Story

Description

The boys are playing outside with their remote controlled cars when a group of kids from Orange County show up and "serve" them with some hot dance moves. Not knowing what to do, the boys turn to Chef. It turns out the "serving" was more severe than the boys thought. Chef kindly encourages them to relax, then sadly informs the boys' parents about what's happened. Stan's dad is pissed that his son didn't "dance back" when challenged, and teaches him a few moves of his own. The next day, the OC kids confront the boys with another "serving" -- but this time, Stan "serves" them back (to the tune of "Achy Breaky Heart").

Temporarily defeated by Stan's superior dance moves, the OC kids tell them "it's on" and challenge them to a dance-off that Saturday: South Park's five best dancers vs. the OC kids. Feeling responsible for the heightened stakes, Stan's dad goes and tells the other team's dance coach that his son won't participate. But the coach "serves" Randy so severely that he is hospitalized.

Now Stan is also burdened with avenging his father's humiliation. He assembles a dance squad from the thin local pickings: a Goth kid (who participates in this horrifically "conformist" dance-off because doing so would be the height of non-conformity); a kid who dances really well in videogames (but not in real life); and a waitress from Raisins named Mercedes.

This leaves them one short of a five-person team. Mercedes suggests they talk to the state's champion tap dancer . . . a kid named Leopold Stotch. Realizing she's talking about Butters, Stan asks him to join. But at the very mention of tap dancing, Butters has a meltdown and runs away, leaving the fifth slot to be filled by a dancing duck named Jeffy. Chef tries to coach them, but it's soon obvious that, barring a miracle, they're screwed.

Desperate, Stan once again approaches Butters. It is here we learn that Butters has a terrible secret: during the National Tap Dance competition two years earlier, Butters' shoe flew off, triggering a series of events that killed eight people (actually 11, as Stan points out, because one of the victims was pregnant and two relatives of the victims committed suicide shortly thereafter). Stan tells Butters to put the tragedy behind him, but once again Butters won't listen.

The night of the dance-off, Jeffy the duck sprains his ankle, leaving South Park without a full squad. Just as the team contemplates forfeiting, Butters shows up and saves the day. Unfortunately, during his dance solo, his left shoe flies off his foot and into the rafters. It knocks a light loose, triggering a series of mishaps that kills the entire OC crew, plus their coach.

With their competition dead, the South Park team is declared victorious. The kids, screaming with joy, carry off Butters (who's screaming in horror) on their shoulders.

What I Learned Today

"Someday you're gonna have to stop running from what happened and start dealing with it. Otherwise you might as well move to France with all the other pussies."

Memorable Quotes

• "You think you can just roll in here and tell us it's not on when it very clearly is on?" Dance Coach
• "Dancing is something you do alone in your room at three in the morning." Goth Kid
• "We can't be a dance troupe with just guys. People will think we're fags." Goth Kid
• "You'll do a line and I'll do a line, we'll fight an' screw 'til the mornin' time..." Rancher
• "Nobody's getting served if I can help it. We just gotta buckle down, dig deep, and pray that maybe the other team comes down with cancer." Chef
• "You just got SERVED!" OC Kid
• "Stanly, when somebody challenges you to dance, you have to dance back at them." Randy
• "Ha! You just got F'd in the A!" Cartman
• "If you get served and serve them back, then it's on! Don't you know anything?!" Chef
• "It isn't on. Nothing's on. It's off." Stan's dad
• "He got served. Worst I've ever seen." Dr. Doctor
• "I'm such a non-conformist that I'm not going to conform with the rest of you." Goth Kids
• "Loo Loo Loo, I've got some apples. Loo Loo Loo, you've got some too." Butters
• "You have the heart and the soul you just don't have the talent." Chef
• "I'm sorry, Stan. I'm not a dancer anymore I gave that up." Butters

Characters

Stan Marsh

Kyle Broflovski

Eric Cartman

Kenny McCormick

Butters Stotch

Goth Kids

Mercedes

Porsche

Randy Marsh

Sharon Marsh

Linda Stotch

Jerome "Chef" McElroy

Skeeter

Jimbo Kern

Herbert Garrison

Character Debuts

The OC kids and their ultra-supportive "serving" Coach. We also meet Jeffy, the dancing duck, and Yao, the Asian kid who's an expert at videogame dancing.

Orange County Dance Crew

Jeffy

Yao

Body Count

The eight . . . make that eleven . . . people killed during Butters' National Tap Dancing Championship accident. Also, the five OC dancers and their Coach, killed by yet another Butters' tap dancing atrocity.

Locations

Bounce Convention Center

Lamont's Dance Studio

True-Value Hardware

Original Songs

• The hip-hop, dance beat "Let's See You Dance" provides the soundtrack for many harsh "servings."
• There's also the hot rap joint "You Can't Step," which the kids attempt to "step" to.
• Jeffy the duck gets country to the fiddle tune "You Do A Line."

• Butters sings his little ditty "Loo Loo Loo, I've Got Some Apples," which will re-appear in several future episodes (including "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset, The Death of Eric Cartman, Erection Day, The China Probrem and Pre-School").

• Lastly, there's the instant-classic "I've Got Something In My Front Pocket For You," to which Butters tap-dances his heart out.

Behind The Scenes

Where Did The Idea Come From

Matt and Trey decided to take on "dance movies" after seeing You Got Served at a theater in South Central L.A. The film sucked, but the audience was literally dancing in the aisles.

Pop Culture References

Shout Outs

After Stan gets "served," Randy tries to give his son some square-dancing pointers -- which he does to the tune of "Achy Breaky Heart" by Billy Ray Cyrus. The dance-videogame Dancin' Dancin' Dancin' Machine is a parody of the videogame Dance Dance Revolution, which was enormously popular around the time this episode was released. In the dance studio where Stan and his crew are practicing, there are posters on the wall for Felines and Le Cirque Soleil, parodies of the dance-filled shows Cats and Cirque du Soleil.

Pwn'd

The Goth kids say that they won't dance "like those Britney and Justin wannabes at school." Also, rapper Lil' Kim attends the OC/South Park dance off -- she's about one foot tall and has breasts the size of her whole body.

Bonus Factoids

Pointless Observations

The episode parodies various dance-intensive movies, including 2000's Bring It On and 2001's Save the Last Dance. Its namesake, however, is 2004's You Got Served. "The Goth Dance," as described by the Goth kids, is performed by "keeping your hands at your sides and your eyes on the ground. Then every three seconds, you take a drag on your cigarette." As these non-conformists show us, it's the only cool way to dance. Two of the people Stan recruits to be on South Park's dance team -- Mercedes and the Goth Kid -- may look familiar; both were introduced in last season's episode "Raisins" . Butters was the Colorado Tap Dancing State Champion in 2002. He also went to the National Championship in Nebraska that year, but things didn't quite work out. Butters is playing with Leggos! in his room, building a mini-town. This playtime activity is an obvious nod to the iconic LEGO toys.

A Visitor can be spotted in the crowd during the final scene, upper left.

Season 8

e1 Good Times With Weapons

e2 AWESOM-O

e3 Up the Down Steroid

e4 The Passion of the Jew

e5 You Got F'd in the A

e6 Goobacks

e7 The Jeffersons

e8 Douche and Turd

e9 Something Wall Mart This Way Comes

e10 Pre-School

e11 Quest for Ratings

e12 Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset

e13 Cartman's Incredible Gift

e14 Woodland Critter Christmas