| "Towelie" | ||||
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| South Park episode | ||||
 "... You wanna get high?" |
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| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 8 |
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| Written by | Trey Parker | |||
| Directed by | Trey Parker | |||
| Production no. | 508 | |||
| Original airdate | August 8, 2001 | |||
| Season 5 episodes | ||||
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| ← Season 4 | Season 6 → | |||
| List of South Park episodes | ||||
"Towelie" is episode 73 of Comedy Central's South Park. It originally aired on August 8, 2001.
Contents |
Synopsis
While at Stan's house, Cartman discovers a used tampon which he mistakes for an aborted fetus in the garbage. In an effort to get the kids never to mention the tampon again, Stan's mother buys the kids a video game system, the Okama Gamesphere. The boys are completely fascinated by the Okama Gamesphere and intend to play with it for the entire weekend, without sleeping. During their playing, a talking towel called "Towelie" comes in whenever they mention any subject involving water and advises them to keep a towel handy, before asking if they want to get "high". However, the boys largely ignore him and tell him to go away.
When Monday comes around, the boys are forced to go to school. At the bus stop, a car pulls up and a man in the car asks if the boys have seen a talking towel anywhere. When the boys ask if he is talking about Towelie, the man yells into a walkie-talkie, and drives off, watching the boys suspiciously. After school, the boys run to Stan's house, but the Okama Gamesphere isn't there. In its place is a ransom call, saying that if the boys want to get their Okama Gamesphere, they'll have to take Towelie to a secluded gas station during the night. The boys locate Towelie and take him to the gas station. An elderly man that works for the company that made Towelie is there, and he thanks the boys for bringing Towelie to him. When the boys ask for their Okama Gamesphere, the old man realizes that it is a trap, and the United States Military ambushes them. During the fight, Towelie and the boys escape.
Before the episode goes to a commercial break, a fake commercial is shown advertising Towelie merchandise.
For the rest of the episode, the boys and Towelie go back and forth between a military base (aptly named "Secret Government Base") and the company that made Towelie (Tynacorp) in an effort to get their Okama Gamesphere. The plot gets increasingly thick, involving aliens trying to take over Earth using genetically modified Towelies. All throughout the story, the boys say they don't care, and that they just want their Okama Gamesphere; in spite of their utter indifference, the increasingly complicated plot continues to surround them and the two sides play them against the other. In the midst of a confrontation between the military and the company that made Towelie, the boys find their Okama Gamesphere, but before they can play for long the building is blown up in order to kill the aliens that want to rule the world. Kenny falls in a pool of lava, but the other boys and Towelie escape with the Okama Gamesphere. The boys and Towelie go home and play the Okama Gamesphere, with Towelie, as he has been for much of the episode, high. The boys all share a laugh, which leads Cartman to tell him, "You're the worst character ever, Towelie", to which Towelie complacently replies, "I know."
Production
Towelie's catchphrase, "don't forget to bring a towel", originated on a boat trip the writers and friends took. People were constantly telling each other "don’t forget to bring a towel" with the phrase having eventually morphed into "Towelie says to bring a towel." Parker and Stone have asserted that they were becoming increasingly aware as to how heavily merchandised and exploited their creations were becoming. Towelie was their way of poking fun at themselves. They designed Towelie as a shallow, two-dimensional (both literally and figuratively) character who has no real purpose except to "spout catch phrases and merchandise the hell out of". This is why they threw in the fake commercial during the show, and also why, in the episode Cartman calls him the "worst character ever."[1]
Cultural references
While trying to type in the correct pass code, Towelie begins to sing the lyrics to Lipps Inc.'s Funkytown. Whenever Towelie gets high, the famous spinach-eating music from Popeye is played in the background.
The "Okama Gamesphere" represented the PlayStation 2, the name of which could not be used as it was a trademarked product. The name Gamesphere is take on the Nintendo GameCube, which was to be released shortly after the episode was written.[2]
After Stan's mother throws out a used tampon, Cartman quotes from the 1996 film Sling Blade when he says, "You shouldn't've done that -- he was just a boy".[3]
References
- ^ This is mentioned in the DVD commentary for the episode, as well as in the 2003 VH1 special.
- ^ "South Park Studios FAQ". Southparkstudios.com. 2001-08-09. http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/archives.php?id=3136. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
- ^ "South Park Studios FAQ". Southparkstudios.com. 2001-11-29. http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/archives.php?id=5266. Retrieved 2009-09-04.
External links
| Preceded by “Proper Condom Use” |
South Park episodes | Followed by “Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants” |
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