I'm a Little Bit Country

"I'm a Little Bit Country"

"I'm a Little Bit Country" is the 100th episode of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired April 9 2003, a week prior to the U.S. invading Iraq. The episode is similar to the 1972 film 1776.

Plot

When Mr. Garrison agrees to let anyone protesting the war out of school early for a rally, all the kids leave, even though they know little about the war. They are then interviewed outside the school for their views on what the Founding Fathers would think about the conflict and show their ignorance by not knowing who the founding fathers were. Angered at the embarrassment, Mr. Garrison gives everybody an assignment to figure out an opinion on the Founders' view of the war. Stan, Kyle, and Kenny begin to study for their projects; Cartman, however, decides to take a different approach, trying (and failing) to induce a flashback of the colonial era, first by saying cliched flashback inducing dialog, and then by dropping a large rock on his own head.

Meanwhile, the people of the town are divided about the war, and after splitting in two, they both plan rallies: one pro-war (hawks), one anti-war (doves), both on the same day in the same place. They wind up having a great argument during both rallies, and in the end get into a huge fight where they begin to all kill each other. Meanwhile, Cartman electrocutes himself in water with a TiVo full of colonial documentaries from The History Channel in order to induce a flashback. He falls into a coma, and in his mind, he travels back to the colonial era in Philadelphia. With a single murder, he manages to get the job of delivering the Declaration of Independence from Thomas Jefferson's home to the Continental Congress for a vote; there, a great argument breaks out about whether or not to go to war against England, paralleling the events in town, which Cartman recognizes as being "very, very relevant".

Benjamin Franklin shows up, as voiced by famed TV producer Norman Lear, also creative consultant for this episode. Franklin believes that the new country must not seem to be a war-monger to the rest of the world, but at the same time, it cannot seem to be weak either. Therefore, it must go to war, but allow protests. The United States will go to war on one hand, and use protest to oppose the war on the other. He refers to the this as "saying one thing and doing another". One member refers to this as "having our cake and eating it too". Cartman wakes up and delivers his message to the town, who see the truth of that statement and then break out into song (a version of "I'm a Little Bit Country" by Marty Cooper, as made famous by Donny and Marie Osmond). In it, they celebrate their differences and their achievement (100 episodes); ending the song with the line, "For the war, against the war- who cares! One hundred episodes!". The 100th episode of the series ends with Kyle saying "I hate this town. I really, really do."

External links

• I'm a Little Bit Country Full episode at South Park Studios
• I'm a Little Bit Country Episode guide at South Park Studios