The Jeffersons (South Park episode)

Infobox Television episode
Title = The Jeffersons
Series = South Park


Caption =
Season = 8
Episode = 117
Airdate = April 21, 2004
Production =
Writer = Trey Parker
Director = Trey Parker
Guests =
Episode list = List of "South Park" episodes
Season list = Infobox South Park season 8 episode list
Prev =
Next =

"The Jeffersons" is episode 117 of the Comedy Central animated series "South Park". It was originally broadcast on April 21, 2004.

Plot

Michael Jefferson and his children move into the Donovans' old residence.

When the boys go to visit their new neighbour, they meet Blanket, who always wears a mask and unwittingly offers the first clue as to his father's identity: Mr Jefferson has moved to South Park "to get away from it all; he said he wanted peace and quiet, and to live with a bunch of hicks who don't know anything." They do not believe that his name really is Blanket and refuse to hang out with him until he tells them that there are arcades inside his house. Mr Jefferson, donning a fake moustache that keeps falling off, has amusement rides and a small zoo in his backyard, as well as a favourite "wishing tree", a grand selection of arcades and other assorted toys. After the boys meet him and notice his eccentricities (which preclude him from genuine fatherhood), Kyle keeps a special eye on his son.

Cartman, expounding its brilliance, tells all the other 4th-graders to come to the Jeffersons'. Kyle feels bad for Blanket because Mr Jefferson seems to want to be a kid more than to have one. When Mr. Jefferson once again neglects his son, who has sustained a cut to his knee, Kyle takes him to the bathroom to fix him up. Kyle learns that Blanket is a test tube baby and does not know his mother.

Cartman defends Mr Jefferson, who has told him that he is his best friend, and tells Kyle that, if he somehow gets rid of Mr Jefferson, he will "rip his balls off with his bare hands".

When the parents meet Mr Jefferson at the Marshes' dinner party, they find his obsession and empathy with children unsettling. When they ask him to comment on the Kobe Bryant sexual assault case, he voices his opinion that it is wrong for the police go after wealthy black men and that they, the police, have "doo doo in their souls". He also begins to make repeated use of "ignorant" in reference to anyone or anything of which he does not approve.

At the police station, the police receive a report that a wealthy black family has purchased a house in South Park with cash. Sergent Yates and his team, confirming Mr Jefferson's suspicions, plan to take him down, just as they did Bryant — not because he is guilty but because he is black and wealthier than them.

At night, Mr Jefferson sneaks over to Stan's house, dressed in a Peter Pan outfit, shortly followed along by Cartman. Kyle also shows up, accompanied by Blanket. Kyle explains to Stan that he found Blanket wandering around alone in his yard, and is startled by Mr Jefferson's presence. Kyle and Stan implore Mr. Jefferson to go back home, but to no avail: he and Blanket insist that they are afraid to go home because "there's a ghost in our house" and, according to Blanket, "Dad says it wants to eat us!". At that, Mr Jefferson makes a high-pitched "hee-hee" sound. Reluctantly, Stan shares his bed with Kyle, Blanket, Cartman and Mr Jefferson. Cartman and Mr Jefferson, lying next to one another, each remark on how awesome the other is. The two close their eyes and move in for a kiss, at which point Stan wakes up screaming and is relieved to find that they are not kissing but sleeping.

In the morning, Mr. and Mrs. Marsh are alarmed to find Mr. Jefferson sleeping in their son's bed. They demand an explanation, and Mr. Jefferson gives them both $100 to say sorry and promptly heads home to feed the animals in his back yard. Mr. Marsh, slightly puzzled, runs off to get the sports coat that he has always wanted, while Sharon tells the boys that they should stay away from Mr. Jefferson. Stan and Kyle need no convincing, as they both think he's a maniac, but Cartman discourteously refuses.

The Jeffersons return to their home just as the police, having planted all manner of evidence in it the night before, wake up in their squad car. Yates is surprised by Jefferson's appearance — they think he's Caucasian — and believes that someone has made a mistake. He states that he no longer has the stomach for it but vows to continue to frame rich black men, but only if he is sure that they are black.

Later that day, when Kyle, Stan and Kenny pass by Blanket's window, Kyle asks him if he would like to learn how to chop wood. Mr Jefferson arrives and tells Kyle that chopping wood is "poopie work" and that Blanket would rather play. He then proceeds to dangle his son out of the window to show them how Blanket can "fly". The boys are appalled.

Kyle later tells the boys that they have to get Blanket away from Mr Jefferson.

At home with his father, a terrified Blanket begins to cry. In an attempt to calm him down, Mr Jefferson plays the nose-Grabbing game. It works, as Blanket calms down almost at once. He tries to play back but, in so doing, pulls his father's nose off, terrifying him even more.

Mr Jefferson is on the phone with his plastic surgeon because he is now literally falling apart. In the meantime, the Santa Barbara Police, after revealing their "good police work" in framing him previously, confirm that Mr Jefferson is the person for whom Yates is looking. Stan and Kyle dress Kenny up as Blanket in order to sneak the real one out of the house. Notably, without his parka, Kenny speaks unmuffled for only the second time in the history of the franchise — the first was in — and the first time in the television series.

Jefferson, resembling a zombie for all his plastic-surgery exiguities and wearing red and black, intercepts them and playfully throws Kenny into the ceiling, crushing his skull.

The kids run out of the house and are greeted by the police, who say that they are charging him with child molestation, but Cartman runs in front of them and says angrily he is sick of people tormenting Mr Jefferson. Kyle tells Mr Jefferson that he is supposed to be a parent to Blanket rather than a child himself, pointing out that "When people have children, they have to grow up!". Mr Jefferson, realizing that he's forgotten his son's childhood while he's obsessed about his own, agrees: he decides to give away all his money in order to raise Blanket properly and give him a normal life. The police decide to drop the charges, reasoning that "there's no point in putting another "poor" black man in jail". As he sings a celebratory song, a happy crowd gathers round.