From Studio Briefing:
4.4 million viewers...tuned in to watch last week's episode of South Park, titled "The Passion of the Jew." It was the highest ratings the Comedy Central show has received since 1998 and was the top-rated cable telecast last Wednesday in the 18-49-year-old demo.
This analytical satire of Mel Gibson's movie ran several good directions all at once. Cartman, of course, began literally worshipping Gibson as Lord and Fuhrer, and Kyle was consume with guilt for being a Christkiller.
Meanwhile, Stan and Kenny just thought the movie sucked, and went looking for Gibson to get back the money they spent on movie tickets.
This set up the best part- Mel Gibson as a South Park character. SPMG was just nutsy, with a strong desire to be tortured. He was absoutely crazy, or -as Stan specifically said, "daffy." Gibson was going "woo-hoo" and bouncing off his head like ol' Daffy Duck.
Among other things, this classic episode was a pretty fair tribute to Looney Tunes.
I would take one small point of difference with them, however. At one point, the nice minister explains to Kyle that there really wasn't very much in the Bible about the details of the crucifixion, and that stuff was mostly made up for the anti-semitic passion plays in the middle ages.
With due respect, seeing the movie, I recognized most of the specific details of the presentation as specifically Biblical. There were a few things here and there added to fill in the viewing experience, but still.
Far more than that small disagreement, however, I for one am just continually impressed with how much this show totally succeeds as comedy yet consistently makes real social analysis and argument.
Is this the most brilliant show on television?
Article comments