Kenny Dies/Trivia

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"Kenny Dies/Trivia"

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This page contains trivia for "Kenny Dies". Remember, trivia must be factual, provable, and it is always best to cite your source for not-so-obvious trivia. If you would like to dispute a trivia point, please discuss it in the talk page.

Trivia

• This episode had been initially intended to kill Kenny off for good because Matt and Trey grew tired of killing him off in every episode for the sake of humor. In addition, Kenny's repeated deaths made it difficult to develop Kenny's personality, since he was really just a "prop" character. Kenny's subsequent absence from Season Six also allowed minor character Butters to rise as a major character on the show, as well as giving Tweek a short period in the limelight. Matt and Trey have also said on more than one occasion that this helped get a lot of good content out of the show. It was later revealed on a Fan Question on South Park Studios that the reason Kenny came back was that Matt and Trey decided it would be better if he was still around, hence Cartman drank his ashes until he reappeared at the Season Six finale.
• In the episode audio commentary, it was mentioned that it was Kyle who was supposed to be "killed off" in the episode, on the basis that he and Stan shared similar personalities, making him a redundant character. However, in the following seasons that have aired since this episode, Kyle and Stan's personalities have diverged from each other.
• The stem-cell researcher has the same body type as one of the geeks who helps the boys build a time machine in the Season Four episode, "Fourth Grade".
• In this episode - as well as a few notable others - there is an Orgazmo poster on the back of Cartman's door.
• This is the first episode to have Kenny's name in the title.

References to Popular Culture

• Willie Nelson's "On the Road Again" from the film, Honeysuckle Rose, was heard during the embryonic stem cell delivery truck montage.
• The song that Cartman sings at the beginning is called "Morning Train (9 to 5)" by Sheena Easton. Coincidentally, Dolly Parton released a song called "9 to 5", which was the theme song to the film of the same name. Both were hits during 1980.
• Cartman sings "Heat of the Moment" by Asia in the US Government's House of Representatives.
• The speech he gives beforehand is also a direct reference to Billy Dee Williams's award-acceptance speech in made for TV movie Brian's Song.
• At the time this episode first aired, embryonic stem cell research was not deemed illegal by the US Government. Then-President George Bush signed an executive order limiting US federal money as well as putting restrictions onto new research of embryonic stem cells.
• When the boys stutter calling Kenny their "f-f-f-friend", this is a reference to Frosty the Snowman from 1969.

Continuity

• This episode marks the first time when Kenny's death was taken seriously by the boys. With most of his deaths previously, the others would merely express surprise, then forget about it. While it is taken more seriously than usual on other rare occasions, such as in "Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" or "The Ring", it never upsets the boys as much as in this episode.
• Kyle mentions that the four boys would go down to Stark's Pond again and go camping once Kenny gets better. He is likely referring to "Jakovasaurs" in which they were camping out by the pond together.
• Despite the intended permanence of Kenny's death, he reappeared in the Season Six finale, "Red Sleigh Down", making it his only appearance in Season Six. He has since made regular appearances and has died sporadically.
• The topic of stem cell would be brought up again in the Season Seven episode, "Krazy Kripples", involving Christopher Reeve. Stem cells are also brought up in the episode Eek, A Penis!, in which stem cells are utilized to grow a brand spanking new penis for Ms. Garrison.
• Ms. Sanders is later seen again on the abortion table in the Season Eight episode, "Woodland Critter Christmas".
• This is one of the few times where Kenny's death was done off-screen, whereas normally Kenny's death would be a visual gag for the audience to see. The last time this happened was in "The Wacky Molestation Adventure" and "Here Comes the Neighborhood".

Goofs

• The card outside Kenny's hospital room reads "K. McKormick". His surname is actually spelled "McCormick".
• When the doctor gives Ms. Sanders the clipboard at the beginning of the episode, her white blanket is gone for a second, then it reappears.
• In the scene where Chef is talking to Stan about death, cow feces appear in the bottom right corner, despite there not being a cow there. (This is fixed in HD airings)
• After Cartman gets the two women to let him have their fetuses, they go inside. When he talks with the third woman and her husband, they are outside filling out paperwork.
• When the boys visit Kenny in the hospital the first time, Kenny's room is the first room on the left past the nurse's station. At the end of the episode, when Stan visits, Kenny's room is the second door to the left past the nurse's station.