Weight Gain 4000

"Weight Gain 4000" is the second episode of the first season of South Park.

Synopsis
Cartman wins an essay contest and Kathie Lee Gifford is set to visit South Park to award him the prize to the jealousy of Wendy. Mr. Garrison decides to get his own back on Kathie Lee Gifford with the help of Mr. Hat.

Plot
Cartman wins the "Save Our Fragile Planet" essay contest and it is announced that Kathie Lee Gifford will be coming to South Park to present him with the award. This enrages Wendy, who believes Cartman cheated.

The town becomes a flurry of excitement as everyone prepares for Kathie Lee, including Mayor McDaniels organizing a large-scale event to highlight the town and further her career. Chef is asked to sing at the event and hopes this will enable him to have sex with Kathie Lee.

Meanwhile, the children are asked to set up a play in honor of Kathie Lee with Mr. Garrison as the director. However, Mr. Garrison has a longstanding grudge against Kathie Lee for upstaging him and Mr. Hat with a rendition of "If They Could See Me Now" during a national talent show when they were children. Mr. Hat tries to get Mr. Garrison to kill Kathie Lee, but Garrison initially refuses and tries to get on with the play, which turns out to be historically accurate but also extremely violent. The townspeople are outraged when they see a rehearsal of the play. Mayor McDaniels tells Mr. Garrison that Kathie Lee wouldn't like the play, to which Mr. Garrison responds "To hell with Kathie Lee Gifford!" Mr. Garrison is fired as the director. As a result, he agrees to let Mr. Hat carry out the murder.

While the town gears up for the Kathie Lee's visit, the Mayor tells Cartman that he needs to get in shape for Kathie Lee's visit. Afterwords he sees a commercial for Weight Gain 4000, a bodybuilding supplement and thinks he should use it to bulk up for the big day, so he purchases some. Cartman fails to note that exercise must coincide with the consumption of the product in order to attain the desired results. Consequently, he suffers an exponential weight gain. While Cartman elevates his obesity to the next level, Mr. Garrison visits Jimbo's gun store to purchase a rifle, with which he plans to kill Kathie Lee.

That night, Wendy discovers Mr. Garrison's plan while sifting through the essays in his files to confirm that Cartman cheated. As it turns out, Cartman simply procured a copy of Walden by Henry David Thoreau and wrote his name on it.

Kathie Lee arrives in a bubble of bulletproof glass the following day, and as she gets to the presentation stage, Chef sings an extremely graphic song about his desire to make "sweet love" to her. Wendy and Stan try to stop Mr. Garrison when he goes to the book depository on his assassination attempt, and Wendy manages to talk Mr. Garrison down, but Stan messes things up by asking about how Kathie Lee upstaged him at the talent show contest, which causes Mr. Hat to take the shot anyway. At the same time, the stage collapses under Cartman's weight, throwing Kathie Lee to safety and moving Kenny into Mr. Hat's line of fire. The bullet hits Kenny and sends him flying into a flagpole, resulting in him being impaled in the head. Kathie Lee's security men then drive her out of South Park and away from the gunman, and Wendy tries to explain how Cartman cheated on the essay, but the townspeople only ever really cared about Kathy Lee and leave bummed.

The episode ends with Mr. Garrison in the mental hospital (with Mr. Hat in a straight jacket) and Cartman appearing on Geraldo because of his morbid obesity, where he comically states "Follow your dreams. You can reach your goals, I'm living proof... Beefcake, Beefcake!" Also, Chef succeeds in his goal of fornicating with Kathie Lee, although even he is somewhat taken aback by her sexual demands.

Trivia

 * This is the first episode made with computer animation instead of the earlier construction paper techniques.


 * In this episode, it's revealed that Mr. Garrison never had a full head of hair, even as a child. However, in "Cartman's Mom is a Dirty Slut", it shown that a younger Garrison had hair.


 * In the chalkboard, the sentence "Mi verga es fea" could be read. "Mi verga es fea" is Spanish for "My dick is ugly".


