Starvin' Marvin

"Starvin' Marvin" is episode 9 of Comedy Central's series South Park. It originally aired on November 19, 1997.

Plot
In this classic episode, the boys send in money to Sally Struthers's organization to help Ethiopians, hoping to get a watch as compensation. There is a mix-up, and instead a little Ethiopian boy (Starvin' Marvin) is sent to them. Eventually, the government comes to get Marvin (who is at Cartman's house) to send him home, but Marvin lies and claims that Cartman is the Ethiopian boy, and Cartman gets sent to Ethiopia. Meanwhile, back in South Park, Dr. Mephisto's mutant turkeys go crazy, and the townspeople unite to fight them.

Kenny's Death

 * Attacked by mutant turkeys; loses an eye in the attack.

Trivia

 * While eating at the all-you-can-eat buffet, Kyle is seen slicing a ham. This is not normal, as pork is eschewed in Jewish cuisine. However, he could have been cutting it for someone else (or it may just have been a deliberate throwaway joke).


 * Kyle flashes his buttocks in this episode for the first time in the show, mooning the turkey forces with a quote "here you go, turkeys."


 * When the boys are in Principal Victoria's office, a picture of Kathy Lee Gifford as she appeared in Weight Gain 4000 can be seen on the bookshelf.


 * This the first appearance of Kenny's mom Carol McCormick (though not known by that name at the time).


 * During the episode Cartman's mom calls Kyle's mom Carol.

Pop-Culture/Historical References

 * This episode parodies actress/activist Sally Struthers, best known for her role of Gloria Bunker on the sitcom All in the Family, especially her involvement with charity groups and the irony of her person weight gain when she is trying to champion starving people in third world countries. In real life, Struthers has been involved with Christian Children's Fund and International Correspondence School.


 * The Terrance and Phillip Thanksgiving Special is based on the Pilgrims first arrival in what would become America in November of 1620.


 * Kyle incorrectly believes that Sally Struthers was on the sitcom Full House.


 * The Teiko digital watches offered by Sally Struther's charity organization are a parody of Seiko a Japanese watch manufacturer.


 * The charity is for the starving of Ethiopia a country in Africa. In real life, Ethiopia, in spite of the fact that it is a quickly developing country, still has a high rate of poverty especially in rural areas.


 * Cartman calls Stan "Vas deferens", the Vas deferens is a duct in the human penis that allows the flow of urine and semen out of the body.


 * Cartman confuses a food drive with a Caesarian Sections.


 * When mocking Wendy's views on the feeding the poor, Cartman says he can hear the "Flower children" calling him. This is another slang term for Hippie.


 * Mr. Garrison's comment about Wendy and Cartman's "Dickens" is a reference to the late author Charles Dickens whose work usually included social commentary on poverty and the poor.


 * According to Mr. Garrison Englebert Humperdink was the first man on the moon. He's either talking about the German composer Englebert Humperdink or the modern day pop musician who adopted his name. In reality, the first man on the moon was astronaut Neil Armstrong.


 * When Mephisto is showing Chef slides of Turkey DNA, apparently one of the slides is a close-up of Vanessa Redgrave's private parts. She is the patriarch of the Redgrave theater dynasty, and is known for her acting, especially her role in the 1977 film Julia which netted her an Oscar for best actress.


 * When Cartman is stranded in Ethopia, he comes across the Red Cross. In reality, the Red Cross is a international humanitarian movement to aid those in need. It was founded in 1863 by Henry Dunant.


 * The entire battle between the mutant turkeys and the people of South Park is a direct parody of the 1995 film Braveheart, one of the turkey's and Chef being parodies of Mel Gibson's character William Wallace.


 * After the entire episode, Stan and Kyle believe that people on TV are real too. They then believe that Angus MacGyver the main character from the TV series MacGyver (played by Richard Dean Anderson) is a real person.

Quotes
Cartman: No, Starvin' Marvin, that's Kenny's cream corn! No Starvin' Marvin! That's a bad Starvin' Marvin! [Cartman is in Ethiopia.]

Cartman: I am an American citizen! Give me food! I am an American citizen! Cartman: Mr. Garrison, why do poor people smell like sour milk?

Mr. Garrison: I don't know, Eric, they just do.

[Kyle sniffs Kenny.] Stan: You know, I think I've learned something today. It's really easy not to think of images on TV as real people, but they are. That's why it's easy to ignore those commercials but people on TV are as real as you and I.

Kyle: Yeah... and that means that MacGyver is a real person too.

Goofs

 * On the Latin American spanish dub of the episode Sally Struthers is incorrectly dubbed as Shelley Winters, a famous actress from the Hollywood Golden Era.


 * There was a Terrance and Phillip Thankgiving special but Terrance and Philip are Canadian and Thanksgiving is an American holiday.

Paco el Flaco