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Fishsticks (South Park)
Encyclopedia
"Fishsticks" is the fifth episode of the thirteenth season
of the American animated television series South Park
, and the 186th overall episode of the series. It was originally broadcast on Comedy Central
in the United States on April 8, 2009. In the episode, Jimmy writes a joke that becomes a national sensation, and Cartman
tries to steal the credit. Rapper Kanye West
is the only person in the country who fails to get the joke, but cannot admit that he does not get it because he believes himself to be a genius.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker
, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. The episode was conceived from a joke among Parker and fellow co-creator Matt Stone
about a fish dressed as motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel
, which eventually turned into a joke about Kanye West not understanding a joke about why liking fishsticks made him a gay fish. The way Cartman tries to steal credit for the joke was inspired by real people Parker and Stone have worked with in the television business.
Parker provided the voice of West in the episode and during the song "Gay Fish", a parody of West's song "Heartless
". "Fishsticks" received largely positive reviews, and generated a great deal of media attention when West wrote in a blog that the episode hurt his feelings, although he said it was funny and admitted that he needed to work on his ego problem. The episode also spoofed comedian Carlos Mencia
, who praised the episode after it was broadcast.
According to Nielsen Media Research
, "Fishsticks" was seen by more than 3.1 million households in its original broadcast, making it the most-watched Comedy Central production of the week. The episode received even further attention after West famously interrupted country singer Taylor Swift
during her acceptance speech at the September 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
, after which Comedy Central replayed the episode four times back-to-back. "Fishsticks" was released on DVD
and Blu-ray
along with the rest of the thirteenth season on March 16, 2010.
sits on his couch, eating potato chips. Jimmy comes up with a joke with almost no assistance from Cartman (he only helped Jimmy originate the joke by telling Jimmy he was hungry for something more substantial than fruit, and Jimmy suggested there might be some fishsticks in the freezer):
The joke, which plays on the similarity of the phrases "fishsticks" and "fish dicks" when spoken, becomes a hit throughout South Park. When Cartman begins taking half credit for the joke, Kyle
tells Jimmy he should stand up to Cartman. When Jimmy tells Cartman he feels he wrote most of the joke, Cartman fears Jimmy will try to take full credit and asks Kyle for advice on how to deal with Jimmy. Kyle instead says he believes Jimmy wrote the entire joke, and suggests that Cartman's ego is so big that he subconsciously remembers things incorrectly to make himself feel more important. This is supplemented by Cartman's flashbacks to the creation of the joke, which become more overblown and ridiculous as the episode goes on, showing him to truly believe that he deserves credit.
Meanwhile, the joke becomes a national sensation. Comedian Carlos Mencia
goes on Conan O'Brien
's show
claiming credit for the joke. The joke is played on rapper Kanye West
, who doesn't understand it. West grows angry when others say he doesn't get it, and will not allow anyone to explain it to him, because he claims to be a genius and "the voice of a generation." Kanye abducts Carlos Mencia, who admits he stole the joke to compensate for not being funny and claiming that his "dick don't work", but Kanye doesn't believe him and beats him to death with the help of his hired thugs. Cartman and Jimmy go on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
and claim they invented the joke, prompting Kanye to go after them. Jimmy confronts Cartman, asking how he can live with himself for taking credit for a joke he did not write. They are interrupted by Kanye, who threatens to kill them. By now, Cartman has not only convinced himself he wrote the whole joke without Jimmy's help, but believes he also saved his life from a black widow, slew a dragon
, defeated an army of "Jew robot
s", and has powers similar to the Human Torch
. Cartman thinks he realizes what Kyle was trying to tell him, but he gets it completely backwards: Cartman believes that Jimmy's ego is the one that is twisted and Jimmy's ego trying to convince itself that he wrote the joke, while not accepting that Cartman wrote the whole thing, and Jimmy believes him. Kanye has an epiphany about his own massive ego and believes he finally understands the joke. However, he incorrectly thinks it means he is, in fact, a gay fish. The episode ends with Kanye donning a wetsuit and diving off the Santa Monica Pier
into the ocean to embrace his new identity as a gay fish in the form of a music video, in which he happily swims around the sea, kissing and humping random fish.
