability to remain true to its characters while skewering current events results in its best episodes.[7]
References
- ^ "Episode 1608 Press Release". South Park Studios. September 23, 2012
- ^ "Sarcastaball (Season 16, Episode 8)". South Park Studios. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
- ^ "South Park takes aim at NFL, refs and head trauma in Sarcastaball". Sporting News. September 27, 2012. Archived from the original on February 2, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ O'Brien, Michael (September 27, 2012). "South Park, 'Sarcastaball' Episode Recap". Screen Invasion.
- ^ Bahr, Lindsey (September 27, 2012). "'South Park' Recap: 'Sarcastaball'". Vulture. Retrieved March 12, 2022.
- ^ Nicholson, Max (September 27, 2012). South Park: "Sarcastaball" Review IGN. Retrieved March 12, 2022
- ^ Dotson, Carter (September 27, 2012). "South Park Review: That's a Great Idea!". TV Fanatic.
External links
- "Sarcastaball" Full episode at South Park Studios
- "Sarcastaball" at IMDb