Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Dead Celebrities
"Dead Celebrities" is the eighth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 189th overall episode of the series, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 7, 2009. In the episode, Ike is haunted by the ghosts of dead celebrities who died in the Summer of 2009 until Michael Jackson, who does not want to admit that he is dead, possesses him.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States (specifically for adults, with coarse language). "Dead Celebrities" included references to several actors, singers and famous people who died before or in the middle of summer of 2009, when South Park was on a mid-season hiatus. Among the celebrities featured in the episode were Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, Walter Cronkite, Dom DeLuise, Ted Kennedy, Natasha Richardson, Bea Arthur, David Carradine, DJ AM, Ricardo Montalbán, and Steve McNair. "Dead Celebrities" also parodied the films The Sixth Sense and Poltergeist.
The reality series Ghost Hunters and its stars, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, were mocked in the episode. Hawes and Wilson said they loved the parody and encouraged fans to watch the show on their Twitter accounts. A subplot claimed food at the Chipotle Mexican Grill resulted in customers defecating blood, a claim which was disputed by the restaurant chain within days of the episode's broadcast. "Dead Celebrities" received generally mixed reviews. According to Nielsen ratings, "Dead Celebrities" was seen by 2.67 million overall households.
Ike is traumatized by his frequent encounters with the ghosts of celebrities who have died over the summer. He is haunted by people such as Farrah Fawcett, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, DJ AM, and especially Billy Mays, who repeatedly tries selling Ike products from the afterlife. Kyle is terrified when he finds out about the ghosts his brother is encountering and tells Stan, Cartman and Kenny about the encounters. An initially indifferent Cartman decides to help when Kyle mentions Billy Mays being one of the ghosts; Cartman then shows commercials that feature Mays on television, implying that he is an enthusiastic supporter of a product which Mays promoted while he was still alive, called "ChipotlAway", which cleans bloodstains from people's underwear caused by eating food from the Chipotle Mexican Grill. The boys call the team from the reality television series Ghost Hunters in to help, but they quickly, fearfully start ascribing supernatural meaning to random noises, before urinating and defecating on themselves, and finally running from the house. Eventually, Ike goes into a coma due to his multiple experiences with the ghosts, and is hospitalized.
At the hospital, the boys seek help from Dr. Philips, a medium (a parody of Zelda Rubinstein's character in Poltergeist), who explains the celebrities are trapped in purgatory, which she compares to being stuck on a plane that isn't quite ready to take off. Dr. Philips manages to contact the spirits and tell them that they have passed on. Surprisingly to her, the celebrities are all too acceptant of the fact, with CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite and actor Patrick Swayze revealing their trapped state's cause to be Michael Jackson's refusal to acknowledge his death. Some of the celebrities help Dr. Philips and the boys try to convince Jackson that he is dead, but the latter keeps denying it and insists that people are ignorant and he is not only alive, but also a little white child. His denial is so strong that he emits a powerful force that kills Dr. Philips. The annoyed ghosts of these celebrities are shown in purgatory, which indeed does look like the interior of an airplane, minus the plane itself, complete with seats, flight attendants and pilot voice-over announcements.
After the energy disturbance, Jackson's spirit takes over Ike's body, causing Ike to sound and act like Jackson himself. The boys find from online research that the only way to make Jackson believe he is dead is to give him the acceptance he sought in life, so they take him to a child beauty pageant for young girls. Dressed like a little girl, Ike/Jackson impresses two of the male judges by singing a tune sounding similar to Jackson's "You Are Not Alone", but they are promptly arrested for masturbating while watching the children, leaving a single, unimpressed female judge (much to the shock of the boys, who were unaware of the men's lewd acts and considered them the best judges). When Cartman notices the judge eating Chipotle, he bribes her with knowledge about the ChipotlAway product, and she declares Ike/Jackson the winner as a result. Having found his acceptance, Jackson leaves Ike's body, and Ike is extremely surprised and disgusted to find himself dressed like a little girl.
Later on, Jackson and the other celebrities in purgatory are reunited and they are finally able to lift off. Initially happy, they are soon taken to Hell for not being Mormons. However, the flight attendant tells them that they must again wait as Hell is a tow-in gate and they are annoyed about their further delay to get to Hell rather than being in Hell in general.
"Dead Celebrities" was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It first aired on October 7, 2009, in the United States on Comedy Central. The day after "Dead Celebrities" was originally broadcast, T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts based on the episode were made available at South Park Studios, the official South Park website. It featured a frightened Ike standing above the phrase, "I see dead celebrities".