. The concept for "Fishsticks" began when Parker and fellow co-creator Matt Stone
attended a writers' retreat in Seattle, Washington and they visited a body of water where they could watch salmon
jump. They started joking about a salmon wearing an outfit like the motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel
, which eventually reminded them of the music video for rapper Kanye West's song "Touch the Sky
", in which West himself dresses like Knievel. This led to them picturing a scene with West on a news program, angrily denying reports that he is a fish, shouting "No, I am not a salmon!" During a four-hour ride in a rented car, Stone and Parker discussed the joke further, and eventually thought of the "fishsticks" joke that featured prominently in the final episode. The duo said they found it hilarious and told variations of the joke back and forth to each other for the rest of the ride. Stone said, "The van driver we hired was just so bummed because we just kept talking about fishsticks, 'You're a gay fish', over and over. We thought it was so funny, and just the fact that he didn't get it."
Although the joke originally stemmed from Evel Knievel, not Kanye West, Parker and Stone said they realized West would probably be extremely humorless about the joke and not understand it, so they decided the episode should revolve mostly around him. After coming up with the idea, Parker and Stone waited a long time before they finally wrote the script because, Stone said, "It just seemed too dumb. Are we really going to do a whole episode about this?" Stone said the jokes about Carlos Mencia were "just a complete afterthought" that came about during the writing process. During one scene in "Fishsticks", Cartman steals credit from Jimmy for a joke he did not write. This was inspired by people Parker and Stone have worked with in the television business who were present for discussions the duo had, then later claimed credit for the idea even though they had nothing to do with it. Stone said, "They truly believe they did it. That's the really sinister part. It's not where they're trying to steal part of the glory. ... They actually fully believe that they came up with it."
Parker provided the voice of Kanye, both in the episode and in "Gay Fish", a full-length song featured at the end of the episode about West's realization that he actually is a gay fish. Parker used a large amount of Auto-Tune
pitch audio processing, which he had never used before. Parker said he eventually discovered he had to sing off-key on purpose in order to get the desired effect. Parker said, "You had to be a bad singer in order for that thing to actually sound the way it does." The day after "Fishsticks" was broadcast, the full two-and-a-half minute version of the Kanye West spoof, "Gay Fish", was made available for download on South Park Studios, the official South Park website. The site also featured T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts based on the episode. One featured Jimmy asking, "Do you like fishsticks?" The other features text from Kanye West's whiteboard in the episode: "Fishsticks + Me = Gayfish".
Rapper Kanye West
is featured prominently in "Fishsticks" and lampooned for the rapper's perceived ego problem; West frequently speaks highly of himself in interviews, declared himself the "voice of this generation" and said his greatest regret was not being able to see himself perform live. A Kanye West song in the episode about the fact that he is indeed a "gay fish" is a parody of the West song "Heartless
", and satirizes the rapper's usage of Auto-Tune pitch audio processing. When West first confronts Cartman and Jimmy, Cartman mistakes him for Puff Daddy
, another rapper and record producer.
Carlos Mencia
, host of the Comedy Central show Mind of Mencia
, is portrayed in "Fishsticks" as knowingly stealing credit for a joke he did not write; this is a reference to accusations other comedians have made that Mencia plagiarizes jokes from other people. Mencia's death scene in the episode, as well as his claims that he uses a catheter
to relieve himself, are a reference to Lalin, a character who uses a wheelchair in the 1993 crime film, Carlito's Way
.
Talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel
, David Letterman
, Conan O'Brien
, Jay Leno
and Ellen DeGeneres
were featured in the episode. Kimmel is voiced by his real-life brother Jonathan Kimmel
, who previously served as a writer and voice actor on South Park. During a fantasy sequence, Cartman says "flame on" and turns into a fiery, flying superhero; this is a reference to the Human Torch
, a fictional superhero and member of the Fantastic Four
.
, making it the most-watched Comedy Central production of the week. It had over 1.2 million more household viewers than the second most-watched Comedy Central show that week, the April 8 episode of The Daily Show
. In June 2009, "Fishsticks" was announced to be the most watched South Park episode on South Park Studios, the official South Park website, which had every episode of South Park to date available for viewing.
