Butters' Bottom Bitch
Encyclopedia
"Butters' Bottom Bitch" is the ninth episode of the thirteenth season
of the American animated television series South Park
, and the 190th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central
in the United States on October 14, 2009. In the episode, Butters
pays a girl $5 to give him his first kiss, which prompts Butters to start his own "kissing company" and eventually becomes a pimp
.
The episode was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker
, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. "Butters' Bottom Bitch" received particular attention for a scene in which Butters visited an ACORN
office seeking benefits for his prostitutes, a reference to the real-life 2009 scandal
. The episode received generally positive reviews and was seen by 2.56 million overall households, according to Nielsen Media Research
.
purchases his first kiss from Sally, who gives away kisses for $5. Having won the respect of his fellow classmates, he devises a plan to advertise Sally's services to other unpopular boys at the school. Sally gives Butters a 40 percent cut for his advertising and managing services, and Butters soon turns the venture into a full-fledged "kissing company" by recruiting more girls to fill in during times in which Sally is busy. Upon learning about Butters' business, Kyle
tells him that he is "nothing but a common pimp
". Oblivious to what the word means, Butters attends a pimp convention where he seeks advice from more-experienced pimps, including one called Keyshone. Afterward, he starts to mimic the pimp jargon
, such as referring to Sally as his "bottom bitch
," and incorporating "Do you know what I am saying?" into his conversations.
To combat the apparent rise in prostitution
, Sergeant Yates of the Park County Police goes undercover
as a female prostitute named "Yolanda". During stings, to the bewilderment of the police, the poorly-disguised Yates waits until he is done engaging in actual sex acts with his male patrons before making an arrest for no apparent reason. After he engages in group sex with numerous members of the fraternity house Alpha Tau Omega
and doing business for a pimp named Keyshone, Yates's fellow officers begin to openly suggest that Yates is getting too carried away with his duties. Meanwhile, Butters' reputation as the respectful "new pimp" spreads throughout the county, prompting actual adult prostitutes to seek employment with Butters. As his workforce expands, Butters tries offering health care
and other benefits to his employees. To this end, he visits the local ACORN
office to apply for low-income housing benefits, seek mortgage loans, and inquire about the tax-status of his business. Butters is initially refused until he identifies the boss as a client of some of the real prostitutes working for Butters.
Sergeant Yates, still undercover, seeks employment with Butters. But Yolanda's pimp, Keyshone, soon appears outside and begs for "Yolanda" back, asking for her hand in marriage. Butters insists that he cannot allow "Yolanda" to work for him, claiming it would interfere with the "true love" Keyshone and "Yolanda" share. "Yolanda" accepts the proposal, and Butters decides to quit his job as a pimp. To the delight of his employees, he encourages them to function under the self-management of the company so they can keep whatever they earn for themselves. While "Yolanda" and Keyshone are shown celebrating their first anniversary together in a small chalet in the mountains in Switzerland
, Yates suddenly decides to spring his sting operation. Revealing his true identity, he pulls out his gun and badge and informs Keyshone that he is under arrest.
"Butters' Bottom Bitch" 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 14, 2009 in the United States on Comedy Central. "The scene in which Butters visits the ACORN
office seeking benefits for his prostitutes is a reference to the real-life 2009 scandal
in which activist James O'Keefe
secretly filmed himself posing as a pimp during meetings with ACORN employees. The scene generated the greatest amount of media attention for "Butters' Bottom Bitch" after its original broadcast. The pimp convention includes references to Pimps Up, Ho's Down
, an HBO documentary about the pimping lifestyle, featuring real-life pimps. The scene in which the lieutenant calls his john a "nasty fucker" during sex, mirrored a scene from the documentary, Hookers at the Point. Butters tells the ACORN employees they can get kisses from girls down the alley by the Sizzler
, a reference to the steak and seafood restaurant chain.
The song that plays during the lieutenant's stripper scene at the fraternity party is "Fuck the Pain Away
", by Peaches
.
. It received a 1.7 rating/3 share, and a 1.3 rating/4 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49. In a surprise, South Park was outperformed in the 18 to 49 age group by the Bravo reality television series Top Chef
, which was seen by 2.67 million viewers. "Butters' Bottom Bitch" also tied for the evening in the 18–49 rating with the Syfy
reality television series Ghost Hunters
(2.9 million household viewers) and only slightly outperformed the Discovery Channel
popular science
television program Mythbusters
(2.69 million household viewers), which surprised TV by the Number's Robert Seidman. "Butters' Bottom Bitch" was also outperformed by the Spike TV
mixed martial arts
competition series The Ultimate Fighter
, which was watched by 2.82 million household viewers and had the highest cable ratings for the night in the 18 to 49 age group.
