South Park Review- "Cash for Gold"

Another week, another mediocre episode of South Park. Once again, we are given an episode about something that is hardly relevant (are home shopping shows more important than I realize?) and the results are of course less than spectacular. That being said, I do think this episode was a slight improvement upon last week's mess.

The basic premise of the episode was that home shopping networks were taking advantage of elderly people, coaxing them into buying worthless jewelry by proclaiming an outrageous value and offering huge discounts. Stan's grandfather purchased him one such piece of jewelry, a gold and turquoise bolo necklace. He of course hates it, and Cartman predictably mocks him for it. There is little to laugh at for the beginning of the episode.

The home shopping network is displayed on screen in a similar fashion to the actual shows, full of awkward closeups of the jewelry, lazy effects to outline the crazy deals, and annoying host who acts way too excited for what his job actually entails. Cartman eventually unlocks the alchemical secret to produce gold, a not so clever formula that was far less effective than the penis-length gag from the T.M.I. episode. This leads the boys to visit India, where the jewelry is made, some obscure fart joke references (he who made the rhyme did the crime) are made, and few laughs are had.

There were a few highlights of the episode though, specifically the background song that plays during the montage scene, a hilarious track composed entirely of matt and trey's voices. The other funny moment came from Stan's grandfather, suffering from Alzheimer's, who having forgotten that he actually purchased Stan's necklace told him it was "Fucking Gay". Sadly, these were the two most memorable scenes from the episode, but at least the rest of it was more enjoyable than "Reverse Cowgirl".

Overall Score:   6/10

   -Chris