Both Kanye West and Carlos Mencia responded within one day of the episode's original broadcast and said they enjoyed the parodies of themselves, although Kanye West said on his blog that his feelings were hurt. After the episode was broadcast, Mencia wrote on his Twitter
feed, "They just made fun of me on South Park. I thought it was hysterical. Catch the rerun." Dave Itzkoff, arts reporter for The New York Times
, complimented Mencia for his response. West wrote on his blog, "South Park murdered me last night and it's pretty damn funny. It hurts my feelings but what can you expect from South Park!" West thanked the South Park writers in his blog entry and acknowledged he has a problem with his ego, but said he was trying to change. Parker and Stone said they were extremely surprised by West's reaction, and felt Mencia was treated far more harshly in the episode than West. Parker said, "It was like, dude, we just said you were a gay fish. What are you talking about? It was so dumb."
Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly
said the post was "a fascinating look at where Kanye's head is at these days", and complimented West for his "humility and honesty". Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone
said: "Many have tried, all have failed, but in the end it only took four animated children from Colorado to topple Kanye West's ego. ... One day, we'll all look back on this day and thank South Park for ushering in this historic moment in the life of Kanye." Kerrie Mitchell of Entertainment Weekly
suggested West's modest response was actually a marketing stunt to help sell his upcoming personal fragrance and energy drink. Mitchell wrote, "Did he just get the last laugh on South Park? Conspiracy!" In response to the media coverage, West wrote another blog entry on April 10 claiming he had only seen part of the episode and found it funny, but he had been working on his arrogance problem for some time and that South Park did not lead to his "ego epiphany". The next day, he said in another blog entry that while visiting The Cheesecake Factory
restaurant, the manager brought him a plate of fishsticks as a joke.
The episode received positive, if slightly mixed reviews. Ramsey Isler of IGN
declared it the best episode of the season, calling it a "beautiful Kanye West spoof that was so well-timed, so hilarious and so spot-on" that it became a "phenomenon". Ryan Brockington of the New York Post
said of the episode, "Best. 'South Park.' Ever." He particularly praised the West song parody and the fact that "a simple running joke can hold a full episode; brilliant". Carlos Delgado of If Magazine said the episode was "another South Park classic" which "takes full advantage of Cartman's monumental ego". Delgado, who gave the episode a B+ grade, described the West parody as "awesome" and the final scene with the "gay fish" West song as "spell binding". TV Guide
listed the episode at number five on the top ten television moments of the week.
Travis Fickett of IGN
said the episode included some good laughs but "never kicks into high gear" and said the themes might have worked better as subplots than a full episode: "'Fishsticks' is one of those episodes that typically occur around now in the South Park season. It's not great, not bad - hovering somewhere around amusing towards forgettable." Sean O'Neal of The A.V. Club
said he was disappointed by the episode and thought the message about celebrity self-delusion might have been better if it focused on only West or Mencia, rather than both. Although O'Neal liked the West song in the episode's final scene, O'Neal said "cramming (West and Mencia) together — even mixed in with Cartman's very funny fantasy sequences — felt too cobbled to me, and the time limits imposed by cutting back and forth between it all made the respective digs start to feel a little too one-note."
On September 13, 2009 during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West interrupted an acceptance speech from country singer Taylor Swift
by walking onto stage, grabbing the microphone and praising her competitor, Beyoncé Knowles
. The incident received considerable press attention and drew further attention to "Fishsticks", which Comedy Central re-broadcast for two straight hours on September 15, 2009.
Kanye West referenced this episode in his song "Gorgeous" from the 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy where he says "choke a South Park writer with a fishstick".
West similarly referenced the episode on his album Watch the Throne
in the song "Made in America" when he says "South Park’ had them all laughin’/ Now all my boys are designers swaggin’."
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 186th overall episode of the series. It was originally broadcast 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 April 8, 2009. In the episode, Jimmy writes a joke that becomes a national sensation, and Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
tries to steal the credit. Rapper Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
is the only person in the country who fails to get the joke, but cannot admit that he does not get it because he believes himself to be a genius.
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator 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. The episode was conceived from a joke among Parker and fellow co-creator 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....
about a fish dressed as motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel , born Robert Craig Knievel, was an American daredevil and entertainer. In his career he attempted over 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps between 1965 and 1980, and in 1974, a failed jump across Snake River Canyon in the Skycycle X-2, a steam-powered rocket...
, which eventually turned into a joke about Kanye West not understanding a joke about why liking fishsticks made him a gay fish. The way Cartman tries to steal credit for the joke was inspired by real people Parker and Stone have worked with in the television business.
