Movies & TV / Reviews
South Park 1.3 Review – ‘Weight Gain 4000’
Loading...Hello, I’m Jeremy Lambert and welcome to A Trip Into Imagination Land – Classic South Park Reviews. The title is too long to fit into the headline. If you came here just to find me on social media, you can head over to my Twitter @jeremylambert88. If you came here to read about your favorite animated comedy, I’m not reviewing Rick and Morty.
Episode Title – “Weight Gain 4000”
Premiere Date – August 27, 1997
Background
The third episode to air, but the second episode to be written. “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe” tested poorly with audiences, but Comedy Central wanted one more script before deciding whether or not to move forward with the series.
So, when you’re looking for the real episode that started it all for Matt Stone and Trey Parker, this is it. Since this was the second produced episode by the duo, it was the first to use computer animation. Fans likely noticed a pretty big difference between “Cartman Gets an Anal Probe” and “Volcano.” The animation differences between “Volcano” and “Weight Gain 4000” are less noticeable.
Plot and Advancements
The disclaimer prior to every South Park has remained the same since Episode 1. The line that has always stuck out is, “All celebrity voices are impersonated…..poorly.” The first two episodes featured no celebrity portrayal, but the disclaimer gave insight as to where the show could go.
Kathie Lee Gifford embraces the town of South Park to present Cartman with the “Save Our Fragile Planet” essay award. Astute viewers noticed the sentence “I’m not positive, but I think Cathy Lee Gifford is much older than she claims to be,” on the chalkboard behind Mr. Garrison in Episode 1. Little did we know his hatred for Kathie Lee went beyond misspelling her name. We also learn that Mr. Hat is more than a puppet on Mr. Garrison’s hand. He’s an inner conscious of Garrison. The hooded Kermit, if you will.
With Kathie Lee coming to town, Mayor McDaniels sees this as another opportunity to boost her profile. State Senator McDaniels doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, but lets not alliteration get in the way of dreams.
Say it with me, “Beefcake. Beefcake! BEEFCAKE!” Cartman’s quest to pack on muscle and be camera ready goes awry when he just gets fatter. We continue to see the relationship Cartman has with his mom, as she drops everything to get him some weight gain 4000, despite grocery day not being until tomorrow. Once again, she’s the only responsible parent on this show.
We’re also introduced to more of the children as Bebe and Clyde get dialogue. Also of note, Stan does not throw up when Wendy talks to him in this episode. Guess he’s learned how to control his gag reflex a bit. Finally, Kenny dies on the first attempt in this episode, although his death is doubled if you take the headshot followed by the pole sliding.
Does It Hold Up?
The scene featuring Mr. Garrison buying a gun turned out to be ahead of its time. It also shows just how easy it’s always been to be a gun holder in America. Maybe you draw parallels to Cartman getting in shape to be television ready to the “perfect body” everyone aspires to have nowadays. I’d go the other way and say Cartman was happy with the body he had. He thought he was a “beefcake” even if he was just a “big fat ass.”
Unlike the past two episodes, there’s less “well, this might be offensive in 2017” and more humor that still plays today.
Cartman is once again the star of the episode. The description of rainbows, “poptarts are frosted,” and “if they’re so smart, why do they live in igloos?” Gets me every single time I watch this episode. In fact, anytime someone brings up dolphins, that line is the only thing I can think of.
Screaming “Beefcake” was most certainly a thing for the next 10 years. If you were in middle school or high school when this episode aired, it was most likely the only word you heard at school throughout the next week.