"Butters' Bottom Bitch" received generally positive reviews. Ramsey Isler of IGN
gave the episode an 8.2 out of 10 rating. He said although it started slow, "once this episode found its legs, it was non-stop funny." Isler praised the South Park writers for coming up with a surprising funny plot, and said it ranked among Butters' best moments in the series. Carlos Delgado of iF Magazine said it was good to see an episode focused strictly on comedy, after a string of episodes focusing on social satire. Delgado said the premise of the episode was absurd and over-the-top, but appreciated that South Park was continuing to push boundaries by mocking such issues as prostitution.
The A.V. Club
writer Josh Modell said the episode "was pretty damn funny, but I'm predisposed to Butters in general as well as the wide world of pimping." Wired
writer Chris Kohler said the topical and timely jokes in "Butters' Bottom Bitch", such as the satire on ACORN, were a strong example of what kept South Park funny and relevant. Not all reviews were positive. Sean O'Neal, also of The A.V. Club, gave the episode a C grade, and said "It was basically one not held for the run of the ep, in service of a simple little story without many surprises." O'Neal said the subplot involving the police was "similarly repetitious", but he liked how the two plots came together to resolve each other.
set and two-disc Blu-Ray
set in the United States on March 16, 2010. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode, a collection of deleted scenes, and a special mini-feature Inside Xbox: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of South Park Studios, which discussed the process behind animating the show Inside xBox.
South Park (season 13)
The 13th season of South Park, an American animated television comedy series, originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central between March 11 and November 18, 2009. The season was headed by the series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who served as executive producers along with Anne...
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 190th overall episode of the series. It originally 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 on October 14, 2009. In the episode, Butters
Butters Stotch
Leopold "Butters" Stotch is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by series co-creator Matt Stone and loosely based on co-producer Eric Stough. He is a fourth-grade student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town...
pays a girl $5 to give him his first kiss, which prompts Butters to start his own "kissing company" and eventually becomes a pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
.
The episode was written and directed by series co-founder 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 was rated TV-MA L in the United States. "Butters' Bottom Bitch" received particular attention for a scene in which Butters visited an ACORN
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues...
office seeking benefits for his prostitutes, a reference to the real-life 2009 scandal
ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy
The ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy refers to the news media and political uproar following the release of videos in 2009 purporting to show encounters between a young couple and workers in several offices of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now , where the ACORN...
. The episode received generally positive reviews and was seen by 2.56 million overall households, according to Nielsen Media Research
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
.
Plot
Tired of being the only boy in his class to have never kissed a girl, ButtersButters Stotch
Leopold "Butters" Stotch is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by series co-creator Matt Stone and loosely based on co-producer Eric Stough. He is a fourth-grade student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town...
purchases his first kiss from Sally, who gives away kisses for $5. Having won the respect of his fellow classmates, he devises a plan to advertise Sally's services to other unpopular boys at the school. Sally gives Butters a 40 percent cut for his advertising and managing services, and Butters soon turns the venture into a full-fledged "kissing company" by recruiting more girls to fill in during times in which Sally is busy. Upon learning about Butters' business, Kyle
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
tells him that he is "nothing but a common pimp
Pimp
A pimp is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The pimp may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing a location where she may engage clients...
". Oblivious to what the word means, Butters attends a pimp convention where he seeks advice from more-experienced pimps, including one called Keyshone. Afterward, he starts to mimic the pimp jargon
Jargon
Jargon is terminology which is especially defined in relationship to a specific activity, profession, group, or event. The philosophe Condillac observed in 1782 that "Every science requires a special language because every science has its own ideas." As a rationalist member of the Enlightenment he...
, such as referring to Sally as his "bottom bitch
Bottom Girl
A bottom girl, bottom woman or bottom bitch, is a prostitute who sits atop the hierarchy of prostitutes working for a particular pimp. A bottom girl is usually the prostitute who has been with the pimp the longest and consistently makes the most money...
," and incorporating "Do you know what I am saying?" into his conversations.
