Best Friends Forever
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Best Friends Forever" | |
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| South Park episode | |
 Cartman trying to get Kenny well again. |
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| Episode no. | Season 9 Episode 4 |
| Written by | Trey Parker |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Original airdate | March 30, 2005 |
| Season 9 episodes | |
| South Park – Season 9 March 9, 2005 – December 7, 2005 |
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| ← Season 8 | Season 10 → |
| List of South Park episodes | |
"Best Friends Forever" is the fourth episode of the ninth season of the Comedy Central series South Park. It first aired on March 30, 2005. The episode is based on the Terri Schiavo case and won a 2005 Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program.[1]
[edit] Plot summary
Kenny is the first person in town to get a new PSP video game system and becomes inseparable from it. Meanwhile, Cartman, who couldn't get his own because he was late getting to the store, grows envious of Kenny's new game system. Kenny quickly works his way up to level 60 of the game Heaven vs. Hell, but he is run over by an ice-cream van and dies.
After ascending to Heaven, Kenny learns that God created the PSP to search for what the angels call "our Keanu Reeves"—the person who can command his legions against Satan's forces of Hell in a manner like that of the video game (a theme in reference to The Last Starfighter). Kenny agrees to take the challenge, but he is revived just after hearing this. Because he had been dead for that long, he cannot talk or communicate and has suffered permanent brain damage. He is kept alive through the use of a feeding tube. The reading of Kenny's will, in which Cartman is given the PSP (out of pity) and Stan and Kyle are given everything else, is interrupted by the announcement that Kenny is still alive. The lawyer mentions a passage about Kenny's wishes in the event of him being in a vegetative state, but the last page of the will is missing, making it impossible to tell what his wishes were.
As Satan's army begins to close in, the angels need Kenny dead so that they can win the battle of the Apocalypse. Meanwhile, Cartman, claiming his status as Kenny's "best friend forever" to the Colorado Supreme Court with the first half of the BFF medallion, gets an order to take out the feeding tube, and he removes the tube after tracking down and finding Kenny's other BFF medallion half so he can get the PSP upon Kenny's death. Stan and Kyle, along with Kenny's parents and other protesters, wage a media war to put the feeding tube back in and keep Kenny alive, while Cartman enlists supporters of the rights of "best friends forever" to leave Kenny's feeding tube removed. At the same time Satan enlists the help of Kevin to use the Republicans in order to get the feeding tube put back in.
After a long, intensive media campaign, the two sides are arguing in Kenny's hospital suite when Kenny's lawyer announces that the last page of the will has been found, and that Kenny's wishes were that if he were ever in a vegetative state, "please, for the love of God...don't ever show me in that condition on national television." In full twist of irony the two sides immediately realize that they have both been disrespectful of Kenny's wishes. Kyle then realizes they should not have made this issue into such a media circus, and concludes that Kenny should be taken off life support, commenting that Cartman was "right, for the wrong reasons" (because he wanted to get the PSP), while he and Stan were "wrong, for the right reasons" (as being his real friends who love him). Everyone in the hospital room then quietly leaves, allowing Kenny to die in peace. Kenny returns to Heaven just in time to command the angels to victory using a golden PSP. The battle ends with Satan being shocked by the defeat of his army and killing his advisor, and Kenny receiving a golden statue of Keanu Reeves.
[edit] Awards
- This episode won a 2005 Emmy Award in the category of "Outstanding Animated Program (for programming less than one hour)". This is the first time the show has beaten other nominees, such as The Simpsons and other winners. It also becomes the fourth prime time animated cartoon to win the award, behind The Simpsons, King of the Hill and Futurama.[1]
[edit] References
- ^ a b "South Park Awards". about.com. http://animatedtv.about.com/cs/news/a/awards_2.htm. Retrieved on 2008-12-25.
| Preceded by “Wing” |
South Park episodes | Followed by “The Losing Edge” |
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