"Timmy 2000" | |
---|---|
South Park episode | |
Episode no. | Season 4 Episode 3 |
Directed by | Trey Parker |
Written by | Trey Parker |
Production code | 404 |
Original air date | April 19, 2000 |
"Timmy 2000" (the third of four episodes titled after the "2000" fad) is the third episode and the 4th episode in production order of the fourth season of the American animated television series South Park , and the 51st episode of the series overall. It originally aired on April 19, 2000. The episode is rated TV-MA in the United States and has a 12 certificate in the United Kingdom.
The boys have a new fellow student in their class, the mentally and physically handicapped Timmy, who is only capable of saying his own name, the phrase "libalah", and otherwise a very limited number of words. Mr. Garrison and Principal Victoria do not realize the extent of Timmy's handicaps, and Mr. Mackey suggests that Timmy may have ADD. They send him to a doctor who diagnoses him in a very odd fashion (reading The Great Gatsby in its entirety, then asking one random question about a mundane detail from the book). Timmy is then freed from all homework and schoolwork questions, leading all the other kids in the class to claim that they also have ADD in an attempt to get out of their homework. They are all promptly diagnosed with the condition using a similar method as Timmy, and they are all prescribed Ritalin as a result.
Without the burden of homework, Timmy finds a new pastime as he is discovered by The Lords of the Underworld (the rock band consisting of Shelley Marsh's ex-boyfriend, Skyler, and his two friends, as seen in the season three "Cat Orgy"), which takes him on as its new lead singer. The band becomes instantly successful due to Timmy's antics. However, many people are upset as they think that Timmy is being ridiculed. Phil Collins in particular is displeased with the new band, which has been booked to open for him at the Lalapalalapaza festival. Shortly after, Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld (at this point only referred to as "Timmy") take Collins's place as the headliners of the festival.
The other boys have actually started to take their Ritalin medication, making them very calm and rather boring. Cartman develops a side effect from Ritalin that causes him to see pink Christina Aguilera monsters (one of which causes him to accidentally kill Kenny). The adults are uncomfortable among them, but accept their new kind and obedient children when they also start taking Ritalin. Chef and the pharmacists are the only people left who are not under the drug's influence.
Meanwhile, Phil Collins tries to break up Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld. First by appealing to Timmy's parents, Richard and Helen (who also have large heads, use wheelchairs, and unable to say anything other than their names), and later by telling the guitarist, Skyler, that Timmy is stealing his fame and is only holding Skyler back, reminiscing to his Genesis era. Skyler leaves the band, which is subsequently cancelled from the festival. Collins regains his headlining spot, and Skyler's solo project Reach for the Skyler is booked to open for him, but Skyler bails out.
In the meantime, Chef tries to convince the parents that there are other methods to fight ADD than medication, namely beating the children to force them to "sit down and study" from a doctor that does a bold-free treatment without medication, but as the parents are all taking Ritalin too, he does not get any help. After the boys come in and tell Chef that they want to go to the festival to see Phil Collins perform, Chef decides to go confront the pharmacist alone. As the pharmacist and doctor who prescribed the Ritalin are counting their profits, Chef angrily tells them that they are responsible for the children liking Collins. Horrified that they are responsible for this, they make a plan to distribute an antidote called "Ritalout" (which, in one scene, is in a bottle labeled MDMA) by mixing it into free drinks at the Lalapalalapaza festival. They get the drinks from a lemonade stand run by Mr. Derp (a minor character who appeared last in "The Succubus").
The plan works perfectly; all the symptoms of Ritalin wears off, Collins is booed from the stage, and the crowd starts chanting for Timmy. The band reunites with Skyler and they play their show. Timmy even learns the words to introduce the band properly. Collins is carried out of the arena via crowd surfing, with the position of the Oscar implied to have been inserted in his anus. This was shown in a segment which aired during the last 20 seconds of the episode.
Phil Collins is always seen holding an Academy Award. This refers to his award in 1999 for best song, "You'll Be in My Heart" (referred to in the episode as "You'll Be in Me") from Disney's Tarzan , which won against a song from South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut , called "Blame Canada." [1]
Collins' appearance and mannerisms in the episode are similar to the "Gumby" character as seen in Monty Python's Flying Circus , one of Stone and Parker's influences. The characters always mispronounce the name of Lollapalooza, a yearly music event. Kurt Loder is also parodied on an episode of MTV News. Loder ponders why he is still doing this and says, "I've got to be the oldest person on this network by at least 40 years." The MTV News logo is seen with its satellite orbiting the Earth and the announcer states how the network is so cool they decide what is cool. The announcer admits that MTV News and by default MTV proper has been single-handedly dumbing down America's youth since the 80s.
The song featured in this episode, "Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld", is a bonus song in Rock Band . [2] It was also released as a standalone single. [3]
As explained in the FAQ section on the official website, "When the year 2000 was coming up, everyone and their brother had '2000' in the titles of their products and TV shows. America was obsessed with 2000, so Trey Parker put '2000' in the titles to make fun of the ubiquity of the phrase. However the joke soon got old after the first four episodes so they decided to drop it." [4]
The Call is an American rock band formed in Santa Cruz, California, in 1980. The main lineup consisted of members Michael Been, Scott Musick, Tom Ferrier, and Jim Goodwin. The band released nine studio albums over the next two decades before disbanding in 2000. Their 1986 song, "I Still Believe ", was covered by Tim Cappello and included in the 1987 film The Lost Boys. The band also achieved significant success in 1989 with "Let the Day Begin", which reached No. 1 on the Billboard U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and was later used as a campaign theme song for Al Gore's 2000 Presidential Campaign.