Parker provided the voice of West in the episode and during the song "Gay Fish", a parody of West's song "Heartless
Heartless (Kanye West song)
"Heartless" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released on November 4, 2008 digitally as the second single for his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. It debuted at the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100 where it eventually peaked at number two and reached number-one on the...
". "Fishsticks" received largely positive reviews, and generated a great deal of media attention when West wrote in a blog that the episode hurt his feelings, although he said it was funny and admitted that he needed to work on his ego problem. The episode also spoofed comedian Carlos Mencia
Carlos Mencia
Carlos Mencia , born Ned Arnel Mencia, is a Honduran-born American comedian, writer, and actor. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues of race, culture, criminal justice, and social class...
, who praised the episode after it was broadcast.
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...
, "Fishsticks" was seen by more than 3.1 million households in its original broadcast, making it the most-watched Comedy Central production of the week. The episode received even further attention after West famously interrupted country singer Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
during her acceptance speech at the September 2009 MTV Video Music Awards
MTV Video Music Awards
An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos...
, after which Comedy Central replayed the episode four times back-to-back. "Fishsticks" was released on DVD
DVD
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....
and 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...
along with the rest of the thirteenth season on March 16, 2010.
Plot
Jimmy works on writing jokes for his comedy routine while CartmanEric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
sits on his couch, eating potato chips. Jimmy comes up with a joke with almost no assistance from Cartman (he only helped Jimmy originate the joke by telling Jimmy he was hungry for something more substantial than fruit, and Jimmy suggested there might be some fishsticks in the freezer):
Jimmy: Do you like fishsticks?
Cartman: Yeah.
Jimmy: Do you like putting fish dicks in your mouth?
Cartman: Yeah.
Jimmy: What are you, a gay fish?
The joke, which plays on the similarity of the phrases "fishsticks" and "fish dicks" when spoken, becomes a hit throughout South Park. When Cartman begins taking half credit for the joke, 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 Jimmy he should stand up to Cartman. When Jimmy tells Cartman he feels he wrote most of the joke, Cartman fears Jimmy will try to take full credit and asks Kyle for advice on how to deal with Jimmy. Kyle instead says he believes Jimmy wrote the entire joke, and suggests that Cartman's ego is so big that he subconsciously remembers things incorrectly to make himself feel more important. This is supplemented by Cartman's flashbacks to the creation of the joke, which become more overblown and ridiculous as the episode goes on, showing him to truly believe that he deserves credit.
Meanwhile, the joke becomes a national sensation. Comedian Carlos Mencia
Carlos Mencia
Carlos Mencia , born Ned Arnel Mencia, is a Honduran-born American comedian, writer, and actor. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues of race, culture, criminal justice, and social class...
goes on Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
's show
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
claiming credit for the joke. The joke is played on rapper Kanye West
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
, who doesn't understand it. West grows angry when others say he doesn't get it, and will not allow anyone to explain it to him, because he claims to be a genius and "the voice of a generation." Kanye abducts Carlos Mencia, who admits he stole the joke to compensate for not being funny and claiming that his "dick don't work", but Kanye doesn't believe him and beats him to death with the help of his hired thugs. Cartman and Jimmy go on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
The Ellen DeGeneres Show, often shortened to Ellen, is an American television talk show hosted by comedian/actress Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it is produced by Telepictures and airs in syndication, including stations owned by NBC Universal. For its first five seasons, the show...
and claim they invented the joke, prompting Kanye to go after them. Jimmy confronts Cartman, asking how he can live with himself for taking credit for a joke he did not write. They are interrupted by Kanye, who threatens to kill them. By now, Cartman has not only convinced himself he wrote the whole joke without Jimmy's help, but believes he also saved his life from a black widow, slew a dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
, defeated an army of "Jew robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
s", and has powers similar to the Human Torch
Human Torch
The Human Torch is a fictional character and superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, he is a member of the superhero team the Fantastic Four, debuting in The Fantastic Four #1...
