Outrage and Righteous Indignation
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
In the fall of 1997 I was serving my second tour in Korea (my first tour at the 2nd Infantry Division) when something came into my life that would forever change how I viewed the world.
One of the guys that had just arrived in country brought with him a video tape of this strange little show that no one had ever heard of before. I must admit that I was not very impressed when I viewed the intro even if the theme song was preformed by Primus . The animation was complete crap, but on that day I watched one of the funniest bits of TV humor that I have ever seen before or after.
Yes, of course I am speaking of the "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boast Ride" episode. Never before had I seen a program that made me laugh so mindlessly. For people that are in a different country, and that are literally counting down the day until they go home (I remember that the first thing I said to myself as I stepped off the plane in Osan AFB was, "365 days and a wake up." Incedently the 2nd thing I thought was, "Holy shit theres Greywar and Xtine!"), having something utterly mindless to take their minds off the current situation is a blessing of unimaginable proportions.
But I digress... Fast forward seven years to the fall of 2004. I rarely watch South Park anymore. Not because I have grown out of that "juvenile behavior" but for the simple fact that I'm too lazy to pay attention to when it is on. I watch Comedy Central on and off during the week and I had noticed the pitch about the 27 All-Time Greatest Episodes, and didn't really pay too much attention to it. That changed last night. I was flipping through the channels when I noticed South Park was on. I usually have the bad luck to turn it on for about the last 30 second of air time, and this time wasnt any different. I was however rewarded with finding out that this episode was the 26th all-time greatest episode (which happened to be the one where Mr. Hanky saves South Park from all the independent film people by conjuring up a Shit Storm, it also featured Chef singing "Chocolate Salty Balls"), so I continued to watch.
I watched until about 1:00am when I finally decided it was time to go home. I set the VCR going to tape the other 18 episodes and went to bed. The next morning i was both shocked and amazed to find out that Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride was number 18!!! How the FUCK could people think that there were 17 other South Parks that are better?! I mean come on, how can you top the perfection that is Cartman observing Stan's dog Sparking "kicking another dog's ass" and saying, "Heh, he's doing something to his ass. He's not kicking his ass, but he's definitely doing something to his ass!"? How can this be topped. And to actually top it off, they are showing all 27 episodes on three consecutive nights, so the stupid VCR only recorded two episodes!!!
Now I calmed down a bit when I realized that I stopped watching South Park after about the 4th season and that perhaps the top 17 were from that time frame. Perhaps they were just ones that I hadn't seen and that possibly they were better. This was quickly shat upon when number 17 rolled around and it was the one with Osama Bin Laden. Now granted, its a pretty funny episode, but better than Big Gay Al? ("Uh oh, look out, it's the oppressors. Christians and republicans and nazis, oh my!")
But in the end, I learned something today. I learned that even if everyone else doesn't share my love for the Big Gay Al episode, it doesn't detract from the episode itself. I learned that Big Gay Al and Osama Bin Laden and Chef's Chocolat Salty Balls are all great episodes, and that seeing them again harkened me be back to simpler times, and for that I am greatful.
The VCR is now going downloading the second night of the three. All is well. I'd like to close with the following thought...
Follow your dreams, you can reach your goals. I'm living proof. Beefcake, BEEFCAKE!
One of the guys that had just arrived in country brought with him a video tape of this strange little show that no one had ever heard of before. I must admit that I was not very impressed when I viewed the intro even if the theme song was preformed by Primus . The animation was complete crap, but on that day I watched one of the funniest bits of TV humor that I have ever seen before or after.
Yes, of course I am speaking of the "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boast Ride" episode. Never before had I seen a program that made me laugh so mindlessly. For people that are in a different country, and that are literally counting down the day until they go home (I remember that the first thing I said to myself as I stepped off the plane in Osan AFB was, "365 days and a wake up." Incedently the 2nd thing I thought was, "Holy shit theres Greywar and Xtine!"), having something utterly mindless to take their minds off the current situation is a blessing of unimaginable proportions.
But I digress... Fast forward seven years to the fall of 2004. I rarely watch South Park anymore. Not because I have grown out of that "juvenile behavior" but for the simple fact that I'm too lazy to pay attention to when it is on. I watch Comedy Central on and off during the week and I had noticed the pitch about the 27 All-Time Greatest Episodes, and didn't really pay too much attention to it. That changed last night. I was flipping through the channels when I noticed South Park was on. I usually have the bad luck to turn it on for about the last 30 second of air time, and this time wasnt any different. I was however rewarded with finding out that this episode was the 26th all-time greatest episode (which happened to be the one where Mr. Hanky saves South Park from all the independent film people by conjuring up a Shit Storm, it also featured Chef singing "Chocolate Salty Balls"), so I continued to watch.
I watched until about 1:00am when I finally decided it was time to go home. I set the VCR going to tape the other 18 episodes and went to bed. The next morning i was both shocked and amazed to find out that Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride was number 18!!! How the FUCK could people think that there were 17 other South Parks that are better?! I mean come on, how can you top the perfection that is Cartman observing Stan's dog Sparking "kicking another dog's ass" and saying, "Heh, he's doing something to his ass. He's not kicking his ass, but he's definitely doing something to his ass!"? How can this be topped. And to actually top it off, they are showing all 27 episodes on three consecutive nights, so the stupid VCR only recorded two episodes!!!
Now I calmed down a bit when I realized that I stopped watching South Park after about the 4th season and that perhaps the top 17 were from that time frame. Perhaps they were just ones that I hadn't seen and that possibly they were better. This was quickly shat upon when number 17 rolled around and it was the one with Osama Bin Laden. Now granted, its a pretty funny episode, but better than Big Gay Al? ("Uh oh, look out, it's the oppressors. Christians and republicans and nazis, oh my!")
But in the end, I learned something today. I learned that even if everyone else doesn't share my love for the Big Gay Al episode, it doesn't detract from the episode itself. I learned that Big Gay Al and Osama Bin Laden and Chef's Chocolat Salty Balls are all great episodes, and that seeing them again harkened me be back to simpler times, and for that I am greatful.
The VCR is now going downloading the second night of the three. All is well. I'd like to close with the following thought...
Follow your dreams, you can reach your goals. I'm living proof. Beefcake, BEEFCAKE!