Philip David Charles Collins is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis and had a successful solo career, achieving three UK number-one singles and seven US number-one singles as a solo artist. In total, his work with Genesis, other artists, and solo resulted in more US top-40 singles than any other artist throughout the 1980s. His most successful singles from the period include "In the Air Tonight", "Against All Odds ", "One More Night", "Sussudio", "Another Day in Paradise" and "I Wish It Would Rain Down".
Brian Francis Johnson De Luca is an English singer and songwriter. In 1980, after the death of Bon Scott, he became the third lead singer of the Australian rock band AC/DC.
Daniel Patrick Lohner, frequently known as Renholdër, is an American musician and record producer best known for his work with Nine Inch Nails and A Perfect Circle. In 2020, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Nine Inch Nails.
"Cat Orgy" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American animated sitcom South Park, and the 38th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central on July 14, 1999. It is the first episode of a three-part story arc, often known as "The Meteor Shower Trilogy", which tells three different stories all taking place on the same night. The other two episodes are "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub" and "Jewbilee". As such, it features only one of the four main characters, Eric Cartman.
Kurt Loder is an American entertainment critic, author, columnist, and television personality. He served in the 1980s as editor at Rolling Stone, during a tenure that Reason later called "legendary". He has contributed to articles in Reason, Esquire, Details, New York, and Time. He has also made cameos on several films and television series. He is best known for his role at MTV News since the 1980s and for appearing in other MTV-related television specials. He has hosted the SiriusXM radio show True Stories since 2016.
"Something You Can Do with Your Finger" is the eighth episode of the fourth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 56th episode of the series overall. It is the 9th produced episode of Season 4. "Something You Can Do with Your Finger" originally aired in the United States on Comedy Central on July 12, 2000.
Jerome McElroy, usually referred to as Chef or the Chef, is a character on the Comedy Central series South Park who was voiced by Isaac Hayes. A cafeteria worker at the local elementary school in the town of South Park, Colorado, Chef is generally portrayed as more intelligent than the other adult residents of the town, and understanding to the children. His advice is often sought by the show's core group of child protagonists—Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick—as he is the only adult they completely trust. Chef frequently gives completely honest advice without considering whether it is appropriate for children, usually in the non sequitur form of a lascivious soul song.
"Christian Rock Hard" is the ninth episode of the seventh season and the 105th overall episode of the American animated series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on October 29, 2003.
LUZER is a four-piece power pop band from Hamilton Township, a suburb of Trenton, New Jersey.
"Sabotage" is a song by American rap rock group Beastie Boys, released by Grand Royal Records in January 1994 as the first single from their fourth studio album, Ill Communication (1994). The song features traditional rock instrumentation, turntable scratches, heavily distorted bass guitar riffs and lead vocals by Ad-Rock. A moderate commercial success, the song was notable for its video, directed by Spike Jonze; it was also nominated in five categories at the 1994 MTV Music Video Awards.
"Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" (also titled "Against All Odds") is a song by English drummer, singer and songwriter Phil Collins. It was recorded for the soundtrack to the 1984 film of the same name. It is a power ballad in which its protagonist implores an ex-lover to "take a look at me now", knowing that reconciliation is "against all odds", but worth the gamble. The single reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, the first of seven US No. 1s for Collins in his solo career. "Against All Odds (Take a Look At Me Now)" also topped the charts in Canada, Ireland, and Norway, while peaking at No. 2 in the United Kingdom.
"Jailbreak" is a song by Thin Lizzy that originally appeared as the title track on their 1976 album Jailbreak. Along with "The Boys Are Back in Town", it is one of their most popular songs, played frequently on classic rock radio.
Tim Cappello, also credited as Timmy Cappello, is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and vocalist. He is primarily known for his saxophone work supporting Tina Turner in the 1980s and 90s, as well as for his musical performance in the 1987 vampire film The Lost Boys.
"That '90s Show" is the eleventh episode of the nineteenth season of the American animated television series The Simpsons. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 27, 2008. Kurt Loder and "Weird Al" Yankovic both guest star as themselves, this being the second time for Yankovic. The episode was written by Matt Selman, and directed by Mark Kirkland. The episode's title is a parody of That '70s Show, a television program that also aired on Fox.
"Timmy and the Lords of the Underworld" is a self-titled single released on September 9, 2000 by the creators of South Park featured in the episode "Timmy 2000". The song appears in the music video game Rock Band as a playable track and is exportable for play in later games in the series. In September 2015, it was named the 38th best fictional song of all time by Spin.
William Michael Albert Broad, known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British and American singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of the group Generation X. Subsequently, he embarked on a solo career which led to international recognition and made Idol a lead artist during the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" in the US. The name "Billy Idol" was inspired by a schoolteacher's description of him as "idle".
NSYNC is an American vocal group and boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, Justin Timberlake, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, and JC Chasez. Their self-titled debut album was successfully released to European countries in 1997, and later debuted in the U.S. market with the single "I Want You Back".