Dead Celebrities
"Dead Celebrities" is the eighth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 189th overall episode of the series, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 7, 2009. In the episode, Ike is haunted by the ghosts of dead celebrities who died in the Summer of 2009 until Michael Jackson, who does not want to admit that he is dead, possesses him.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States (specifically for adults, with coarse language). "Dead Celebrities" included references to several actors, singers and famous people who died before or in the middle of summer of 2009, when South Park was on a mid-season hiatus. Among the celebrities featured in the episode were Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, Walter Cronkite, Dom DeLuise, Ted Kennedy, Natasha Richardson, Bea Arthur, David Carradine, DJ AM, Ricardo Montalbán, and Steve McNair. "Dead Celebrities" also parodied the films The Sixth Sense and Poltergeist.
The reality series Ghost Hunters and its stars, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, were mocked in the episode. Hawes and Wilson said they loved the parody and encouraged fans to watch the show on their Twitter accounts. A subplot claimed food at the Chipotle Mexican Grill resulted in customers defecating blood, a claim which was disputed by the restaurant chain within days of the episode's broadcast. "Dead Celebrities" received generally mixed reviews. According to Nielsen ratings, "Dead Celebrities" was seen by 2.67 million overall households.
Ike is traumatized by his frequent encounters with the ghosts of celebrities who have died over the summer. He is haunted by people such as Farrah Fawcett, David Carradine, Ed McMahon, DJ AM, and especially Billy Mays, who repeatedly tries selling Ike products from the afterlife. Kyle is terrified when he finds out about the ghosts his brother is encountering and tells Stan, Cartman and Kenny about the encounters. An initially indifferent Cartman decides to help when Kyle mentions Billy Mays being one of the ghosts; Cartman then shows commercials that feature Mays on television, implying that he is an enthusiastic supporter of a product which Mays promoted while he was still alive, called "ChipotlAway", which cleans bloodstains from people's underwear caused by eating food from the Chipotle Mexican Grill. The boys call the team from the reality television series Ghost Hunters in to help, but they quickly, fearfully start ascribing supernatural meaning to random noises, before urinating and defecating on themselves, and finally running from the house. Eventually, Ike goes into a coma due to his multiple experiences with the ghosts, and is hospitalized.
At the hospital, the boys seek help from Dr. Philips, a medium (a parody of Zelda Rubinstein's character in Poltergeist), who explains the celebrities are trapped in purgatory, which she compares to being stuck on a plane that isn't quite ready to take off. Dr. Philips manages to contact the spirits and tell them that they have passed on. Surprisingly to her, the celebrities are all too acceptant of the fact, with CBS News anchorman Walter Cronkite and actor Patrick Swayze revealing their trapped state's cause to be Michael Jackson's refusal to acknowledge his death. Some of the celebrities help Dr. Philips and the boys try to convince Jackson that he is dead, but the latter keeps denying it and insists that people are ignorant and he is not only alive, but also a little white child. His denial is so strong that he emits a powerful force that kills Dr. Philips. The annoyed ghosts of these celebrities are shown in purgatory, which indeed does look like the interior of an airplane, minus the plane itself, complete with seats, flight attendants and pilot voice-over announcements.
After the energy disturbance, Jackson's spirit takes over Ike's body, causing Ike to sound and act like Jackson himself. The boys find from online research that the only way to make Jackson believe he is dead is to give him the acceptance he sought in life, so they take him to a child beauty pageant for young girls. Dressed like a little girl, Ike/Jackson impresses two of the male judges by singing a tune sounding similar to Jackson's "You Are Not Alone", but they are promptly arrested for masturbating while watching the children, leaving a single, unimpressed female judge (much to the shock of the boys, who were unaware of the men's lewd acts and considered them the best judges). When Cartman notices the judge eating Chipotle, he bribes her with knowledge about the ChipotlAway product, and she declares Ike/Jackson the winner as a result. Having found his acceptance, Jackson leaves Ike's body, and Ike is extremely surprised and disgusted to find himself dressed like a little girl.
Later on, Jackson and the other celebrities in purgatory are reunited and they are finally able to lift off. Initially happy, they are soon taken to Hell for not being Mormons. However, the flight attendant tells them that they must again wait as Hell is a tow-in gate and they are annoyed about their further delay to get to Hell rather than being in Hell in general.
"Dead Celebrities" was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It first aired on October 7, 2009, in the United States on Comedy Central. The day after "Dead Celebrities" was originally broadcast, T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts based on the episode were made available at South Park Studios, the official South Park website. It featured a frightened Ike standing above the phrase, "I see dead celebrities".