The Losing Edge

Last updated
"The Losing Edge"
South Park episode
Episode no.Season 9
Episode 5
Directed by Trey Parker
Written byTrey Parker
Featured music"You're the Best"
by Joe Esposito
Production code905
Original air dateApril 6, 2005 (2005-04-06)
Guest appearance
Diedrich Bader as Bat Dad
Episode chronology
← Previous
"Best Friends Forever"		Next →
"The Death of Eric Cartman"
List of episodes

"The Losing Edge" is the fifth episode in the ninth season of the American animated television series South Park , and the 130th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 6, 2005.

Contents

In the episode, the boys try to lose their baseball games on purpose so they can enjoy the summer, instead of dealing with baseball. Meanwhile, Randy trains to fight the other fathers at the games.

Plot

None of the boys playing for the South Park Cows, the town's Little League Baseball team, enjoy the sport at all. They find it boring and play only because of their parents' enthusiasm for it. When they win their final game, they are overjoyed at first, believing that the season is over and they can now enjoy the summer. To their horror, they discover that since they have finished first in their division, they must participate in the post-season playoffs. At a "celebration" meal, the boys discuss plans to lose on purpose without getting in trouble with their parents.

During the playoffs, they learn that the other teams also want out, and have actually trained to lose games. The Cows end up winning again and again against opponents whose efforts at throwing games are more successful, and they reach the state championship. If they win, they will have to spend their entire summer playing baseball on the national circuit.

Meanwhile, Stan's father Randy has taken up trash-talking as a hobby, getting drunk and acting obnoxiously at the games in order to start fights with the fathers of other teams' players. This behavior leads to him being arrested multiple times. While training to be the best fighter he can be, Randy becomes terrified when he meets the Denver Little League team's "Bat Dad", who wears a purple Batman cowl and cape, and who is both heavier and more misbehaved than he is. Randy decides not to attend the championship game in fear that he is not good enough.

The game is played at Coors Field; like the Cows' other opponents, the Denver team does not want to win either. The Cows have drafted Kyle's nerdy cousin Kyle Schwartz, who is terrible at all sports, in the hope of ruining their chances to win. However, the Denver team is the best yet at intentionally losing. Just as the Cows find themselves on the verge of winning, Randy appears in the stands and provokes a fight with the Bat Dad that spills onto the field; the officials warn the two men that the next one who acts aggressively will get his team disqualified. Though Randy gets knocked down, the boys' cheering, combined with a hallucination of a crowd including Mickey Goldmill and his wife Sharon (who had previously stated he could simply choose not to fight if he didn't want to) cheering him on, inspires him to stand up and continue fighting before finally knocking out Bat Dad, resulting in the Cows' disqualification and Denver's victory by default. Randy feels dejected at having cost the Cows the championship as he is placed under arrest, but Stan lifts his spirits by thanking him for doing so. He ends the episode leaping for joy while under police custody.

Production

The episode's idea originally came from series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone thinking that the children of South Park would look cute in baseball uniforms. Parker and Stone also were not fans of baseball themselves so it made sense to have the boys hate baseball. The choice to go ahead with a baseball-themed episode did create some problems animation-wise, however, as most of the children look nearly identical wearing the same uniforms. A lot of time was spent on ensuring that each character was distinguishable from each other. For example, Butters Stotch and Stan Marsh look identical with the same attire. To rectify this, Stan's hair is more prominent than Butters' and Butters has a speaking line early. [1] Additionally, Kenny appears with his hat slightly covering his face, making this one of Kenny's most visible episodes. The episode's plot was originally going to be used in Best Friends Forever but was put on hold when they came up with an episode based on the Terri Schiavo case instead.

According to the DVD commentary, "this was a really, really hard episode to do" because sports episodes in general aren't easy but also because the teams are trying to lose. Because they are trying to lose on purpose, new rules are needed which makes it different from any actual sport. The character of Bat Dad made it easier for Parker and Stone, however, as if it got too difficult, they could cut to Bat Dad. [1]

Related Research Articles

"Raisins" is the fourteenth episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 110th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on December 10, 2003. In the episode, Wendy breaks up with Stan, causing him to spiral into a deep depression. The boys, in an attempt to make him feel better, take him to Raisins, a parody of American restaurant chain Hooters. Meanwhile, Butters becomes infatuated with a waitress at Raisins.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Good Times with Weapons</span> 1st episode of the 8th season of South Park

"Good Times with Weapons" is the first episode of the eighth season of the American animated series South Park and the 112th episode of the series. It originally aired on March 17, 2004. In the episode, the boys are transformed into Japanese warriors after they buy martial arts weapons at a local market. Their sworn enemy, Professor Chaos, confronts them and a highly stylized battle ensues. The episode's animation routinely switches from the usual cutout-and-solid-color style to a highly stylized anime theme.

"The Death of Eric Cartman" is the sixth episode in the ninth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 131st episode overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 13, 2005.

Volcano (<i>South Park</i>) 2nd episode of the 1st season of South Park

"Volcano" is the second episode of the first season of the American animated television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 20, 1997. In the episode, Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny go on a hunting trip with Stan's uncle Jimbo and his war buddy Ned. While on the trip, Stan is frustrated by his unwillingness to shoot a living creature, and Cartman tries to scare the hunting party with tales of a creature named Scuzzlebutt. Meanwhile, the group is unaware that a nearby volcano is about to erupt.

"Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" is the eighth episode of the third season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 39th episode of the series overall. The episode is the second part of The Meteor Shower Trilogy, and centers upon third grader Stan Marsh and his father Randy. It premiered on Comedy Central on July 21, 1999.