To combat the apparent rise in prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
, Sergeant Yates of the Park County Police goes undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
as a female prostitute named "Yolanda". During stings, to the bewilderment of the police, the poorly-disguised Yates waits until he is done engaging in actual sex acts with his male patrons before making an arrest for no apparent reason. After he engages in group sex with numerous members of the fraternity house Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega
Alpha Tau Omega is a secret American leadership and social fraternity.The Fraternity has more than 250 active and inactive chapters, more than 200,000 initiates, and over 7,000 active undergraduate members. The 200,000th member was initiated in early 2009...
and doing business for a pimp named Keyshone, Yates's fellow officers begin to openly suggest that Yates is getting too carried away with his duties. Meanwhile, Butters' reputation as the respectful "new pimp" spreads throughout the county, prompting actual adult prostitutes to seek employment with Butters. As his workforce expands, Butters tries offering health care
Health care
Health care is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans. Health care is delivered by practitioners in medicine, chiropractic, dentistry, nursing, pharmacy, allied health, and other care providers...
and other benefits to his employees. To this end, he visits the local ACORN
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues...
office to apply for low-income housing benefits, seek mortgage loans, and inquire about the tax-status of his business. Butters is initially refused until he identifies the boss as a client of some of the real prostitutes working for Butters.
Sergeant Yates, still undercover, seeks employment with Butters. But Yolanda's pimp, Keyshone, soon appears outside and begs for "Yolanda" back, asking for her hand in marriage. Butters insists that he cannot allow "Yolanda" to work for him, claiming it would interfere with the "true love" Keyshone and "Yolanda" share. "Yolanda" accepts the proposal, and Butters decides to quit his job as a pimp. To the delight of his employees, he encourages them to function under the self-management of the company so they can keep whatever they earn for themselves. While "Yolanda" and Keyshone are shown celebrating their first anniversary together in a small chalet in the mountains in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Yates suddenly decides to spring his sting operation. Revealing his true identity, he pulls out his gun and badge and informs Keyshone that he is under arrest.
Production and cultural references
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 was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It first aired on October 14, 2009 in the United States on Comedy Central. "The scene in which Butters visits the ACORN
Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now was a collection of community-based organizations in the United States that advocated for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable housing, and other social issues...
office seeking benefits for his prostitutes is a reference to the real-life 2009 scandal
ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy
The ACORN 2009 undercover videos controversy refers to the news media and political uproar following the release of videos in 2009 purporting to show encounters between a young couple and workers in several offices of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now , where the ACORN...
in which activist James O'Keefe
James O'Keefe
James E. O'Keefe III is a conservative American activist who has produced controversial audio and video recordings of public figures and workers in a variety of organizations...
secretly filmed himself posing as a pimp during meetings with ACORN employees. The scene generated the greatest amount of media attention for "Butters' Bottom Bitch" after its original broadcast. The pimp convention includes references to Pimps Up, Ho's Down
Pimps Up, Ho's Down
Pimps Up, Ho's Down is a 1998 television documentary about pimping in the United States. The film features interviews with American pimps and explores the modern pimping lifestyle.-External links:** at Fandango...
, an HBO documentary about the pimping lifestyle, featuring real-life pimps. The scene in which the lieutenant calls his john a "nasty fucker" during sex, mirrored a scene from the documentary, Hookers at the Point. Butters tells the ACORN employees they can get kisses from girls down the alley by the Sizzler
Sizzler
Sizzler is a United States-based restaurant chain with headquarters in Culver City, California. The chain serves steak, seafood, and salad , as well as similar items.-History:...
, a reference to the steak and seafood restaurant chain.
The song that plays during the lieutenant's stripper scene at the fraternity party is "Fuck the Pain Away
Fuck the Pain Away
"Fuck the Pain Away" is an electroclash song by Peaches. It is considered her breakthrough song, and because of its widespread licensing in films as well as numerous official and unofficial cover versions is held by many of her fans to be responsible for her increasing popularity...
", by Peaches
Peaches (musician)
Merrill Beth Nisker , better known by her stage name Peaches, is a Canadian electronic musician and performance artist who lives in Berlin, Germany. Her songs are noted for disregarding traditional gender norms and their use of sexually explicit lyrics...
.
