Chef Aid
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| Season | s02 |
| Episode | e14 |
| Written By | Trey Parker |
| Production Code | 0214 |
| Original Air Date | 1998-10-07 |
Episode Chronology
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Story[edit]
After a huge loss in court, Chef is left penniless. The boys gather some very famous and talented people in the music industry who want to help their old friend.
Description[edit]
When Chef discovers that Alanis Morissette has turned "Sinky Britches", a song he wrote years ago into a famous hit, he approaches the record company about having his name listed as the composer. Instead the label hires celebrity lawyer Johnnie Cochran to sue Chef for harassment. Using the "Chewbacca Defense", Cochran wins damages of $2 million. If Chef doesn't pay within 24 hours he gets four years in jail.
Chef decides to become a male prostitute, sleeping with all the women in town until he raises $2 million -- not to pay off the fine, but to hire Cochran to sue the record company on his behalf.
On a different front, someone is making attempts on the "life" of Mr. Garrison's puppet, Mr. Twig. All evidence points to Mr. Hat. After several misadventures, Mr. Hat and Mr. Garrison the two reconcile and get back together.
The boys also try to raise cash to help Chef. First they begin by selling candy to all of Chef's old rock star friends. Then they organize a benefit concert which consists of Cartman in lederhosen performing something called "The German Dance." Then Elton John and other performers show up and agree to put on a show for Chef.
The show is sabotaged by a record company executive, but the event touches Johnnie Cochran who agrees to represent Chef for free. Using exactly the same tactics he employed the first time around, he gets the new jury to reach a completely different verdict. Chef gets his name on the album.
What I Learned Today[edit]
"Love isn't a decision, it's a feeling. If we could decide who we love, it would be much simpler, but much less magical."
Memorable Quotes[edit]
- "If Chewbacca lives on Endor, you must acquit!" (Johnnie Cochran, a parody of his famous line "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit".)
- "Well I'll be sodomized on Christmas!" (Chef)
- "I'm afraid it's the big house for you, fruitcake." (Officer Barbrady)
- "My only hope is to whore myself to every woman in town." (Chef)
- "You still aren't entertaining any ideas of raping me here in this prison cell, are you Chef?" (Mr. Garrison)
Characters[edit]
Kyle Broflovski
Eric Cartman
Kenny McCormick
Herbert Garrison
Jerome "Chef" McElroy
Alanis Morisette
Gerald Broflovski
Sheila Broflovski
Johnnie Cochran
Meat Loaf
Veronica Crabtree
Rick James
Mayor McDaniels
Officer Barbrady
Elton John
Character Debuts[edit]
Judge Moses, the wild-haired judge that resides over Chef's court case, and the Record Producer, who's constantly applying "spooge" to his comb-over. Also, the Band Announcer during Chef Aid makes another cameo in "Timmy 2000".
Judge Moses
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Body Count[edit]
Ozzy Osbourne bites off Kenny's head. Also a juror's head explodes.
Ozzy Osbourne
Locations[edit]
South Park Courthouse
Songs[edit]
- "Chef Aid" Rancid, Rick James, Prymus, Joe Strummer, Ozzy Osborne, Ween and Elton John singing "Wake up Wendy", lyrics by Stan Marsh
Original Song[edit]
- "Stinky Britches" song is a parody of "Ironic" by Alanis Morissette
- "Stinky Britches" Chef
- "Stinky Britches" on TV
- "German Dance" Cartman
- "Cheddar Cheese Girl" Elton John
Behind The Scenes[edit]
The title "Chef Aid" is a parody of the different charity benefits that usually end with "Aid". The most prominent examples are the charity efforts for Ethiopian famine relief lead by Bob Geldof, member of Irish rock band The Boomtown Rats. He put together a charity supergroup called Live Aid, and organized charity concerts called Band Aid and Live 8.
Where Did The Idea Come From[edit]
This episode was to promote Chef Aid: The South Park Album, a compilation album released two months later after this episode aired. It featured South Park characters and celebrity artists, with songs taken from or inspired by the show. All the guest appearances in this episode were some of the many collaborators on the album.
Pop Culture References[edit]
Shout Outs[edit]
Whether voice acted or cameoed through song, the list of guest appearances for this episode is huge. Artists include Elton John, Marvin Lee Aday aka Meat Loaf, Rick James, Rancid, Joe Strummer, Ozzy Osbourne, Ween, Primus, DMX, and Ol' Dirty Bastard.
The lawyer who represents the Record Producer and Chef is Johnny Cochran, known for representing O. J. Simpson during the infamous O. J. Simpson murder case. Cochran's defense was in part credited for O.J. Simpson's acquittal.
Mr. Garrison drives Chef to the benefit concert in a white Bronco, a la O.J. Simpson.
The episode's narrator says that when Johnnie Cochran witnessed the show, his "small heart grew three sizes that day". This is an obvious parody of the 1966 Christmas special Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas, based on the eponymous children's book.
In Chef's memory book, he has photos with The Beatles, Janis Joplin, Elton John, the Sex Pistols, Steve Urkel, and a German goat. Famous places he's been are the The Great Wall of China and former nightclub Studio 54 located in Manhattan, New York.
Pwn'd[edit]
Alanis Morissette's crappy music video for "Stinky Britches" plays briefly in the beginning of the episode. It resembles the music video for her hit song "Ironic".
There's a picture of Leonardo DiCaprio above Mr. Twig's bed. The actor is apparently quite popular around South Park, having spent some quality time with Ming Lee in the previous episode "Cow Days".
Bonus Factoids[edit]
Pointless Observations[edit]
- Mr. Twig is first found in a pot of boiling water, a reference to the boiled bunny in the 1987 psychological thriller Fatal Attraction. It is then broken in half while in bed, an homage to the horse-head-in-the-bed scene in 1972 crime drama The Godfather.
- During the first court case, Chef's real name is revealed to be Jerome McElroy.
- To win his South Park cases, Johnnie Cochran employs the "Chewbacca defense", a strategy that confuses a jury with so much extraneous and irrelevant information, rather than refuting the presented argument, that their minds shut down. This is a parody of Cochran's closing argument in the O. J. Simpson case. In fact, the "Chewbacca defense" is now a well known term in the legal community for describing a red herring or ignoratio elenchi (irrelevant conclusion).
- This is a big episode for Mr. Hat. Up to this point, everyone assumed he was just a very gay puppet, but here he drives a car and busts Mr. Garrison and Chef out of jail. How he reached the pedals is still a mystery...
- One of the limo drivers is a Visitor.
Season 2[edit]
- e1 Terrance and Phillip in Not Without My Anus
- e2 Cartman's Mom Is Still a Dirty Slut
- e3 Chickenlover
- e4 Ike's Wee Wee
- e5 Conjoined Fetus Lady
- e6 The Mexican Staring Frog of Southern Sri Lanka
- e7 City on the Edge of Forever (Flashbacks)
- e8 Summer Sucks
- e9 Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls
- e10 Chickenpox
- e11 Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods
- e12 Clubhouses
- e13 Cow Days
- e14 Chef Aid
- e12 Spookyfish
- e13 Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!
- e14 Gnomes
- e15 Prehistoric Ice Man