 * This is the first episode which releaves Pip without his hat.
 * Later in the episode,you can see the wood texture in Mr Garrison's assault rifle turn gray,you can see it during the conversation with Barbrady.
 * During the scene in which Mr Garrison said that,he is not the only person in the U.S who thought of killing Kathy Lee,he is seen with his normal sweater instead of the trenchcoat.
 * Before Chef sings his song he calls Mayor McDaniels Mr. Mayor.

Cartman's Diet

 * Cheesey Poofs


 * Weight Gain 4000

Celebrities

 * Kathy Lee Gifford visits South Park. At the time this episode was made she was popular for being the co-host of Live With Regis and Kathy Lee, a daytime talk show she co-hosted with Regis Philbin.

Pop-Culture References

 * Stan states that Cartman wouldn't know the rainforest from a Pop Tart. Pop-Tarts are a breakfast pastry made by the Kellogg Company.


 * One of Mayor McDaniels aides makes a crack about Kathy Lee especially liking kids if "they work in a sweat shop". In 1996, the National Labor Committee had reported that a line of Kathy Lee brand clothing, distributed through Wal-Mart were made using sweatshop labor.


 * Wendy rebuffs Cartman's boasts of fame by telling him that Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was also famous.


 * Chef states that his penis is at least three times bigger than Frank Gifford's. Frank Gifford was an NFL football player for the New York Giants and is also the husband of Kathy Lee Gifford.


 * Kathie Lee singing "If They Could See Me Now" is a parody of her singing the same song in real life in Carnival Cruise Lines commercials.


 * Weight Gain 4000, and the commercial selling it are a spoof on "bulk up" powders used by those who would like to gain more muscle mass. Commonly known for their dubious promises, usually they're only effective if you exercise regularly, and most can cause serious health problems.


 * According to the history of South Park, the land was originally inhabited by the Ute Indians. the Ute tribe did live on land that would become the States of Colorado and Utah.


 * Mr. Garrison and Mr. Hat attempt to shoot Kathie Lee from the book depository, which is analogous to Lee Harvey Oswald shooting John F. Kennedy from the Texas School Book Depository. See The JFK Assassination.


 * Kathy Lee Gifford is shown traveling in a domed vehicle, this is a play on the Pope Mobile a vehicle that had been specially modified with a bullet proof glass area for the Pope following the 1981 failed assasination of Pope John Paul II.


 * Chef states that Kathy Lee is more special than Mary Tyler Moore, an actress famous for her role in the 1970s TV series The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He also says that she is more special than a "Value Meal at Happy Burger", probably a reference to Burger King's own value meals.


 * The Mayor when introducing Cartman to the crowd, mistakenly calls him Eric Kaufman. The use of the last name "Kaufman" is probably a nod to filmmaker Lloyd Kaufman co-owner of Troma Entertainment, Troma was the company that released Trey Stone and Matt Parkers first feature film Cannibal! The Musical.


 * Mr. Hat states that they could have gotten away with murdering Kathy Lee if not for those "meddling kids." This line is usually uttered by a caputed criminal caught by the Scooby-Doo gang from the TV series Scooby Doo.


 * The episode ends with Eric Cartman finally getting on TV, on a talk show hosted by Geraldo, who before becoming a regular at Fox News in 2001 had his own day time talk show on NBC.

Kenny's Death

 * Shot by Mr. Garrison which launches him into the air and Impales him on a Flagpole.

Fast Forward

 * One of the eagles over the old library was shot and presumbaly killed in the next episode.


 * Posters of rabbit-bird are shown on the heights of the door in Jimbos Gun Shop. Rabbit-Birds originally appears in An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig.
 * Photo of Kathie Lee Gifford is seen in headmaster's office in Pinkeye.
 * Wendy remembers when she was trying to kiss Stan in the episode Tom's Rhinoplasty. The is included.
 * Photo of Kathie Lee Gifford is seen in Counselor's office in Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut.
 * The reused clip with Mr. Garrison's plan to assasination is shown The South Park Clip Show.
 * In The Biggest Douche in the Universe, Rob Schnieder was shot-killed and impaled on a flagpole, similar to Kenny.
 * Stan rementioned the fact about dolphins as the smartest animals in the whole world in Whale Whores.
 * In W.T.F., wrestling coach was going to assasinate Vince McMahon on the smackdown, similar to Mr Garrison assasinating Kathie Lee Gifford.