Smug Alert!
Encyclopedia
"Smug Alert!" is the second episode of the tenth season
South Park (season 10)
Season 10 of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 22, 2006. The tenth season concluded after 14 episodes on November 15, 2006...

 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 141st 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 March 29, 2006. In the episode, Gerald Broflovski buys a hybrid vehicle
Hybrid electric vehicle
A hybrid electric vehicle is a type of hybrid vehicle and electric vehicle which combines a conventional internal combustion engine propulsion system with an electric propulsion system. The presence of the electric powertrain is intended to achieve either better fuel economy than a conventional...

 and buys into the whole progressive movement, moving his family to San Francisco and disturbing a delicate equilibrium and indirectly causing an environmental disaster along the way.

The episode was written 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 is rated TV-MA in the United States, but a recent rerun on Comedy Central rated it TV-14. The episode acts as a play on the attitude of owners of hybrid cars, as well as the similarity between the words "smog
Smog
Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...

" and "smug".

Plot

Kyle's father Gerald buys a new "Toyonda Pious" hybrid car (based on the Toyota Prius
Toyota Prius
The Toyota Prius is a full hybrid electric mid-size hatchback, formerly a compact sedan developed and manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation...

) and drives it all over town to show it off and gain attention. He soon decides that his commitment is not enough and starts an unwelcome campaign to convert the other townspeople to environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly
Environmentally friendly are terms used to refer to goods and services, laws, guidelines and policies claimed to inflict minimal or no harm on the environment....

 vehicles. After alienating all of his friends with his preachy attitude, Randy tells Gerald that he's become so smug that he loves the smell of his own farts
Flatulence
Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals. The medical term for the mixture of gases is flatus, informally known as a fart, or simply gas...

. After deciding he cannot live among such "backward and unsophisticated" people, Gerald decides to move his family to San Francisco
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

.

Stan is horrified that his best friend is leaving, and tries to convince Gerald to change his mind, but Mr. Broflovski says he will not be returning until everyone feels the same way as he does about the environment
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...

.

Cartman, who is joyous that Kyle is departing, holds a farewell party in which everyone except Kyle is invited. Stan coldly informs Cartman that, without Kyle around to rip on, his life will be empty, hollow and devoid of purpose. Cartman claims this is not a problem, as he has already found a substitute in 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...

, who is pretending to be Jewish so that Cartman has someone to hurl his anti-Semitic jibes toward.

After the Broflovskis leave, Stan writes a song about the importance of hybrid cars, which is broadcast on a radio station and convinces everyone in town to drive hybrids. On his way home, Stan bumps into Ranger McFriendly, protector of the environment, who explains the severity of what he has done: although emission levels are down, people who drive hybrids spew "self-satisfied garbage" into the air, an emission called "smug
Smog
Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine...

", and South Park now has the second-highest levels in the country, after San Francisco.

In San Francisco, Kyle's father is glad to meet like-minded "progressive" people who, in mid-conversation, fart, bend over and inhale before resuming discussion. Kyle finds it difficult to fit in with the other children, who take drugs in order to cope with their parents. Kyle refuses the offer of acid
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...

 but, after seeing that his dad is even more arrogant than before, asks for half a hit, while his brother Ike takes three.

The cloud of smug forms over South Park and begins to combine with that of San Francisco. McFriendly informs us that a cloud of smug from George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...

's 78th Academy Awards
78th Academy Awards
The 78th Academy Awards honored the best films of 2005 and were held on March 5, 2006, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. They were hosted by The Daily Show host Jon Stewart, with Tom Kane making his first appearance as the show's announcer...

 acceptance speech will soon drift between the two potential storms, merging them together to create "the perfect storm of self-satisfaction," which will heavily damage South Park and completely destroy San Francisco.

Meanwhile, Cartman realizes that Butters is not a satisfying target and becomes bored, wishing for Kyle to return.
While Stan is forced to help the town eliminate hybrid cars by himself, Cartman, desperate to get Kyle back so that he can resume hating him, secretly goes to San Francisco in a protective suit. Just as the smug storm hits, Cartman finds the Broflovskis in their house, Gerald and Sheila now as smug as their fellow San Franciscans and Kyle and Ike are high from the acid.

The storm destroys thousands of homes in South Park, while San Francisco disappears "completely up its own asshole," leading everyone to think that Kyle and his family have been killed. The Broflovskis reappear, though, explaining that they awoke mysteriously on a bus, and thank a "guardian angel
Guardian angel
A guardian angel is an angel assigned to protect and guide a particular person or group. Belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity...

", unaware that it was Cartman who saved them. Even though Butters knows about this, Cartman convinces him to keep quiet, not wanting Kyle to know.

With all their cars destroyed, the townspeople vow never again to buy hybrids. Kyle points out that hybrids really are a good thing; the people who drive them should just not be smug about it, or act as if they are above everybody else. The people, however, are not ready to drive them without being smug — "it's simply asking too much" — so they return to SUVs and other high-fuel-consumption vehicles.

Cartman talks to Kyle, saying that everything is back to normal; Kyle agrees. Cartman then calls him a 'sneaky Jew rat;' Kyle retorts by dubbing him a fatass and storming away. Cartman smiles at this, relieved to have the status quo
Status quo
Statu quo, a commonly used form of the original Latin "statu quo" – literally "the state in which" – is a Latin term meaning the current or existing state of affairs. To maintain the status quo is to keep the things the way they presently are...

 restored.

Reception

TV Squad's Adam Finley gave the episode a positive review, noting "tons of great moments, from Stan's gay little song to Cartman being forced to don a vintage diver's suit". IGN's
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...

 Eric Goldman rated the episode at 8.0 out of 10, noting in particular the "very funny" take on the attitude San Franciscans and the "hysterical plot twist" of mocking George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...

, who had previously provided the voice of a dog in the episode "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride
Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride
"Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" is the fourth episode of the first season of the animated television series South Park. It originally aired on September 3, 1997 on Comedy Central in the United States. The episode was written by series co-founders Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and directed by Parker...

", as well as a doctor in Bigger, Longer and Uncut.

External links

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