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 by attempting to shoot her, but in the end, fails.

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, by 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. (He is eventually successful).

Meanwhile, the children are asked to set up an Indian play in honor of Kathie Lee (which turns out to be completely violent) with Mr. Garrison as the director. However, Mr. Garrison has a long-standing 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 (as it is extremely violent even resulting in a fatality). Mayor McDaniels tells Mr. Garrison that Kathie Lee wouldn't like the play, to which Mr. Garrison responds "To hell with Kathie Lee Gifford!" shocking the towns people. 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. After he sees a commercial for Weight Gain 4000, a body building supplement and thinks he should use it to bulk up for the big day, so he purchases some. Cartman fails to note (or in his case refuses 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 asking if she is trying to kill him.

Trivia

 * This is the first episode made with computer animation instead of the earlier construction paper techniques, as used in Cartman Gets An Anal Probe and in The Spirit of Christmas.
 * In the episode, Bebe was voiced by the late voice actress, Mary Kay Bergman, in subsequent appearances, she is voiced by the show's supervising producer, Jennifer Howell.
 * This episode is the first appearance of Mayor McDaniels and first speaking role of Bebe and Clyde.
 * 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. However, it might have been a wig.
 * On the chalkboard in the students' classroom, you can see the sentences "Chupe mis Chi Chis", "No me Toquen los Huevos" and "Mi verga es Fea y Morena", in Spanish these sentences read "Suck My Boobs", "Don't Touch my Balls" and "My dick is ugly and black".
 * This is the first episode which reveals Pip without his hat.
 * Later in the episode, you can see the wood texture in Mr. Garrison's assault rifle turn from wood to metal, and then back to wood again in the following scene (you can see it during the conversation with Barbrady).
 * During the scene in which Mr. Garrison is ready to sniper down Kathy Lee, he is seen with his normal sweater instead of the trench coat. However, he most likely took it off in the depository.
 * Before Chef sings his song he calls Mayor McDaniels Mr. Mayor.
 * On the UK video of volume 1, the two episodes on it contain 'Cartman Gets an Anal Probe' and 'Volcano', however, it should be this episode, not 'Volcano.' Instead, it's on the volume 2 video, along with 'Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride'.

Cartman's Diet

 * Chesey 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 was 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 assassination 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 Parker and Matt Stone's 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 captured 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, this launches him into the air and impales him on a flagpole.

Continuity

 * One of the eagles over the old library was shot and presumably killed in the next episode.
 * Posters of rabbit-bird are shown on the heights of the door in Jimbo's 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.
 * 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 assassination is shown The South Park Clip Show.
 * In The Biggest Douche in the Universe, Rob Schneider was shot-killed and impaled on a flagpole, similar to Kenny.
 * Stan re-mentioned the fact about dolphins as the smartest animals in the whole world in Whale Whores.

Goofs

 * At the beginning when the kids are talking to Chef, Kenny is not wearing his gloves in one scene.


 * Mayor McDaniels lips are not thin and straight as they usually are.

Aumento de Peso 4000 E se ingrasso ... Ciccia