It Hits the Fan

"It Hits the Fan"
[[File:File:ItHitstheFan13.jpg|250px]] Chef and the children learn about shit.
Episode no.	Season 5 Episode 1
Production no.	502
Original airdate	June 20, 2001
Episode chronology Previous Next "Scott Tenorman Must Die" "Cripple Fight"
List of all South Park episodes

"It Hits the Fan" is episode 66, also known as episode 502, the 2nd episode of the 5th season, or the first aired episode (second in sequence, with Scott Tenorman Must Die being the first episode in sequence, which was delayed for several weeks) of the fifth season of the animated series South Park. It originally aired on June 20, 2001. This episode made #8 on the list of "10 South Parks That Changed The World."

Spoiler warning! Plot details follow.

Plot

Kyle has tickets to go to The Lion King on ice, but Cartman tells him that the HBC crime show Cop Drama was going to use the word shit. This leads to widespread acceptance of the word, even in schools, causing people to say it constantly, in casual and often illogical conversation. An example would be when Mr. Garrison randomly sang "Shitty Shitty Fag Fag" to the tune of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang after he realized he could say shit and fag (because he is homosexual). People start spewing up their intestines, so action is taken—the boys ask Chef to take them into the HBC Head Office to sort it out. Research proves that the word is actually a literal "curse(d) word," and its constant utterance has caused a resurgence of the Bubonic Plague just as it did in England hundreds of years earlier. A special live event, Must Shit TV (marketed as "4 hours of pure shit"), also called The Night of a Million Shits, in which episodes of existing shows are taped live with almost every word of dialogue replaced with the word shit, goes ahead anyway until the boys come back and tell everyone that curse words are actually cursed. However, by this point the word has been said enough to awaken a demonic dragon named Geldon (with a voice just like Cartman's; Cartman comments, "Man, what a stupid voice"), which Kyle destroys with an ancient magical tablet belonging to a knight in The Knights of Standards and Practices. The moral of the story is not that saying shit is wrong per se, but saying it in excess leads to a curse on the world.

Trivia

• On episode information listings via satellite and cable television receivers, the title of this episode appeared as "Cartman Says..." on this episode's debut.
• On The CW, this is the first edited South Park episode rated TV MA. It is normally rated TV 14 DL, but shit was uncensored and made the rating to a TV MA L
• This is the very last time Chef sang on the show (not counting The Return of Chef, as he sang his song from the pilot episode, but that was an audio clip)
• The first American network show to use the word "shit" was the CBS hospital drama Chicago Hope. Very little negative publicity resulted of the use of the word because it was in an appropriate context.
• The song Mr. Garrison sings is a reference to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
• When this episode premiered, there was no counter on the screen. On all subsequent airings, as well as a syndicated reruns of the episode, the counter was added.
• Executives at Comedy Central felt the profanity was justified by context and decided to allow the uncensored episode to air, which surprised even the show's developers. Despite broadcasting a record setting amount of profanity, little controversy was stirred by the airing. Co-creator Matt Stone explained the passive passage by citing changing cultural standards, "No one cares anymore...The standards are almost gone. No one gives a shit or a bullshit."
• Mee krob is actually a Thai dish.
• Occurrences of the word "shit" not spoken, but rather written, are not counted on the counter. There are 38 visual occurrences of the word, thereby putting the count up to an even 200 "shits".
• When the old man is reading from the book about ancient curses, the writing resembles the elvish runes and characters J.R.R. Tolkien created as back-story for Silmarillion/The Hobbit/LOTR.
• The first airing of this episode jokingly censored the sounds of things like gunshots and people falling out of windows. For subsequent airings, the sound effects were re-inserted.
• This episode has two scenes that break the fourth wall. The first with Mr. Garrison explaining to the kindergarteners why he can say "fag". He says, "On television they usually don't allow 'fag.' But because I'm gay, it's alright." The second scene is at the bar when Mr. Garrison explains to the guys that you can't say "fag" unless you're gay. When Randy and the others (except Jimbo) say it, they're aware of being censored, stating, quote, "You didn't get beeped." implying that they were aware of the beeping sound commonly used to censor profanity on television. The concept seems to be dropped in "The F-word" as everyone can say "fag" without being bleeped.
• Despite the fact that Jimbo, Garrison, and Big Gay Al can get away with the word "fag," other characters have managed to say the word without the word getting beeped such as Cartman, Kyle, Grandpa Marsh, and possibly Kenny (though Kenny is often used to get words past the censors, so this may be justified).
• The word "shit" is said 162 times in this episode and is listed as one of the "ten South Parks that changed the world" at number 8.
• When Chef and the children arrive in the Excalibur Casino I sign is seen that spells it "Excaliber" yet when you first see the Englishmen his blouse has it spelled "excalibur".
• During the TV Special "Must Shit TV" the woman actor first seen is fat, or "big-boned" as Cartman and his family would say, and ironically sounds exactly like the Cartman's as well. (Except Liane Cartman).