Reception
In its original American broadcast on October 14, 2009, "Butters' Bottom Bitch" was watched by 2.56 million overall households, according to Nielsen ratingsNielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
. It received a 1.7 rating/3 share, and a 1.3 rating/4 share among viewers aged between 18 and 49. In a surprise, South Park was outperformed in the 18 to 49 age group by the Bravo reality television series Top Chef
Top Chef
Top Chef is an American reality competition show that airs on the cable television network Bravo, in which chefs compete against each other in culinary challenges. They are judged by a panel of professional chefs and other notables from the food and wine industry with one or more contestants...
, which was seen by 2.67 million viewers. "Butters' Bottom Bitch" also tied for the evening in the 18–49 rating with the Syfy
Syfy
Syfy , formerly known as the Sci-Fi Channel and SCI FI, is an American cable television channel featuring science fiction, supernatural, fantasy, reality, paranormal, wrestling, and horror programming. Launched on September 24, 1992, it is part of the entertainment conglomerate NBCUniversal, a...
reality television series Ghost Hunters
Ghost Hunters
Ghost Hunters is an American paranormal reality television series that premiered on October 6, 2004, on Syfy . The program features paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson who investigate places that are reported to be haunted. The two originally worked as plumbers for Roto-Rooter as...
(2.9 million household viewers) and only slightly outperformed the Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
popular science
Popular science
Popular science, sometimes called literature of science, is interpretation of science intended for a general audience. While science journalism focuses on recent scientific developments, popular science is broad-ranging, often written by scientists as well as journalists, and is presented in many...
television program Mythbusters
MythBusters
MythBusters is a science entertainment TV program created and produced by Beyond Television Productions for the Discovery Channel. The series is screened by numerous international broadcasters, including Discovery Channel Australia, Discovery Channel Latin America, Discovery Channel Canada, Quest...
(2.69 million household viewers), which surprised TV by the Number's Robert Seidman. "Butters' Bottom Bitch" was also outperformed by the Spike TV
Spike TV
Spike is an American cable television channel. It launched on March 7, 1983 as The Nashville Network , a joint venture of WSM, Inc...
mixed martial arts
Mixed martial arts
Mixed Martial Arts is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, including boxing, wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, muay Thai, kickboxing, karate, judo and other styles. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be...
competition series The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter
The Ultimate Fighter is an American reality television series and mixed martial arts competition produced by Spike TV and the Ultimate Fighting Championship , and soon to be shown on FX. The show features unknown, professional MMA fighters living together in Las Vegas, Nevada, and follows them as...
, which was watched by 2.82 million household viewers and had the highest cable ratings for the night in the 18 to 49 age group.
"Butters' Bottom Bitch" received generally positive reviews. Ramsey Isler of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave the episode an 8.2 out of 10 rating. He said although it started slow, "once this episode found its legs, it was non-stop funny." Isler praised the South Park writers for coming up with a surprising funny plot, and said it ranked among Butters' best moments in the series. Carlos Delgado of iF Magazine said it was good to see an episode focused strictly on comedy, after a string of episodes focusing on social satire. Delgado said the premise of the episode was absurd and over-the-top, but appreciated that South Park was continuing to push boundaries by mocking such issues as prostitution.
The A.V. Club
The 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...
writer Josh Modell said the episode "was pretty damn funny, but I'm predisposed to Butters in general as well as the wide world of pimping." Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
writer Chris Kohler said the topical and timely jokes in "Butters' Bottom Bitch", such as the satire on ACORN, were a strong example of what kept South Park funny and relevant. Not all reviews were positive. Sean O'Neal, also of The A.V. Club, gave the episode a C grade, and said "It was basically one not held for the run of the ep, in service of a simple little story without many surprises." O'Neal said the subplot involving the police was "similarly repetitious", but he liked how the two plots came together to resolve each other.
Home release
"Butters' Bottom Bitch", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Parks thireenth season, were released on a three-disc DVDDVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
set and two-disc Blu-Ray
Blu-ray Disc
Blu-ray Disc is an optical disc storage medium designed to supersede the DVD format. The plastic disc is 120 mm in diameter and 1.2 mm thick, the same size as DVDs and CDs. Blu-ray Discs contain 25 GB per layer, with dual layer discs being the norm for feature-length video discs...
set in the United States on March 16, 2010. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode, a collection of deleted scenes, and a special mini-feature Inside Xbox: A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of South Park Studios, which discussed the process behind animating the show Inside xBox.
External links
- "Butter's Bottom Bitch" Full episode at South Park Studios
- Butter's Bottom Bitch Episode guide at South Park Studios