Fishsticks

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Season	s13
Episode	e05
Written By	Trey Parker
Production Code	1305
Original Air Date	2009-04-08

Episode Chronology

Previous
Eat, Pray, Queef
Next
Pinewood Derby

Story

Description

Cartman decides to help Jimmy with his comedy routine. They come up with the funniest joke of all time. All the late-night talk show hosts pick it up, and the whole country loves it - everyone except for Kanye West, who is immediately offended and confounded by the insinuation that he is a gay fish.

Memorable Quotes

"Hey man, I'm a GENIUS alright. I'm the most talented musician in the WORLD. If I was a homosexual OR a fish I would know!" -Kanye
"You hear that? NO GILLS. So I can't be a fish. And I'm a genius voice of a generation so I'm not gay." -Kanye
I DON'T NEED ANYBODY TELLING ME PLAY ON WORDS I'M A MOTHERFUCKING LYRICAL WORDSMITH MOTHERFUCKING GENIUS! -Kanye
"Hello Eric, have some chips because you're totally not fat at all." -Eric
HEY LOOK! ERIC KILLED A DRAGON!!! -Butters
"Look at me maaan...I'm not funny, I steal jokes, my dick don't work, man...I got to piss in a plastic bag, man, I got no dick!" -Carlos Mencia
"You like putting fishsticks in your mouth?"

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic05a_GayFishMeme_B.jpg

"Yup. And and if I had wheels, I'd be a wagon."

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic06_Wheels_B.jpg

Characters

Locations

Behind The Scenes

"The whole idea started on a Writer’s Retreat, visiting the Ballard Locks in Seattle- which is this place where you can see salmon jumping."
From Matt: "...on the Writers Retreat, we typed in 'fish dicks' to see if anybody made that stupid joke before. NO ONE had."
From Matt and Trey: "That whole point of the episode was like: Kanye, get a sense of humor. You seem so humorless about yourself."

Character Art: Kanye

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic07_KanyeOutfits_B.jpg

The art department created a number of different outfits for Kanye. Almost all got used.

Storyboard: Genius

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic12_Whiteboard_B.jpg

Check out the storyboard from this "genius" scene...

Character Art: Cartman

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic16_Perm_B.jpg

Cartman got a fresh "perm" character design for his appearance on Ellen.

Character Art: Fish Costume

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic11a_FishCostume_B.jpg

All costumes on background characters must be designed and approved, prior to animation.

Character Art: Cartman

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic17_LeatherJacket_B.jpg

Check out the character design for this super-cool version of Cartman:.

Character Art: Carlos Mencia

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic15_CarlosSitting2_B.jpg

A special sitting position was created for this shot of Mencia.

Script Excerpt

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The show is always written a scene or two at a time. This was the first scene written:

Production Art: Gay Fish

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic11_Signs_B.jpg

Even something as small as a sign has to be designed and approved, prior to animation.

Pop Culture References

Besides this episode, Jay Leno has made 3 prior cameos in South Park -- in "Funnybot" & "City On The Edge of Forever", and also in a 1997 Thanksgiving Special.
In addition to Fishsticks, Puff Daddy has appeared several times in South Park -- most notably with his Vote or Die campaign in "Douche and Turd".

Character Art: Conan

http://southparkstudios.mtvnimages.com/shared/wiki/episodes/season-13/1305/1305_LiveTweet_Pic08_Conan1_B.jpg

Conan got an updated look here. He appeared/died 10 years earlier in the movie "South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut".

Bonus Factoids

In 2011, Fishsticks was ranked by fans as #6 on their list of all-time favorite #SouthPark episodes.
Matt & Trey: If someone told us #Fishsticks would be a fan favorite when we were coming up with the idea, we would've been like “no way”.
Most fans don't realize this episode actually aired WAY BEFORE Kanye’s infamous "Imma let you finish" stage crash at the VMAs.

Season 13

e1 The Ring
e2 The Coon
e3 Margaritaville
e4 Eat, Pray, Queef
e5 Fishsticks
e6 Pinewood Derby
e7 Fatbeard
e8 Dead Celebrities
e9 Butters' Bottom Bitch
e10 W.T.F.
e11 Whale Whores
e12 The F Word
e13 Dances With Smurfs
e14 Pee