Broadway Bro Down
Encyclopedia
"Broadway Bro Down" is the eleventh episode of the fifteenth season
of the American animated television series South Park
, and the 220th episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central
in the United States
on October 26, 2011.
The episode was co-written by Trey Parker
and Robert Lopez
, who previously worked with Parker and Matt Stone
on the Tony Award
-winning The Book of Mormon, and is rated TV-MA L S in the United States.
. Randy takes Sharon to see Wicked
, but is confused and unimpressed with the lack of overt sexuality. He is informed by a fellow theatergoer at the theater's bar that women are aroused not by the production's explicit sexuality, but by its subtext
. When Randy returns to the auditorium, he now hears the actors using the word "blowjob" in the songs' lyrics. On the ride home Sharon performs fellatio
on him, and as a result, Randy decides to take her to New York City to see all the Broadway shows, leaving Stan and Shelley with the Feegans, South Park's resident life-preserver wearing vegans. During their dinner with the Feegans, Shelly gets into a confrontation with Mr. Feegan over letting his son Larry decide for himself if he wants to be a vegan. This results in Larry's falling in love with Shelly and discarding his vegan lifestyle and his life preserver.
Upon returning to South Park, Randy laments the fact that he does not live closer to a major theater venue like Broadway, as the Denver production of Wicked, to which he has already taken Sharon 23 times, will soon move to Seattle. He decides to produce a local play, though he discards subtext by naming it Splooge-Drenched Blowjob Queen, and explicitly including the word "blowjob" in all its songs' lyrics. This attracts the attention of Stephen Sondheim
, Stephen Schwartz
, Andrew Lloyd Webber
, and Elton John
, who chastise Randy for the overt use of sexuality in his play, explaining to him that the lack of any real subtext would expose the truth behind Broadway shows. Randy dismisses their criticisms, insisting that his play is filled with subtext, but after a "bro-down" with Sondheim in a parking lot, in which they confront each other with verbal challenges, Randy agrees to accept their assistance, and renames his play The Woman in White.
When Randy returns home and learns that Sharon gave Shelly two tickets to see Wicked with Larry, Randy is horrified, and races to Denver with Sharon, revealing to her the truth about Broadway shows, much to her own horror. Initially thrown out of he theater for being disruptive, Randy dons a Spider-Man
costume and swings through the auditorium, knocking out several patrons and production personnel, and breaking open a water main
, forcing the play into an intermission and fatally drowning Larry, much to Shelly's grief. Randy apologizes to Sharon for taking her to the theater to get oral sex in return, though she expresses difficulty in faulting him for doing what all other men also do, pointing out that musicals must have value if they brought them closer together. When Sharon asks which show is coming to Denver next, an advertisement for Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez's musical The Book of Mormon plays, with the narrator quickly saying, "You'll get a blowjob".
graded the episode an A, stating, "The show has long featured the musical stylings of its co-creators, but rarely has that skill been deployed as effectively as tonight’s masterful half-hour."
South Park (season 15)
The fifteenth season of South Park, an American animated television series, began airing on April 27, 2011 and ended on November 16, 2011. In response to reactions to the mid-season finale episode "You're Getting Old", which seemed to insinuate that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were wrapping...
of the American animated television series South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, and the 220th episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on October 26, 2011.
The episode was co-written by Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
and Robert Lopez
Robert Lopez
Robert Lopez is an American composer and lyricist of musicals best known for co-writing the Broadway musical Avenue Q and for co-creating the musical The Book of Mormon, receiving Tony Awards for both works....
, who previously worked with Parker and Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
on the Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
-winning The Book of Mormon, and is rated TV-MA L S in the United States.
Plot
Randy hears from his male co-workers that taking women to Broadway shows sexually arouses them into performing fellatioFellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
. Randy takes Sharon to see Wicked
Wicked (musical)
Wicked is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by Winnie Holzman. It is based on the Gregory Maguire novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West , a parallel novel of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and L. Frank Baum's classic story The Wonderful Wizard...
, but is confused and unimpressed with the lack of overt sexuality. He is informed by a fellow theatergoer at the theater's bar that women are aroused not by the production's explicit sexuality, but by its subtext
Subtext
Subtext or undertone is content of a book, play, musical work, film, video game, or television series which is not announced explicitly by the characters but is implicit or becomes something understood by the observer of the work as the production unfolds. Subtext can also refer to the thoughts...
. When Randy returns to the auditorium, he now hears the actors using the word "blowjob" in the songs' lyrics. On the ride home Sharon performs fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
on him, and as a result, Randy decides to take her to New York City to see all the Broadway shows, leaving Stan and Shelley with the Feegans, South Park's resident life-preserver wearing vegans. During their dinner with the Feegans, Shelly gets into a confrontation with Mr. Feegan over letting his son Larry decide for himself if he wants to be a vegan. This results in Larry's falling in love with Shelly and discarding his vegan lifestyle and his life preserver.
Upon returning to South Park, Randy laments the fact that he does not live closer to a major theater venue like Broadway, as the Denver production of Wicked, to which he has already taken Sharon 23 times, will soon move to Seattle. He decides to produce a local play, though he discards subtext by naming it Splooge-Drenched Blowjob Queen, and explicitly including the word "blowjob" in all its songs' lyrics. This attracts the attention of Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
, Stephen Schwartz
Stephen Schwartz (composer)
Stephen Lawrence Schwartz is an American musical theatre lyricist and composer. In a career spanning over four decades, Schwartz has written such hit musicals as Godspell , Pippin and Wicked...
, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
, and Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
, who chastise Randy for the overt use of sexuality in his play, explaining to him that the lack of any real subtext would expose the truth behind Broadway shows. Randy dismisses their criticisms, insisting that his play is filled with subtext, but after a "bro-down" with Sondheim in a parking lot, in which they confront each other with verbal challenges, Randy agrees to accept their assistance, and renames his play The Woman in White.
When Randy returns home and learns that Sharon gave Shelly two tickets to see Wicked with Larry, Randy is horrified, and races to Denver with Sharon, revealing to her the truth about Broadway shows, much to her own horror. Initially thrown out of he theater for being disruptive, Randy dons a Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
costume and swings through the auditorium, knocking out several patrons and production personnel, and breaking open a water main
Water supply network
A water supply system or water supply network is a system of engineered hydrologic and hydraulic components which provide water supply. A water supply system typically includes:# A drainage basin ;...
, forcing the play into an intermission and fatally drowning Larry, much to Shelly's grief. Randy apologizes to Sharon for taking her to the theater to get oral sex in return, though she expresses difficulty in faulting him for doing what all other men also do, pointing out that musicals must have value if they brought them closer together. When Sharon asks which show is coming to Denver next, an advertisement for Trey Parker, Matt Stone and Robert Lopez's musical The Book of Mormon plays, with the narrator quickly saying, "You'll get a blowjob".
Reception
Ryan McGhee of The A.V. ClubThe A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
graded the episode an A, stating, "The show has long featured the musical stylings of its co-creators, but rarely has that skill been deployed as effectively as tonight’s masterful half-hour."