Weight Gain 4000
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All is not right with the leftmost mirror. |
"Weight Gain 4000" is episode 102 of
Comedy Central's
animated series South Park. It originally aired on
August 27,
1997.
In this classic episode,
Cartman wins the "Save Our Fragile Planet" essay contest and it is announced that
Kathie Lee Gifford will be coming to South Park to present him with the award. This enrages
Wendy, who believes Cartman cheated.
The town becomes a flurry of excitement as everyone prepares for Kathie Lee, as the mayor organizes a large-scale event in order to highlight the town and further her career.
Chef is asked to sing at the event and hopes this will enable him to have sexual intercourse with Kathie Lee.
Meanwhile, the children are asked to set up a play in honor of Kathie Lee with
Mr. Garrison as the director. However, Mr. Garrison, with help from Mr. Hat, plots to kill Kathie Lee for upstaging him and Mr. Hat with a rendition of "If They Could See Me Now" during a national talent show when they were children.
While the town gears up for the Kathie Lee's visit, the mayor tells Cartman that he needs to get in shape for Kathie Lee's visit. Cartman sees a
commercial for Weight Gain 4000, a
bodybuilding supplement. Thinking he should use it to bulk up for the big day, Cartman purchases the product. Cartman fails to note that exercise must coincide with the consumption of the product in order to attain the desired results. Consequently, Cartman suffers an exponential weight gain. While Cartman elevates his
obesity to the next level, Mr. Garrison visits a gun store to purchase a
rifle with which he plans to kill Kathie Lee.
Wendy discovers Mr. Garrison's plan while sifting through the essays in Mr. Garrison's file to confirm that Cartman cheated. As it turns out, Cartman simply procured a copy of
Walden by
Henry David Thoreau and wrote his name on it.
Wendy and Stan then try to stop Mr. Garrison when he goes to the book depository to try to kill Kathie Lee. Mr. Garrison misses,
Kenny dies and Cartman doesn't get to be on
TV that day.
The episode ends with Cartman appearing on
Geraldo because of his morbid obesity, where he comically states "Follow your dreams. You can reach your goals, I'm living proof...
Beefcake, BEEFCAKE
!" Also, Chef succeeds in his goal of fornicating with Kathie Lee Gifford.*When Garrison misses Kathie Lee, his shot instead gets Kenny in the head, propelling him into the air where he is promptly impaled on a flagpole. This death was later to be re-used at the end of the episode "The Biggest Douche in the Universe," in Season 6.*While discussing Cartman's weight gain in the commentary for this episode, co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone explains that Cartman gains 700 lb making him almost as heavy as Sally Struthers.
*Chef mentions that his penis has to be at least three times the size of Frank Gifford's.
*Mr. Garrison attempts to shoot Kathie Lee Gifford from the book depository, which is analogous to Lee Harvey Oswald shooting John F. Kennedy from the Texas School Book Depository.
*Mr. Garrison echoes the villains from Scooby-Doo when he states that he "would have gotten away with it if it wasn't for those meddling kids".
*Mr. Garrison quotes the movie Taxi Driver when he's gun shopping.
*Cartman makes fun of Wendy's essay saying, "If dolphins are so smart, why do they live in igloos?" Wendy also finds this comment written on her paper when she breaks into the school's records room.
*In "City on the Edge of Forever", Mr. Garrison achieves his goal and shoots Kathie Lee Gifford in the head, from which an alien is exposed and then is killed. Also, Cartman has not gotten fat from the Weight Gain 4000, but has beefed up into shape.
*Kathie Lee Gifford's vehicle mimics that of the Pope's "popemobile" which has him encased in extra-strong glass for protection, and so that everyone can see him.
*The segment in which Cartman appears on Geraldo is available as an easter egg in the video game South Park: Chef's Luv Shack and can only be viewed by obtaining a perfect score on the "Beefcake" mini-game*When Mr. Garrison is gun shopping, he blinks, but in the leftmost mirror his eyelids are colored white (see picture).
*When conversing with Officer Barbrady, Mr. Garrison's gun hilt changes from wood to metal, then back to wood again in the following scene.
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