South Park - "*ss Burgers" - Talkback [10/5]

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Well everyone the second half of season 15 of South Park starts up tonight at 10PM. Will it just be a bunch of crap, or we finding something else to stick in the buns? Find out more right now.

EPISODE 217!

SYNOPSIS: "Cartman finds a unique way of coping with Asperger's Syndrome. Even Kyle and Kenny are on board. Meanwhile, Stan can't seem to get his life back to normal no matter what he tries. Will anything ever be the same in South Park again?"

So yeah seems like they ARE continuing with the plot from "You're Getting Old" so how will SP get back to normal and how will they wind up making fun of/Cartman misunderstanding this disease? Tune in and find out in four and a half hours cause despite what you may of thought from last time, SP is back people!

Oh and the title of the episode is "Ass Burgers" but the moderators have problems with titles that have cursing in it so for their sake I decided to censor the title some.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Oh, this should be great.

It was revealed earlier than today. I saw this title on a video screen when 60 Minutes interviewed Trey and Matt at South Park Studios; somehow I didn't get the pun until now.

 

[trance2009]

Watching the first part now. That rendition of the Smashing Pumpkins song still kills me.

 

[TnAdct1]

Looks like South Park definitely knows what's going on in terms of Asperger's (as I myself am diagnosed with Asperger's myself).

Depression is common (in my case, it's when something on TV or manga upsets me), I do act awkward in public (usually when I get a little too excited), and I have a feeling that the world is turning into number 2 (in my case, it's getting dumber and dumber).

EDIT: It figures that they'd do something to ensure that things go back to status quo.

 

[MDawg]

Watching the first part now. That rendition of the Smashing Pumpkins song still kills me.

Yeah, it's amazing how Fleetwood Mac traveled back in time two decades before Smashing Pumpkins made it so they could steal it as their own

 

[Neo Ultra Mike]

Hmmm this is another interesting one to analyze more then to just outright laugh at, though I suppose less then "You're Getting Old". I suppose the point of this one is that the reasons people keep the same old status quo and daily goings on is that for some, they are either too "old" or simply just can't shake things up like they us to. And once you settle into a groove trying to get out of it seems impossible. Which actually is a good deconsturction of the whole "back to the status quo" that pretty much every other animated sitcom seems to have. Yeah SP goes with it but it actually analyzes the formula and has someone want to break from it but everything else in his life won't. I think that's espiecally true for SP as I don't think Matt and Trey want to be locked into specifc changes with their characters due to how their series works. And in the end a lot of people beg for normality anyway so why not try and have a shake up and then show just how annoying it is to go back to the same old same old? Worked better here then... in pretty much every other show I've seen try and pull this.

As for the actual comedy and how the plots went, basic SP. Nothing amazing or anything but nothing really terrible. The best part of the Stan part was the ad for Terra Nova, Stan actually admitting feeling sick of hating everything and wanting to like things (since that seemed like a rare truley geuinine moment), the Morephus esque guy saying that Asbergers isn't a real disease as that'd be an insensitve thing to call people (Asbergers = *ss burgers works though since that's not only what I thought when I first heard about the disease but what other people I've seen thought as well), Stan not wanting to be part of another ridicolous concept, drunken Stan loving Jack and Jill, Drunken Stan trying to talk to Kyle but pulling a Cartman, Stan talking about wanting to enjoy all the changes and thinking some random extras could be his friend, and Stan not wanting to see his parents get back together and finally having to deal with things getting back to normal. (Thinking about it of the fourth Stan was always the most cynical about a lot of things espiecally in the later seasons so I guess his cyncism has gone full out and now he needs beer to temper it).

The Cartman and Kyle plot wasn't as good really as it was pushed to the side. I do like the two of them actually getting along and working in a friendler venture then say "Crack Baby Athelic Association" and the burgers actually being good due to Cartman farting on them. Though honestly the only good jokes for that was Butters and Cartman being shocked to learn Asbergers is a real disease, the nurse scene (or it would be if the trailers didn't spoil it), the reveal of who the secret shadowy group is and... yeah that's pretty much it. Overall though this one though not great did do a good job of finishing the climax and ultimatley having a satisfying conclusion even if that conlcusion was just "yeah we're old and we can't go in new directions so back to the same old". Really works best since people think Stan's already a downer and no one would want the rest of the series of him being negative and hey hopefully we've moved on from all the full on crap jokes and can have that toned down for the rest of the run.

 

[Sadsic]

Honestly I think this just made Asperger's look like a fake disease, in the Tourette's episode (another form of Autism) they went out of their way to explicitly say that it was a real disease that people suffer through, but here they basically said it was just socially awkward people who think everything is bad and do not know how to cope correctly. While that's bad, there is conjecture that asperger's is NOT a real syndrome (for DSM-V there are proposals to remove asperger's completely), so I imagine there will quite a bit of controversy from various people in the mental health community over this in various ways.