Kenny's death

Kenny dies from the Bubonic Plague, which causes him to vomit out his intestines.

Hidden Visitor(s)

If you look at the wall to Merlin's right shoulder.

Quotes

Cartman: Wow, this is gonna be great! A whole new word!

Kyle: It's not new!! I'm gonna look "shit" up in the encyclopedia and prove it!!

Cartman: Don't mind Kyle, everyone, he's just got a little sand in his vagina.

Kyle: THERE'S NO SAND IN MY VAGINA!!!

Ms. Choksondik: Boys, watch your language! Shit!

Butters: Ms. Choksondik, can we say in the expletive? Like, "Oh, shit" or "Shit on a shingle?"

Timmy: Shh.....Shhhh......Shit.

Ms. Choksondik: Very good, Timmy.

Mr. Garrison: Instead of "Hand in your papers," I may now say, "Hand in your shit." Any questions?

Filmore: How about, "I have to take a shit?"

Mr. Garrison: No, no, Filmore! You can say "I have to poop and shit" or "Oh, shit, I have to poop" but not "I have to shit." Are we all clear? (class answers, "no") See, it's all about context. For example, recently, I have come out and admitted I'm a homosexual. I'm gay. That means I can now use the word, "fag." On television, they don't normally allow, "fag." But because I'm gay, it's all right, and with the new approval of the word "shit," I am finally free to say: (starts singing) "Hey there, shitty shitty fag fag, shitty shitty fag fag, how do you do? Hey there, shitty shitty fag fag, shitty shitty fag fag, how do you do?" Oh, this is great!

Cartman: Oh my god... guys, come and look at this![they huddle around the book Cartman is looking at]According to this book, Nancy Drew was walking on the beach and she got sand trapped in her shoe. This may explain how Kyle got sand trapped in his Vagina.

Randy: Ng-aah, that word's kind of getting old. It's not really... funny anymore.

Man 7: Yeah, they're gonna have to come up with a new swear word soon.

Mr. Garrison: Well, they can't use "fag." Because you can't say "fag" unless you're a homosexual.

Randy: Really? So we can't say __g?

Mr. Garrison: No. See, you got beeped.

Man 7: You mean you have to be a __g to say __g?

Mr. Garrison: That's right.

Jimbo: Hell, that's not fair! I should be able to say "fag." [realizes he wasn't beeped]

Randy: ...Hey, you didn't get beeped.

Jimbo: Uh oh.

Mr. Garrison: Well, well well. Guess we learned somethin' new about you, Jimbo, you frickin' fag. You wanna make out or something?

Episode has a whole: Shit X 162 times. An even 200 if you count the written words.

"[[Scott Tenorman Must Die]]"

"It Hits the Fan"

"[[Cripple Fight]]"

Reference

• Rutenburg, Jim (June 25, 2001). "'South Park' Takes Gross to New Frontier". The New York Times, Section C; Column 5; Business/Financial Desk; Pg. 9