Krazy Kripples
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| South Park episode | |
| "Krazy Kripples" | |
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| Episode no. | 98 |
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| Airdate | March 26, 2003 |
| South Park - Season 7 March 19, 2003 – December 17, 2003 |
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| ← Season 6 | Season 8 → |
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| List of all South Park episodes | |
"Krazy Kripples" is episode 702 of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired on March 26, 2003.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
When Jimmy's comedy act is snubbed by the townspeople in favor of an inspirational talk by Christopher Reeve, Timmy and he form a club for genuine cripples, born that way, not wannabe posers like he says Christopher Reeve is. Timmy and Jimmy start their own club, dubbed "the Crips" unaware of the notorious, real life street gang that shares the same name. Eventually Timmy and Jimmy find out about the Crips, and under the belief that it is a group of disabled people like themselves, they attempt to, and eventually succeed in joining the gang by inadvertently causing a massive road accident that kills a group of the Crips' real life rival gang, the Bloods. Jimmy and Timmy only become aware of the actual nature of their new gang when a group of Bloods gang members commit a drive-by shooting on Jimmy's house. In order to prevent further reprisals, Jimmy decides to call a meeting at the local recreation center between the two gangs, and lock themselves in for the evening until they can sort out their differences. Expectedly, both gangs initially act hostile to one another, but Jimmy manages to convince them to sort out their differences and manages to bring the two gangs together, as they all then participate in various games and activities inside the recreation center as friends.
Meanwhile, Christopher Reeve campaigns for stem cell research for the handicapped in general (and for himself in particular). By cracking open fetuses and sucking out their juices, he soon regains mobility, and even super powers (like the character he portrayed, Superman). He eventually takes on the role of a supervillain, and is opposed by his arch-nemesis, Gene Hackman (the actor who portrayed Lex Luthor, Superman's archnemisis), whom Reeve refers to as Hack Man. This ironic comedy causes one reporter to comment that "if irony were made of strawberries, we'd all be drinking a lot of smoothies right now." Reeve continues to use stem cells even after he is healed and becomes addicted to power, and eventually puts together a Legion of Doom (see below) made up of villains from the comic and South Park universes. At the end Hackman manages to get a law passed to end Reeve's "fetus-sucking days," and traps Reeve in the Phantom Zone.
The episode ends with the four boys---Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny---having watched all the events, remarking that they were "glad they stayed out of this one."
[edit] Trivia
- This episode refers to Christopher Reeve's campaign for stem cell research.
- At the beginning of the episode, Kyle says "Dude, that's not cool. You shouldn't make fun of Christopher Reeve, dude." The episode then proceeds to do the exact opposite.
- On the creator's commentary, Trey Parker said that because no one on the South Park staff (besides Vernon Chatman who provides the voice of Towelie) is black, he had to go out into the street and find three or four black men to record the voices of the bloods and the crips.
[edit] References to Pop culture
- The roles of Reeve and Hackman are reversed from the earlier Superman series where Reeve played the eponymous hero and Hackman his indomitable arch-enemy Lex Luthor. Reeves' acting later in the episode is reminiscent of the Penguin from Batman.
- The Crips & Bloods playing music in the center is a reference to Fat Albert.
- At the end of the episode, Christopher Reeve is trapped inside the Phantom Zone, a square that is floating in space. This is a reference to the fate of Jor-El's enemies General Zod, Ursa and Non.
- The scene where Reeve stands up is a reference to the Super Bowl commercial where Reeve walked onto a stage to accept an award for his efforts to promote medical research. He admitted that it was digitally-edited and couldn't stand up for a long time.[citation needed]
- Reeve's line, "That name no longer has any meaning for me", is a reference to Darth Vader in Return of the Jedi.
[edit] Members of the League of Doom
- Solomon Grundy
- Professor Chaos and General Disarray
- Dr. Octopus
- David Blaine (see "Super Best Friends")
- Kim Jong Il
- Cheetah
- Saddam Hussein
- Black Manta
- Doctor Doom
- Osama bin Laden
- Roger Ebert
| Preceded by: "I'm a Little Bit Country" |
South Park episodes | Followed by: "Toilet Paper" |
