Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride/Trivia

Trivia

 * This episode was nominated for an Emmy Award. In the same year, The Simpsons won an Emmy for the episode "Homer's Phobia", which also dealt with homosexuality.
 * Sparky is voiced by George Clooney.
 * In this episode, Clyde's voice is different to later episodes; instead of his later nasal tone, his voice sounds exactly like Butters.
 * This was the only South Park episode that displayed the Comedy Central "card scan" closing logo when it first debuted as all the other episodes of the season used the "transmitter" closing logo.
 * [[Media:VisitorsGoCows.png|A lighter version of Token]] can be seen sitting in front of Mrs. Cartman at the football game.
 * This is the first episode where Mr. Garrison takes off his glasses.
 * TV Guide refused to advertise it under its actual name for fear of offending readers and instead called the episode "Big Al's Boat Ride".
 * Starting with this episode, Cartman's cut-out model looks slightly different from previous episodes. His chin line was redrawn and his left shoe was altered. He remained this way from every episode onwards.
 * When this episode first aired on Comedy Central, one of the sports announcers' lines was, "And the South Park Cows are getting absolutely molested by the Cowboys. I haven't seen this many children molested since Michael Jackson came to town". On all re-runs, video, and DVD versions of this episode, the line is cut to remove the reference to Michael Jackson.
 * In the classroom, [[Media:BigGayBoatRide05.gif|several nonsensical mathematical equations]] are written on the blackboard, such as "πr2=2πr" (πr2 gives the area of a circle of radius r while 2πr gives the circumference; they do not equate to one another, unless r = 0 or r = 2).
 * Sparky's homosexuality is a reference to a gay dog Isaac Hayes and his friends used to tease when they were teenagers.
 * Brian Boitano (of Jesus vs. Santa fame) makes a cameo appearance.

References to Popular Culture

 * Instead of writing about Asian culture, Cartman writes an essay on how the characters on the TV series Simon &amp; Simon aren't brothers in real life.
 * Fosse asks Stan if his dog Sparky has been in any pride marches recently. Pride marches are common practice of gay pride movements all over the world.
 * Bill suggests that Stan take Sparky to a Barbara Streisand concert (implying that Barbara Streisand has a large fanbase of gay people).
 * Singing at the football game half time show is Richard Stamos, the older brother of actor John Stamos. The song he is going to sing is Lovin' You which was originally sung by Minnie Ripperton. Also, in real life, John Stamos doesn't have an older brother named Richard.
 * Cartman believes God hates gay people and he believe it's why he "smote those sodomies in France." Cartman is confusing the story of Sodom and Gammorrah as told in the Bible.
 * Stan wishes his dog could be a "Rin-Tin-Tin." Rin-Tin-Tin was a heroic dog featured in a series of radio and television programs of the 1920s & 30s.
 * Chef's words of wisdom "you can't teach a gay dog straight tricks" is a play on the phrase "you can't teach an old dog new tricks".
 * The sports announcer, when watching a tackle states he hadn't seen a beating like that since Rodney King. In 1991, Rodney King was recorded being beaten by six LAPD police officers. The incident sparked tensions in LA that eventually led to the 1992 LA Riots.
 * When Pip is tackled later, he states that he hasn't seen an Englishman take a blow like that since Hugh Grant, which references Hugh Grant's arrest in June 1995 when he was caught performing a lewd act in public with a Hollywood prostitute.
 * While Stan is on Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride, a portion of it features a number of miniature characters singing a song called "We Are Gay", which is a parody of the ride It's a Small World, an attraction at the Disneyland theme park and its other sister parks in Florida, Paris, Japan and Hong Kong. Among the dancing miniatures is Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano.
 * The disappearance of Big Gay Al at the end of the episode is a spoof of Dr. Lao's disappearance at the end of the movie The 7 Faces of Dr. Lao.
 * The song played during the closing credits is "Now You're a Man" by DVDA, a band that includes South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. This song was also featured in their film Orgazmo.

Goofs

 * When Kenny receives the punt, the announcer says he's number 23. However, the number on his jersey is 13.
 * When you see Token sitting on the bleachers, his face appears to be like a white character but his hands are still black.
 * There are two Butters watching the football game: one of them is sitting with aliens, another sitting with Cartman's mother, Liane Cartman.
 * There are two Bebes watching the game.
 * At one point, it show's Butters in Kevin Stoley's jacket.
 * After Kyle scores a touchdown, one of the announcers exclaims, "I haven't seen a Jew run like that since Poland, 1938". This is a reference to Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland, which actually occured in 1939.
 * When everyone is jumping, a person wearing a shirt with a cow on it can be seen jumping; the person is jumping, but the cow picture stays in place.

Kenny's Death

 * In this episode, Kenny is tackled by three Middle Park players, causing his head and arms to rip off. Rats chew on his corpse, following an early running gag. Kyle says the entire phrase"Oh my God. They killed Kenny! You Bastards!" on his own.

Hidden Visitor(s)
Two visitors can be seen in the upper right of the crowd at the football game.