Canada on Strike!

Infobox Television episode
Title =Canada On Strike!
Series =South Park


Caption = Terrance and Phillip arguing with the head of the "WGA" Steven Abootman
Season =12
Episode =171
Airdate =April 2, 2008
Total Time =
Production =1204
Writer = Trey Parker
Director = Trey Parker
Guests =
Episode list =List of South Park episodes
Season list = Infobox South Park season 12 episode list
Prev =Major Boobage | Next =TBA

"Canada On Strike!" is episode 1204 (#171) of the animated series "South Park".cite web | title=Episode 1204 Press Release | publisher=South Park Studios | year=2008 | url=http://www.southparkstudios.com/news/3414 | accessdate=2008-03-31] It was first broadcast on April 2, 2008.

Plot

Canadians are disappointed when Canada Appreciation Day in the U.S. does not bring Canada the respect it deserves. The head of the "World Canadian Bureau" (abbreviated to WGA), Stephen Aboutman (pronounced "abootman"), leads Canadians in a strike to get Canada more money and respect. Terrance and Phillip try to talk sense into him, but he ignores them. During the episode, Kyle's Canadian adoptive brother (Ike) is seen to be supporting the strike by standing out in the cold holding a sign that says "honk if you support Canada", getting very little response.

Kyle wants the strike to end as he is concerned for his brother; the rest of the children do not seem worried until they start to get annoyed over the repeated reruns of Terrance and Phillip's show, due to the duo's Canadian heritage. They consider the possibility of watching American cartoons, but as soon as they try it by switching to "Family Guy", Cartman rushes off the couch, violently turns off the TV, and shouts "We are NOT resorting to that!" Despite the reruns, Terrance and Phillip oppose the strike and the children are thus convinced to negotiate the end of the strike.

The Canadians are simply demanding more money, such as "some of that Internet money", and tell the boys that if they can raise money on the Internet, they'll end the strike. When the Canadians are watching the news, they hear that thousands of Danish people hope to replace the Canadian people, saying that Denmark is the Canada of Europe.

Kyle, Cartman, Stan, and Butters post a video on "YouToob" of Butters himself singing Samwell's song "What What (In the Butt)" (Referred to as "What What in my Asshole" in the news), [ [http://youtube.com/watch?v=fbGkxcY7YFU YouTube - Samwell - "What What (In the Butt)" ] ] which is an instant hit, with 10 million views (though, when asked by Tay Zonday later, Butters says that they have a few hundred thousand views). They are, however, forced to wait in line at the "Colorado Department of Internet Money", behind other YouTube phenomena such as The Star Wars Kid, The Numa Numa Guy, Tron Guy, Adam "Tay Zonday" Nyerere Bahner, and Chris Crocker, as well as Sneezing Panda, Afro Ninja, Dramatic Prairie Dog (Gopher) and Laughing Baby. The other YouTube celebrities begin to argue about who is the most famous, a quarrel which quickly descends into violence, and most of them end up killing each other. As a result, the boys end up being first in line and they receive 10 million "theoretical dollars", one for each viewing of the "YouToob" video.

They take the money to the WGA in Canada, but it is rejected since it's not real. Instead, the boys convince the international community to give Canada a consolation prize, which turns out to consist of Bennigan's coupons and gumballs for each citizen, so that the strike will end and the WGA leader can look like he did a good job. When the boys return home from Canada, Kyle realises that it will be difficult to earn money distributing media via the internet for a few years.

Back in Canada a week later, as a victory party is held to the tune of "Celebration" (with only the WGA leader celebrating, as the other Canadians are grieving the deaths of their loved ones due to poor health conditions during the strike), Terrance and Phillip arrive and uncover the outrageous cost of the strike, accusing the WGA head of trying to look good so they wouldn't "set him adrift" (cut him loose from power). As it turns out, Canada lost $10.4 million by going on strike, compared to the $3,008 worth of coupons and bubblegum they got from the negotiations. Canada is outraged, and the WGA leader, along with his assistants, are literally set adrift on an ice floe.

Parallels to the 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike

* The "Terrance and Phillip Show" was only showing reruns, and not new episodes. While the writers were striking, a lot of television shows were on hiatus (while some were cancelled for good), and did not air any new episodes until the strike finally was settled.
* Stephen Aboutman stated that he wanted some 'Internet Money'. A key issue of the writer's strike was residuals for "new media", including internet distribution and sales on DVD. The writers talked briefly about the lawsuit between Viacom and YouTube, and the money issues during the strike.
* Stephen Aboutman is head of the World Canadian Bureau, under the acronym WGA. The WGA actually stands for the Writers' Guild of America.

Internet memes

Internet phenomena featured in the episode

*Tron Guy
* Gary Brolsma (The Numa Numa Guy)
*Star Wars kid
*The Sneezing Panda
*Afro Ninja
*The Laughing Baby
*Adam "Tay Zonday" Nyerere Bahner - "Chocolate Rain" (referred to in the episode as "Chocolate Rain guy")
*Chris Crocker
*Dramatic Prairie Dog
*Samwell - What What (In the Butt)
*Bubb Rubb of Whistle tip fame, seen briefly in the foreground
* What appears to be LonelyGirl15 in the back of the lobby
* Back Dorm Boys

Internet distribution

This episode spawned its own popular internet video. The clip of Terrance and Phillip yelling an exchange with the strike leader of Canada was posted on YouTube, and became the most popular video for a few weeks. There were many follow-ups, including people reenacting the scene, a remix and even a clip of it with the K-Fee zombie popping up at the end.

Also getting high ratings on YouTube was the Butters version of "What What (In the Butt)".However, Viacom has since pulled these videos due to infringement.

References

External links

* [http://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/165203/ Full episode at South Park Studios]