Super Fun Time
Encyclopedia
"Super Fun Time" is the seventh episode of the twelfth season
of the animated television series South Park
, and the 174th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 23, 2008. In the episode, Cartman
and Butters
narrowly escape a horrific hostage-situation at South Park's Pioneer Village, where historical-reenactors take their jobs very seriously.
The episode was written and directed by South Park co-creator Trey Parker
and is rated TV-MA LV, the fourth episode of the series to do so. The show's plot was largely influenced by the film Die Hard
.
. Garrison tells the students to move in pairs and hold hands. Since nobody wants to be partners with him, Cartman
is forced to take Butters
as his partner and Garrison tells Butters not to let go of Cartman's hand until they were both back on the bus.
Cartman forces Butters to ditch the field trip and go to the amusement center located two blocks away, Super Phun Thyme. While the rest of the kids are bored in the village, a group of trigger-happy thieves led by a man called Franz have robbed a Burger King
and fled to Pioneer Village, taking everyone hostage. Stan
, Wendy, Jimmy and Kyle
flee with two townspeople to an office where Kyle calls the police. The thieves find a mine shaft
door in the back of the park that is locked. They start to interrogate the workers to find the code to the lock, but none of them will break character, not even to save their own lives. A pioneer called "Pioneer Paul" even shoots one of the townsfolk for breaking character in an attempt to save his own life.
Meanwhile, Cartman and Butters go to an amusement arcade
called "Super Phun Thyme", and Butters will not let go of Cartman's hand, which leads to Butters sullenly being dragged around as Cartman plays games and rides. Some bystanders think the boys are gay
. As they return to Pioneer Village and see the Village entrance surrounded by police, Cartman and Butters believe the police are there because someone has noticed they left the Village. They therefore decide to sneak back in and claim they were there all along to avoid getting in trouble. During an effort to get over the fence, they stumble and get stuck on a traffic light
.
By then, seeing that interrogating the workers is not going to work, Franz threatens to kill the kids instead, starting with Kenny
, but the workers still refuse to break character. In a last ditch effort to save Kenny's
life, Stan makes "the ultimate sacrifice" (which, as Wendy later playfully remarks, makes him sound like a dork) and assumes a disguise portraying an out-of-towner and manages to give the workers an in-character way to divulge the door code, 1864.
Cartman and Butters jump the fence into the village, where one of the thieves sees and attacks them. In an attempt to capture the two he tries to make them put their hands on their heads, but a very dedicated Butters simply will not let go. Upon threatening to shoot their hands off Butters uses Cartman as a weapon, bodily flinging him at the robber, and running away. In their attempt to flee, the two boys are knocked out by a grenade
. The confusion causes most of the robbers to investigate, leaving only the leader guarding the hostages. When his back is turned, Stan points to him and tells the village "criminal", Murderin' Murphy, that "he done killed yer pa", giving him an in-character reason to attack him. With the leader temporarily occupied, the police raid the camp, killing the robbers and catching the leader.
Finally a bell rings, signaling the end of the work day, and all of the village workers break character, revealing to everyone an efficient evacuation route through the stables, before heading off to a T.G.I. Friday's
. As Franz is being arrested, he gives a speech about the things he has learned from Pioneer Village, that people in 1864 did not have the conveniences that people in modern times take for granted. The episode ends as Butters drags a still unconscious Cartman all the way back into the school bus, letting go of his hand and firmly stating, "Teacher, my partner is back on the bus", before passing out from exhaustion.
rated the episode an 8/10, stating "A lot was in play here, and it's a well executed episode. They play on our expectation that Kenny would die, Mr. Garrison's cowardice, Cartman's troublemaking and Butters' steadfast compliance with the rules. There's a lot of fun stuff here, and it's a cool way to wrap up the 'half season' before we get new episodes in the fall".
However, Josh Modell of The A.V. Club
graded the episode a C+, stating "It was okay. Not great, not horrible. Funny, but not hilarious. There was a noticeable lack of proselytizing, which can be a good or a bad thing".
South Park (season 12)
Season twelve of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 12, 2008. The twelfth season concluded after 14 episodes on November 19, 2008...
of the 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 174th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 23, 2008. In the episode, 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...
and 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...
narrowly escape a horrific hostage-situation at South Park's Pioneer Village, where historical-reenactors take their jobs very seriously.
The episode was written and directed by South Park 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 LV, the fourth episode of the series to do so. The show's plot was largely influenced by the film Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...
.
Plot
Mr. Garrison takes his fourth grade class on an educational field trip to Pioneer Village where dedicated workers act as their counterparts from 1864 and never break characterBreaking character
Breaking character, "to break character", is a theatrical term used to describe when an actor, while actively performing in character, slips out of character and behaves as his or her actual self...