. Cartman thinks he realizes what Kyle was trying to tell him, but he gets it completely backwards: Cartman believes that Jimmy's ego is the one that is twisted and Jimmy's ego trying to convince itself that he wrote the joke, while not accepting that Cartman wrote the whole thing, and Jimmy believes him. Kanye has an epiphany about his own massive ego and believes he finally understands the joke. However, he incorrectly thinks it means he is, in fact, a gay fish. The episode ends with Kanye donning a wetsuit and diving off the Santa Monica Pier
Santa Monica Pier
The Santa Monica Pier is a large double-jointed pier located at the foot of Colorado Avenue in Santa Monica, California and is a prominent, 100-year-old landmark.-Pacific Park:...
into the ocean to embrace his new identity as a gay fish in the form of a music video, in which he happily swims around the sea, kissing and humping random fish.
Production
"Fishsticks" was written and directed by series co-creator Trey ParkerTrey 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...
. The concept for "Fishsticks" began when Parker and fellow co-creator 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....
attended a writers' retreat in Seattle, Washington and they visited a body of water where they could watch salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
jump. They started joking about a salmon wearing an outfit like the motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel
Evel Knievel , born Robert Craig Knievel, was an American daredevil and entertainer. In his career he attempted over 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps between 1965 and 1980, and in 1974, a failed jump across Snake River Canyon in the Skycycle X-2, a steam-powered rocket...
, which eventually reminded them of the music video for rapper Kanye West's song "Touch the Sky
Touch the Sky
"Touch the Sky" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West. It was released in early 2006 as the fourth single from his second album, Late Registration. The song features Chicago rapper Lupe Fiasco on his radio debut and was produced by Just Blaze, standing as the only song on the entire album...
", in which West himself dresses like Knievel. This led to them picturing a scene with West on a news program, angrily denying reports that he is a fish, shouting "No, I am not a salmon!" During a four-hour ride in a rented car, Stone and Parker discussed the joke further, and eventually thought of the "fishsticks" joke that featured prominently in the final episode. The duo said they found it hilarious and told variations of the joke back and forth to each other for the rest of the ride. Stone said, "The van driver we hired was just so bummed because we just kept talking about fishsticks, 'You're a gay fish', over and over. We thought it was so funny, and just the fact that he didn't get it."
Although the joke originally stemmed from Evel Knievel, not Kanye West, Parker and Stone said they realized West would probably be extremely humorless about the joke and not understand it, so they decided the episode should revolve mostly around him. After coming up with the idea, Parker and Stone waited a long time before they finally wrote the script because, Stone said, "It just seemed too dumb. Are we really going to do a whole episode about this?" Stone said the jokes about Carlos Mencia were "just a complete afterthought" that came about during the writing process. During one scene in "Fishsticks", Cartman steals credit from Jimmy for a joke he did not write. This was inspired by people Parker and Stone have worked with in the television business who were present for discussions the duo had, then later claimed credit for the idea even though they had nothing to do with it. Stone said, "They truly believe they did it. That's the really sinister part. It's not where they're trying to steal part of the glory. ... They actually fully believe that they came up with it."
Parker provided the voice of Kanye, both in the episode and in "Gay Fish", a full-length song featured at the end of the episode about West's realization that he actually is a gay fish. Parker used a large amount of Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune
Auto-Tune is a proprietary audio processor created by Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform apparently perfectly tuned vocal...
pitch audio processing, which he had never used before. Parker said he eventually discovered he had to sing off-key on purpose in order to get the desired effect. Parker said, "You had to be a bad singer in order for that thing to actually sound the way it does." The day after "Fishsticks" was broadcast, the full two-and-a-half minute version of the Kanye West spoof, "Gay Fish", was made available for download on South Park Studios, the official South Park website. The site also featured T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts based on the episode. One featured Jimmy asking, "Do you like fishsticks?" The other features text from Kanye West's whiteboard in the episode: "Fishsticks + Me = Gayfish".
Cultural references
Kanye West
Kanye Omari West is an American rapper, singer, and record producer. West first rose to fame as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records, where he eventually achieved recognition for his work on Jay-Z's album The Blueprint, as well as hit singles for musical artists including Alicia Keys, Ludacris, and...
is featured prominently in "Fishsticks" and lampooned for the rapper's perceived ego problem; West frequently speaks highly of himself in interviews, declared himself the "voice of this generation" and said his greatest regret was not being able to see himself perform live. A Kanye West song in the episode about the fact that he is indeed a "gay fish" is a parody of the West song "Heartless
Heartless (Kanye West song)
"Heartless" is a song by American hip hop artist Kanye West, released on November 4, 2008 digitally as the second single for his fourth studio album, 808s & Heartbreak. It debuted at the number four spot on the Billboard Hot 100 where it eventually peaked at number two and reached number-one on the...