 

[defunctzombie]

I kind of didn't like the Asperger's jokes, but I saw the ending coming.

 

[Daxdiv]

I liked how the description fooled me into think that Cartman was going to milk it like the time he had Tourette's, but instead they made it that Stan was the one being misdiagnosed and Cartman just being his idiot self into thinking that Asperger's meant producing burgers from his anus. When I saw the title, I thought it was going to be Cartman that was going to be misdiagnosed with the disease.

Enough about that, let's talk about the episode. I still think it's a shame that they went and hit the reset button by having Stan's parent's get back together. It would have been nice to see that change of pace. So I guess Stan is taking to drinking to see the world better, eh... it's a cartoon so it doesn't bother me.

 

[Toonatic]

Finally, the conclusion! I was thinking it would've gone to a 3-parter. Anyway, glad it concluded on a so-so note and things can finally get back to normal in South Park!

Incidentally, who would've thought Stan still lived in South Park just moved to a different spot and not in another town somewehre when we found out! That was funny!

 

[TnAdct1]

One thought that came up that is a case of fridge brilliance: as someone diagnosed with Asperger's, I'm aware that one symptom involves a different way of perceiving things, such as thinking that there's a conspiracy theory going around.

Because of that, I've come to realize that the "Matrix" group aren't people that made up Asperger's Syndrome as a way to hide their true motives, but rather actual Asperger's sufferers who not only have the aforementioned symptom (especially given the fact that the leader keeps changing who the "big bad' is), but are also in denial about their condition.

 

[OnePark]

That's the joke! Trey and Matt do their research and it shows here.

 

[ABrown]

So assburgers is a real disorder? Ha, you learn something new every day. Leave it to South Park to take something unfortunate that people suffer from and turn it into something hilarious.

 

[Radical]

Awesome/hilarious episode which was a nice conclusion to the 2-parter arc,

The highlights:
Stan moves to a different spot in South Park, surprising.
The rendition of The Smashing Pumpkins song.
Poop jokes in Terra Nova, hahahahaha.
Eric/Butters shocked to learn Aspergers is a real disease.
The Aspergers jokes with burgers produced from your anus, sick/hilarious, hahahahahaha.
Mr. Mackey and Mr. Small are the best hilarious school counselors ever.
Poor Stan wants it back the way it was.
Stan hearing Mr. Mackey saying that he has Aspergers, hehehe.
The Duck President spitting crap, hahahahaha.
Eric in his idiot self having the Aspergers disease, hahahahaha.
Mark urinating on Stan, so gross/funny.
The Secret Society of Cynics are funny new characters along with a cool The Matrix parody.
Nice with Kyle/Eric getting along as friends with them doing a hamburger stand together.
The Secret Society of Cynics making Stan drunk to see the world better was interesting.
Drunken Stan loving Jack & Jill, talking to Kyle, and pulling an Eric Cartman diss on Kyle, hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!
The evil restaurant managers wanting to know the secret of Eric's hamburgers.
Stan threatened by the restaurant managers, hehehe.
The Secret Society of Cynics being drunk like Stan, hahahahaha.
Stan accepting the changes along with his speech was beautiful.
The Marsh Family moving back together was quick, but kind of a shame though.
Stan getting drunk to go with Kyle/Eric/Kenny, hahahahaha.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

So assburgers is a real disorder? Ha, you learn something new every day. Leave it to South Park to take something unfortunate that people suffer from and turn it into something hilarious.

The term has actually been retired already. Psychologists now diagnose it as "Autism Spectrum Disorder" because the severity varies. Of course, now it's too late -- society has embraced the old name and it's going to be really hard to change. Once you actually call something "ass burgers" there's no going back.

 

[defunctzombie]

There's actually a "P" in the word. Asperger's. It's always interesting to see how people in English muddle their consonants around.

 

[TnAdct1]

That's the joke! Trey and Matt do their research and it shows here.

Oh yeah, I'm well aware of that Trey and Matt actually did do the research on the disorder, as seen in my original post.

The thing that I was mentioning is that this is different from your typical "adults are idiots" plotline (i. e. Pee, Sexual Healing, the one where the boys write a dirty book) in that there's a reason for the idiocy.

 

[Jzpierce]

Well, at least they gave Aspergers a relatively accurate description. Tourettes they screwed up big time. Coming from someone who has it and loves South Park, that means a lot.

 

[MadMan400096]

Okay, I love South Park, and I thought the episode was good...Until the ending ruined the entire episode. It was the most horrible, laziest ending in the entire history of cartoons. The rest of the forum could have thought of a better ending! And I should know, because we thought of some predictions in a thread I started.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

Okay, I love South Park, and I thought the episode was good...Until the ending ruined the entire episode. It was the most horrible, laziest ending in the entire history of cartoons. The rest of the forum could have thought of a better ending! And I should know, because we thought of some predictions in a thread I started.

That was the joke. And hey, I laughed -- even though I was half-hoping to see where this "new direction" would take the show.