- Cripple Fight
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"Cripple Fight" South Park episode
Big Gay Al fights for his right to be a Mountain Scouts troop leader.Episode no. Season 5
Episode 2Directed by Trey Parker Written by Trey Parker Production code 503 Original air date June 27, 2001 Episode chronology ← Previous
"It Hits the Fan"Next →
"Super Best Friends"South Park (season 5)
List of South Park episodes"Cripple Fight" (also known as "Cripple Fight!" ) is the second episode of the fifth season of the animated television series South Park, and 67th episode of the series overall. "Cripple Fight" originally aired in the United States on June 27, 2001 on Comedy Central; and marks the first appearance of Jimmy Valmer.
Contents
Plot
Stan, Cartman, Kenny, and Timmy have joined Mountain Scouts troop number 69 and are on their way to their first meeting. When they arrive, they find that their scoutmaster is Big Gay Al. The boys enjoy themselves at the meeting and decide that they like Mountain Scouts, but some parents fear that Big Gay Al will be a poor influence on the boys and that he may be a pedophile.
After a lifetime of membership, Big Gay Al is thrown out of Mountain Scouts. A new, masculine, scoutmaster named Mr. Grazier is appointed and he promises the parents he will whip the boys into line and make them good scouts, but proceeds to force them to pose for naked pictures with a threat to beat them up if they let this slip.
Meanwhile, Jimmy, a new handicapped boy, comes to town and also joins Mountain Scouts. Jimmy is a stand-up comedian and immediately becomes very popular. Timmy, the other handicapped boy in town, becomes incredibly jealous of the adoration given to the new kid. Timmy tries to undermine Jimmy in any way possible, including offering him an orange parka as a gift, in order to make him resemble Kenny (playing off the running gag that Kenny dies in almost every episode in the first few seasons) and even though Jimmy is nearly killed by a plane, a hawk, a fire, and gunshots from Jimbo and Ned, his efforts proved futile.
In an attempt to get rid of Mr. Grazier without giving away his secret, the boys assemble their own protest march all the way to the grocery store parking lot, and use Jimmy’s stand-up comedy to draw in a crowd. However, the performance goes sour when he tries to enlist Timmy’s participation, and Timmy refuses. Quickly, they break out into a lengthy fistfight. A very excited Cartman calls it a "cripple fight" and quickly gathers everyone to watch. From the outside, the crowd seems to be for the boy's protest, so it is picked up by the South Park media. A national controversy erupts as the Mountain Scouts are called a hate group by the media and prominent supporters like Steven Spielberg withdraw their support.
Big Gay Al sues the Mountain Scouts, while Mr. Grazier is revealed to be a pedophile who goes by the name "Mr. Slippyfist" and is arrested. Although the Colorado State Supreme Court rules in Big Gay Al's favor orders the Mountain Scouts to take him back, he refuses, saying that he loves scouts too much to impose his will on them, and while they should be talked into changing their mind and he begs people not to cut their funding or support for the scouts, adding that as the Scouts are a private organization, he believes it is their libertarian right to form their own policies on homosexuality. This causes Gloria Allred to brand Big Gay Al as a homophobe. At the same time, Kenny is carried off by an eagle (so it looks like, but in the end of episode, Kenny is in the Mountain Scout meeting with other kids totally alive and healthy).
At the scouts meeting at the end of the episode, Timmy brings up a photoshopped picture of Jimmy's head on an actual, non-animated man's body, embracing another man. Due to the scouts' views on homosexuality, Jimmy is booted out of the scouts. The episode ends with Timmy declaring "Timmy!" in delight.
Reaction
In the recent UK poll Paramount Comedy's Top 10 Episodes, this episode was ranked number 8. "Park Life", the documentary accompanying the countdown, showcased how the positive characterisation of Big Gay Al in this episode is what earned it so much respect.
References
The mini-DVD commentary for the episode describes how the fight between Jimmy and Timmy is based on the fight between George Nada (Roddy Piper) and Frank Armitage (Keith David) in the 1988 film They Live. When overdubbed with the appropriate audio from the film, the fight sounds and much of the dialogue match up almost perfectly with the animation.
External links
- "Cripple Fight" Episode guide at South Park Studios
- "Cripple Fight" Full episode at South Park Studios
- "Cripple Fight" at the Internet Movie Database
- "Cripple Fight" at TV.com
South Park episodes Seasons: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 Season 5 "It Hits the Fan" · "Cripple Fight" · "Super Best Friends" · "Scott Tenorman Must Die" · "Terrance and Phillip: Behind the Blow" · "Cartmanland" · "Proper Condom Use" · "Towelie" · "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" · "How to Eat with Your Butt" · "The Entity" · "Here Comes the Neighborhood" · "Kenny Dies" · "Butters' Very Own Episode"South Park Trey Parker · Matt Stone Characters Seasons 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15Features Media releases The Spirit of Christmas · DVDs · Chef Aid: The South Park Album · South Park Imaginationland: The Movie · "Chocolate Salty Balls" · South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (Soundtrack: "Blame Canada" · "What Would Brian Boitano Do?") · "Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld" · Mr. Hankey's Christmas ClassicsVideo games South Park · Chef's Luv Shack · Pinball · Rally · South Park 10: The Game · Mega Millionaire · Let's Go Tower Defense Play! · Tenorman's RevengeBooks and
pop cultureSouth Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today (Robert Arp) · South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating (Richard Hanley) · South Park Conservatives: The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias (Brian C. Anderson) · South Park Republican (Andrew Sullivan)Wikipedia books South Park · Seasons of South Park · Seasons: 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14Cast members · Category Categories:- South Park (season 5) episodes
- 2001 television episodes
- LGBT-related television episodes
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