Eek, a Penis!

"Eek, a Penis!"
South Park episode
Episode no.	Season 12 Episode 5
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker
Production code	1205
Original air date	April 9, 2008
Episode chronology
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List of season 12 episodes List of South Park episodes

"Eek, a Penis!" is the fifth episode of the twelfth season of the American animated series South Park^[1] and the 172nd episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 9, 2008. In the episode, Mrs. Garrison seeks to become a man again through the help of a new medical procedure, and Cartman helps teach struggling inner-city schoolchildren how to succeed by cheating.

The episode was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker and co-written by series co-founder Matt Stone, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States.

Plot summary

The episode begins with Mrs. Garrison crying in front of her class as she recounts the story of a pregnant transsexual who appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show a week before the episode's release. She claims that having a baby makes her a woman and that Mrs. Garrison herself is still a man deep down inside. She then explains that she is no longer happy as a woman, but cannot return to being a man because her penis was destroyed after her sex-change operation. After launching into a rage, Garrison is removed from teaching by Principal Victoria until she gets her personal life in order, and Cartman is appointed as temporary teacher in Garrison's place. The kids in class then steal the answer sheet for the next day's test from Garrison's desk, and as a result pass with high scores. Impressed by the high scores, the Denver County school board asks Cartman to teach a struggling inner-city classroom at Jim Davis High School.

Mrs. Garrison sees a news report describing how scientists can use a mouse to grow a human ear, and decides to have the same experiment performed on her to get a new penis. Using some of her male DNA and all of her money, scientists are able to create a mouse with a penis on it, but it escapes from the lab and begins to race all over town, causing stereotypical hysterical reactions in all the women who see it (who only refer to it as a "penis"). Mrs. Garrison looks for it in vain, as it winds up in various houses and restaurants. At a certain point, during the chase, the mouse stops on a fence and starts singing a song to the moon. Later the penis joins in and they form a duet. The song is interrupted by Garrison and eventually the mouse vanishes into the sewers, and Mrs. Garrison goes back to moping that she will never be a real man again.

Meanwhile, Cartman, taking Kyle's warning about the dangers of inner-city students who will "fucking murder [him]", disguises himself as a Latino named "Mr. Cartmenez", and teaches his students how white people are able to succeed even when they cannot: by cheating. Cartman often wonders aloud "How do I reach these keeeds [kids]?" He then teaches his class numerous cheating techniques, explaining that as long as they succeed, no one will judge them. Cartman cites Bill Belichick's success after cheating in the Spygate football scandal. He teaches them to memorize test answers, use cameras, and, in the case of a pregnant girl, getting an abortion (which he explains is "cheating nature itself", and that "white girls do it all the time and get away with it"). When the kids do amazingly well, they are then challenged to take the hardest, most secure standardized test in the state. When the kids begin to doubt Cartman's methods, he again points to Bill Belichick, implying that after he decided to win a game "for real", he ended up losing (in Super Bowl XLII). The kids are encouraged by this, and all receive perfect scores (by cheating). The class honors "Mr. Cartmenez" for teaching them "The White People Method", and he is universally praised.

While Mrs. Garrison is moping in the park, the mouse with his penis shows up and allows itself to be caught, and Mrs. Garrison undergoes an operation to become Mr. Garrison again. He arrives back at school and explains that he now realizes that the true judge of gender is whether someone can get pregnant. The episode concludes when one teacher objects that his wife cannot have babies because of ovarian cancer, and Mr. Garrison responds with, "Well then get an AIDS test, Thomson, 'cause your wife's a dude, faggot... Yeah! I'm back!" while the mouse flies in the air.

Production

"Eek, a Penis!" was written and directed by series co-founder Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. It first aired on April 9, 2008 in the United States on Comedy Central. Shortly after "Eek, a Penis!" was originally broadcast, T-shirts and hooded sweatshirts based on the episode were made available at South Park Studios, the official South Park website. The shirt design featured a silhouette of the mouse with a penis on it running.^[2]

Cultural references

A large part of the plot parodies the film Stand and Deliver, with Cartman assuming a similar role to that played by Edward James Olmos.^[3][4] Stand and Deliver is about a teacher at James A. Garfield High School. The inner-city school in the episode is named after Jim Davis, creator of the Garfield comic strip. A scene where Mrs. Garrison's penis and a mouse sing a duet references the film An American Tail, with the song performed similar to "Somewhere Out There".^[5][4] Reference is also made to Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots, the Spygate scandal of 2007, and Super Bowl XLII.^[4]

Reception

The AV Club's Sean O'Neal gave the episode a C rating, feeling that the parody of Stand and Deliver took away from the episode's message, "Even as someone who appreciated the reference I found it distracting, particularly since Cartman's lesson plan–teaching his students to cheat "the white people way"–worked well enough on its own, making the allusion sort of superfluous". O'Neal felt that the references to the film were dated: "Would anyone under, say, the age of 25 get that Cartman gave himself an Edward James Olmos makeover, right down to the cardigan vests and the way he tucked his hand in his waistband?" and the Belichick appearance "fell flat."^[3]

TV Squad's Brad Trechak felt that "episodes have felt lower in quality this season" but the episode succeeded in being "unconventionally funny" and singled out the mouse/penis duet for praise.^[5]

Travis Fickett of IGN gave the episode a rating of 7.7, stating that the episode "will probably not end up as one of the more memorable episodes in the canon, but it's pretty damn fun nonetheless". Fickett also singled out the mouse/penis duet as "It is just about to get old when the penis-mouse stops by the light of the moon to sing an American Tail inspired ballad about being lost"^[4]

See also

• Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina

References

1. ^ "Episode 1205 Press Release". Comedy Central. 2008. http://www.comedycentral.com/press/press_releases/2008/040708_sp_eek_penis.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-04-07. 
2. ^ "southpark: Eek!". Zazzle. 2008-04-09. http://www.zazzle.com/southpark/gifts?cg=196202915456554476. Retrieved 2009-11-19. 
3. ^ ^{a b} "South Park: "Eek, A Penis!"". The A.V. Club. 10 April 2008. http://www.avclub.com/articles/south-park-eek-a-penis,12913/. Retrieved 5 May 2009. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d} "South Park: "Eek!, A Penis!" Review". IGN. IGN. http://uk.tv.ign.com/articles/865/865794p1.html. Retrieved 5 May 2009. 
5. ^ ^{a b} "South Park: Eek, A Penis!". TV Squad. 10 April 2008. http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/04/10/south-park-eek-a-penis/. Retrieved 5 May 2009. 

External links

• "Eek, a Penis!" Full episode at South Park Studios
• "Eek, a Penis!" Episode guide at South Park Studios
• "Eek, a Penis!" at the Internet Movie Database
• "Eek, a Penis!" at TV.com