", and satirizes the rapper's usage of Auto-Tune pitch audio processing. When West first confronts Cartman and Jimmy, Cartman mistakes him for Puff Daddy
Sean Combs
Sean John Combs , also known by his stage names Diddy and P. Diddy, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, actor, and entrepreneur. He has won three Grammy Awards and two MTV Video Music Awards, and his clothing line earned a Council of Fashion Designers of America award. He was originally...
, another rapper and record producer.
Carlos Mencia
Carlos Mencia
Carlos Mencia , born Ned Arnel Mencia, is a Honduran-born American comedian, writer, and actor. His style of comedy is often political and involves issues of race, culture, criminal justice, and social class...
, host of the Comedy Central show Mind of Mencia
Mind of Mencia
Mind of Mencia is an American television comedy series on the cable channel Comedy Central. Hosted by Carlos Mencia, it aired from 2005 to 2008.- History :...
, is portrayed in "Fishsticks" as knowingly stealing credit for a joke he did not write; this is a reference to accusations other comedians have made that Mencia plagiarizes jokes from other people. Mencia's death scene in the episode, as well as his claims that he uses a catheter
Catheter
In medicine, a catheter is a tube that can be inserted into a body cavity, duct, or vessel. Catheters thereby allow drainage, administration of fluids or gases, or access by surgical instruments. The process of inserting a catheter is catheterization...
to relieve himself, are a reference to Lalin, a character who uses a wheelchair in the 1993 crime film, Carlito's Way
Carlito's Way
Carlito's Way is a 1993 crime film directed by Brian De Palma, based on the novels Carlito's Way and After Hours by Judge Edwin Torres. The film adaptation was scripted by David Koepp. It stars Al Pacino, Sean Penn, Penelope Ann Miller, Luis Guzman, John Leguizamo, Jorge Porcel, Joseph Siravo, and...
.
Talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel
Jimmy Kimmel
James Christian "Jimmy" Kimmel is an American television host and comedian. He is the host of Jimmy Kimmel Live!, a late-night talk show that airs on ABC. Prior to that, Kimmel was best known as the co-host of Comedy Central's The Man Show and Win Ben Stein's Money...
, David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
, Conan O'Brien
Conan O'Brien
Conan Christopher O'Brien is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer and performer. Since November 2010 he has hosted Conan, a late-night talk show that airs on the American cable television station TBS....
, Jay Leno
Jay Leno
James Douglas Muir "Jay" Leno is an American stand-up comedian and television host.From 1992 to 2009, Leno was the host of NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Beginning in September 2009, Leno started a primetime talk show, titled The Jay Leno Show, which aired weeknights at 10:00 p.m. ,...
and Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American stand-up comedienne, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season....
were featured in the episode. Kimmel is voiced by his real-life brother Jonathan Kimmel
Jonathan Kimmel
Jonathan Kimmel is a writer, producer, actor, composer for television and film. He is the younger brother of Jimmy Kimmel...
, who previously served as a writer and voice actor on South Park. During a fantasy sequence, Cartman says "flame on" and turns into a fiery, flying superhero; this is a reference to the Human Torch
Human Torch
The Human Torch is a fictional character and superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, he is a member of the superhero team the Fantastic Four, debuting in The Fantastic Four #1...
, a fictional superhero and member of the Fantastic Four
Fantastic Four
The Fantastic Four is a fictional superhero team appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The group debuted in The Fantastic Four #1 , which helped to usher in a new level of realism in the medium...
.
Reception
In its original American broadcast, "Fishsticks" was watched by 3.1 million overall households, according to the Nielsen Media ResearchNielsen 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...
, making it the most-watched Comedy Central production of the week. It had over 1.2 million more household viewers than the second most-watched Comedy Central show that week, the April 8 episode of The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
. In June 2009, "Fishsticks" was announced to be the most watched South Park episode on South Park Studios, the official South Park website, which had every episode of South Park to date available for viewing.