"Casa Bonita" is the eleventh episode of the seventh season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 107th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 12, 2003. In the episode, Cartman misleads Butters into going missing in order to gain an invitation to Kyle's birthday party. The titular restaurant in the episode is based on the real-life Casa Bonita, a Mexican-themed restaurant in Lakewood, Colorado.

"Fun with Veal" is the 4th episode of the sixth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 83rd episode of the series overall. It is the 4th episode in production order. It originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central on March 27, 2002. In the episode, Stan and the boys are horrified when they find what veal is made from, and then kidnap all the baby cows from a local ranch in South Park.

"Professor Chaos" is the sixth episode of the sixth season of the Comedy Central series South Park and the 85th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on April 10, 2002. In the episode, the boys hold a contest to try to find a replacement for Butters, who becomes a supervillain after being fired from the group as the replacement Kenny. The episode also parodies The Bachelor and the 2000 film X-Men.

"Asspen" is the second episode of the sixth season and the 81st overall episode of the American animated television series South Park. Going by production order, it is the 3rd episode of Season 6 instead of the 2nd episode. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 13, 2002. In the episode, the boys go on vacation at Aspen, Colorado, where Stan is repeatedly tormented by an older skier named Tad. Meanwhile, the boys' parents become stuck at a meeting as two salesmen attempt to coax them into purchasing timeshare property.

"The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers" is the thirteenth episode of the sixth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 92nd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 13, 2002. In the episode, the boys dress up and play as characters from The Lord of the Rings film series, with several events and characters substituted into the narrative. They extend their game into a "quest" to return a copy of the film to a local video store. Meanwhile, the adults have accidentally switched the tape with a pornographic film.

"Jared Has Aides" is the first episode of the sixth season of the adult American animated television series South Park, and the 80th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 6, 2002. In the episode, weight loss advocate and Subway spokesman Jared Fogle incurs the wrath of South Park after he announces that he lost weight because he has aides. This leads Cartman, Kyle and Stan to try to use Butters as their own advocate for City Wok. The episode also parodies the film Philadelphia.

"Make Love, Not Warcraft" is the eighth episode in the tenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 147th episode overall, it first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 4, 2006. In the episode, named in a play on words after the 1960s counterculture slogan "Make love, not war", Cartman, Kyle, Stan, and Kenny enjoy playing the popular massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft. When a high-level player goes around killing other players in the game, they start playing the game every day to try to stop him. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. In 2015, he and co-creator Matt Stone listed it as their third-favorite episode of the series.

"Stanley's Cup" is the fourteenth and final episode in the tenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 153rd episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 15, 2006. In the episode, Stan is forced to become the coach of a pee-wee hockey team. Written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker, the episode parodies the 1992 film The Mighty Ducks and BASEketball.

"With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" is the eleventh season premiere of the American animated television series South Park, and the 154th overall episode of the series. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 7, 2007, and was rated TV-MA-L. In the episode, Randy says the word niggers on the real-life game show Wheel of Fortune, leading to widespread public outrage. Stan attempts to understand the epithet's impact on his black friend Tolkien. Meanwhile, a man with dwarfism has a hard time trying to teach Cartman to be sensitive.

"You're Getting Old" is the seventh episode of the fifteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 216th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on June 8, 2011. In the episode, Stan begins to develop a profound sense of cynicism after celebrating his tenth birthday, where he is literally seeing everything as "crap". Meanwhile, Randy latches onto a new music genre, "tween wave", in an attempt to fit in, which causes problems in his marriage with Sharon.

"Informative Murder Porn" is the second episode in the seventeenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 239th episode of the series overall, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on October 2, 2013. The episode revolves around the children of South Park trying to stop their parents from watching "murder porn", television programs containing softcore pornography that reenact true crime stories.

"Black Friday" is the seventh episode in the seventeenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 244th episode of the series overall, it premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on November 13, 2013. The episode is the first of a three-episode story arc, which continues with "A Song of Ass and Fire", and concludes with "Titties and Dragons". The plot, which employs themes and motifs from the TV series Game of Thrones, concerns the characters' anticipation of a Black Friday sale, with Randy Marsh taking a temporary job as a mall security guard to gain an advantage over the holiday shopping crowds, and the children of South Park split into two factions over whether to collectively purchase bargain-priced Xbox One or PlayStation 4 video game consoles to facilitate their online group gaming.

"Cock Magic" is the eighth episode in the eighteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 255th overall episode, it was written and directed by series co-creator and co-star Trey Parker. The episode premiered on Comedy Central in the United States on November 19, 2014. The episode lampoons the popularity of the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering using double entendres of various sexual innuendo, women's sports, and cockfighting versus the stand for animal rights.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Park The Streaming Wars</span> 2022 American television special

"South Park The Streaming Wars" is a 2022 American adult animated comedy television special episode written and directed by Trey Parker. It is the third South Park television special produced for Paramount+ and was released on June 1, 2022. It also serves as the 318th overall episode of the television series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Park The Streaming Wars Part 2</span> 2022 American television special

"South Park The Streaming Wars Part 2" is a 2022 American adult animated comedy television special episode written and directed by Trey Parker. It is the fourth South Park television special and 319th overall episode of the television series, and was released on Paramount+ on July 13, 2022. It concludes the storyline that began in its predecessor, "South Park The Streaming Wars".

References

  1. 1 2 Parker, Trey; Stone, Matt (2005). South Park season 9 DVD commentary for the episode "The Losing Edge" (DVD). Comedy Central.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.