. Garrison tells the students to move in pairs and hold hands. Since nobody wants to be partners with him, 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...
is forced to take 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...
as his partner and Garrison tells Butters not to let go of Cartman's hand until they were both back on the bus.
Cartman forces Butters to ditch the field trip and go to the amusement center located two blocks away, Super Phun Thyme. While the rest of the kids are bored in the village, a group of trigger-happy thieves led by a man called Franz have robbed a Burger King
Burger King
Burger King, often abbreviated as BK, is a global chain of hamburger fast food restaurants headquartered in unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. The company began in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida-based restaurant chain...
and fled to Pioneer Village, taking everyone hostage. Stan
Stan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
, Wendy, Jimmy and 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...
flee with two townspeople to an office where Kyle calls the police. The thieves find a mine shaft
Shaft mining
Shaft mining or shaft sinking refers to the method of excavating a vertical or near-vertical tunnel from the top down, where there is initially no access to the bottom....
door in the back of the park that is locked. They start to interrogate the workers to find the code to the lock, but none of them will break character, not even to save their own lives. A pioneer called "Pioneer Paul" even shoots one of the townsfolk for breaking character in an attempt to save his own life.
Meanwhile, Cartman and Butters go to an amusement arcade
Amusement arcade
An amusement arcade or video arcade is a venue where people play arcade games such as video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, merchandisers , or coin-operated billiards or air hockey tables...
called "Super Phun Thyme", and Butters will not let go of Cartman's hand, which leads to Butters sullenly being dragged around as Cartman plays games and rides. Some bystanders think the boys are gay
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
. As they return to Pioneer Village and see the Village entrance surrounded by police, Cartman and Butters believe the police are there because someone has noticed they left the Village. They therefore decide to sneak back in and claim they were there all along to avoid getting in trouble. During an effort to get over the fence, they stumble and get stuck on a traffic light
Traffic light
Traffic lights, which may also be known as stoplights, traffic lamps, traffic signals, signal lights, robots or semaphore, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings and other locations to control competing flows of traffic...
.
By then, seeing that interrogating the workers is not going to work, Franz threatens to kill the kids instead, starting with Kenny
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
, but the workers still refuse to break character. In a last ditch effort to save Kenny's
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...
life, Stan makes "the ultimate sacrifice" (which, as Wendy later playfully remarks, makes him sound like a dork) and assumes a disguise portraying an out-of-towner and manages to give the workers an in-character way to divulge the door code, 1864.
Cartman and Butters jump the fence into the village, where one of the thieves sees and attacks them. In an attempt to capture the two he tries to make them put their hands on their heads, but a very dedicated Butters simply will not let go. Upon threatening to shoot their hands off Butters uses Cartman as a weapon, bodily flinging him at the robber, and running away. In their attempt to flee, the two boys are knocked out by a grenade
Grenade
A grenade is a small explosive device that is projected a safe distance away by its user. Soldiers called grenadiers specialize in the use of grenades. The term hand grenade refers any grenade designed to be hand thrown. Grenade Launchers are firearms designed to fire explosive projectile grenades...
. The confusion causes most of the robbers to investigate, leaving only the leader guarding the hostages. When his back is turned, Stan points to him and tells the village "criminal", Murderin' Murphy, that "he done killed yer pa", giving him an in-character reason to attack him. With the leader temporarily occupied, the police raid the camp, killing the robbers and catching the leader.
Finally a bell rings, signaling the end of the work day, and all of the village workers break character, revealing to everyone an efficient evacuation route through the stables, before heading off to a T.G.I. Friday's
T.G.I. Friday's
T.G.I. Friday's is an American restaurant chain focusing on casual dining. The company is a unit of the Carlson Companies. Its name is taken from the expression TGIF...
. As Franz is being arrested, he gives a speech about the things he has learned from Pioneer Village, that people in 1864 did not have the conveniences that people in modern times take for granted. The episode ends as Butters drags a still unconscious Cartman all the way back into the school bus, letting go of his hand and firmly stating, "Teacher, my partner is back on the bus", before passing out from exhaustion.
Reception
The episode received a mixed response. Travis Fickett of IGNIGN
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...
rated the episode an 8/10, stating "A lot was in play here, and it's a well executed episode. They play on our expectation that Kenny would die, Mr. Garrison's cowardice, Cartman's troublemaking and Butters' steadfast compliance with the rules. There's a lot of fun stuff here, and it's a cool way to wrap up the 'half season' before we get new episodes in the fall".
However, Josh Modell 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...
graded the episode a C+, stating "It was okay. Not great, not horrible. Funny, but not hilarious. There was a noticeable lack of proselytizing, which can be a good or a bad thing".
External links
- "Super Fun Time" Full episode at South Park Studios
- "Super Fun Time" Episode guide at South Park Studios