Both Kanye West and Carlos Mencia responded within one day of the episode's original broadcast and said they enjoyed the parodies of themselves, although Kanye West said on his blog that his feelings were hurt. After the episode was broadcast, Mencia wrote on his Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
feed, "They just made fun of me on South Park. I thought it was hysterical. Catch the rerun." Dave Itzkoff, arts reporter for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, complimented Mencia for his response. West wrote on his blog, "South Park murdered me last night and it's pretty damn funny. It hurts my feelings but what can you expect from South Park!" West thanked the South Park writers in his blog entry and acknowledged he has a problem with his ego, but said he was trying to change. Parker and Stone said they were extremely surprised by West's reaction, and felt Mencia was treated far more harshly in the episode than West. Parker said, "It was like, dude, we just said you were a gay fish. What are you talking about? It was so dumb."
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
said the post was "a fascinating look at where Kanye's head is at these days", and complimented West for his "humility and honesty". Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
said: "Many have tried, all have failed, but in the end it only took four animated children from Colorado to topple Kanye West's ego. ... One day, we'll all look back on this day and thank South Park for ushering in this historic moment in the life of Kanye." Kerrie Mitchell of Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...
suggested West's modest response was actually a marketing stunt to help sell his upcoming personal fragrance and energy drink. Mitchell wrote, "Did he just get the last laugh on South Park? Conspiracy!" In response to the media coverage, West wrote another blog entry on April 10 claiming he had only seen part of the episode and found it funny, but he had been working on his arrogance problem for some time and that South Park did not lead to his "ego epiphany". The next day, he said in another blog entry that while visiting The Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory
The Cheesecake Factory, Inc. is a restaurant company in the United States. The company operates 165 upscale, casual, full-service dining restaurants: 151 under The Cheesecake Factory mark, 13 under the Grand Lux Cafe mark and one under the RockSugar Pan Asian Kitchen mark...
restaurant, the manager brought him a plate of fishsticks as a joke.
The episode received positive, if slightly mixed 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...
declared it the best episode of the season, calling it a "beautiful Kanye West spoof that was so well-timed, so hilarious and so spot-on" that it became a "phenomenon". Ryan Brockington of the New York Post
New York Post
The New York Post is the 13th-oldest newspaper published in the United States and is generally acknowledged as the oldest to have been published continuously as a daily, although – as is the case with most other papers – its publication has been periodically interrupted by labor actions...
said of the episode, "Best. 'South Park.' Ever." He particularly praised the West song parody and the fact that "a simple running joke can hold a full episode; brilliant". Carlos Delgado of If Magazine said the episode was "another South Park classic" which "takes full advantage of Cartman's monumental ego". Delgado, who gave the episode a B+ grade, described the West parody as "awesome" and the final scene with the "gay fish" West song as "spell binding". TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
listed the episode at number five on the top ten television moments of the week.
Travis Fickett 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...
said the episode included some good laughs but "never kicks into high gear" and said the themes might have worked better as subplots than a full episode: "'Fishsticks' is one of those episodes that typically occur around now in the South Park season. It's not great, not bad - hovering somewhere around amusing towards forgettable." Sean O'Neal of 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...
said he was disappointed by the episode and thought the message about celebrity self-delusion might have been better if it focused on only West or Mencia, rather than both. Although O'Neal liked the West song in the episode's final scene, O'Neal said "cramming (West and Mencia) together — even mixed in with Cartman's very funny fantasy sequences — felt too cobbled to me, and the time limits imposed by cutting back and forth between it all made the respective digs start to feel a little too one-note."
On September 13, 2009 during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West interrupted an acceptance speech from country singer Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...
by walking onto stage, grabbing the microphone and praising her competitor, Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Knowles
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles , often known simply as Beyoncé, is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
. The incident received considerable press attention and drew further attention to "Fishsticks", which Comedy Central re-broadcast for two straight hours on September 15, 2009.
Kanye West referenced this episode in his song "Gorgeous" from the 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy where he says "choke a South Park writer with a fishstick".
West similarly referenced the episode on his album Watch the Throne
Watch the Throne
Watch the Throne is a collaborative studio album by American rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West, released on August 8, 2011, by Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation, and Def Jam Recordings. Recording sessions for the album took place at various recording locations and began in November 2010. It was...
in the song "Made in America" when he says "South Park’ had them all laughin’/ Now all my boys are designers swaggin’."
Home release
"Fishsticks", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Park thirteenth 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
- "Fishsticks" Full episode at South Park Studios
- "Fishsticks" Episode guide at South Park Studios
- "Gay Fish (Long Version)" at South Park Studios