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Mediocre episode is mediocre.

Honestly, I feel like shows like Honey Boo Boo should be ignored in protest. I never paid attention to it before and I'm not allowing this episode to arouse my curiosity--I simply refuse to watch exploitative reality shows like that. I know stupid people are going to watch and enjoy sh*t like this, but the least intelligent people can do would be to not add to the ratings of shows like this just because we're curious and... well, shocked, that something so awful could exist.

Screw reality TV. I don't even see how it's entertaining.

But yeah, another 6/10 on the episode. Some stuff was funny, but overall... just a whole lot of meh.

The Randy Newman bit, I think, is how he lowered himself
by singing a song about "Getting a White President in the White
House Again", or something close to that title. He certainly
cannot go any lower!! Not even lower than the Titanic sunk. You can probably listen for it on youtube. I hope it is suppose to
be sarcastic but it is still a cheap attempt to get some "press" for himself. Love you M and T!!!

Another solid episode, need to re-watch it a few times but I would at least give it a 7/10 and maybe an 8.

Cartman's going to need to take a few walks with the Dog Whisperer to "trim" back down. He kind of reminded me of a less extreme version of Homer Simpson when he porked up to be considered disabled enough to work from home.

i loved the james cameron song and addition to this story best part of it.

Remember in Junior High School when the class clown made fun of the team quarterback and the pretty cheerleader and the brainy guy? It was funny.

But then he makes fun of the fat, ugly girl who everybody else was already teasing and it wasn't so funny. It just seems kind of mean and pointless.

I actually watched an episode of Honey Boo Boo because of this South Park episode. The father works 7 days a week. The mother clips coupons to help make ends meet. And they support their youngest daughter's interest in pageants. The family does not have "Hollywood" good looks.

So the take away message from this South Park episode? Be ashamed of your imperfections. Huh?

I guess the father should work more than 7 days a week? The mother should stop eating and get plastic surgery to better fit the Hollywood ideal?

Here's a great idea for a South Park episode. Matt and Trey can do a parody of intelligent people who think rationally. I mean just pointlessly ridicule everything. Why discriminate?

Hilarious. 9/10.

Loved the raising the bar metaphor.

No, raidpirate52 is right. The James Cameron subplot was pure padding and didn't connect to the main plot at all. It could have been left out and the main plot could have been fleshed out for a better episode.

"James Cameron doesn't do what James Cameron does for James Cameron. James Cameron does what James Cameron does because James Cameron is James Cameron."

Hilarious.

That should have been its own episode, heh.

I disagree. The James Cameron thing went perfectly with the main story. It was an allegory for what was happening.

While Cartman was debasing himself and getting more and more shameless, the bar was being lowered more and more.

And...it doesn't hurt to have an irrelevant B story. They're too hard on themselves in that department. sometimes their obsession with only one story is to their detriment...they stretch a premise out too long.

If the premise doesn't work without being stretched, throw in a B story.

I actually didn't mind the James Cameron B story as Brendle stated in that the message tied in well. I do wish it had a touch more direct connection with the main events, but it didn't feel like it was completely out of place. Not to mention just how absurd it has become that, yes his movies can be considered high brow compared to a bunch of the other stuff out there. Avatar 2 IS raising the bar if only by contrast to most of the stuff being put out right now.

Of course there was the nice little meta self depreciation. I mean, consider when you had the start of the really raunchy comedies in the mid to late 90s. It was different and was pushing the bar on not being so damn prudish all the time. Now you turn on the TV and even things like Beavis and Butthead and the earlier seasons of South Park seem quite tame compared to the constant exploitation and shock factor has replaced any creativity and wit.

The current recipe for television seems to be to find the most shining examples of the worst stereotypes in America and exploit their antics in front of the cameras. And millions of people will tune in to basically watch the dregs of society degrade themselves and thus continuing a downward cycle. How many shows are actually written by traditional standards any more? Heck, how many of the few shows that are not reality aren't trying to capture the same flavor of the reality shows in how they write? Yet people keep watching and thus it's always a chase for just how much further it can be pushed.

As far as Earthpet is concerned: there is a difference between having to be anorexic hollywood standards and being a beached whale. You have people who claim in being dangerously overweight that they are bucking some trend. Go into any supermarket store and look at the carts of the obese patrons. Everything processed, few fresh vegetables or fruits, an equal portion of snacks to meal foods. We've forgotten entirely what a balanced meal is supposed to look like and went from glorifying the skeletal to embracing the exact opposite that is just as bad.

As far as the Honey Boo Boo family is concerned, if they are going on national television and ticking off every awful redneck stereotype for money, then they are asking for people to comment. Great if they are hard working folk for the most part, but that doesn't make exploiting their kid in front of millions is good. Nor does it make it any less embarrassing that it's about the highest rated show on cable. Now, blame falls under the people for falling for such tripe, but this one happened to be the one that got people talking about just how low the bar can go. Perhaps it's less about Honey Boo Boo itself and more of the fact that after years of Real Housewives and Jersey Shore and its ilk that people are finally realizing how trashy it all is.

But I do like this episode for the most part. A couple of the parts could have perhaps come together a little stronger, but it was funny and the themes hit home this time. There was a good combination of blatant jokes as well as subtle jabs throughout which was missing last week. It's a pretty solid episode. For all the griping about this season, there have been several pretty damn good eps. Butterballs, Cartman Finds Love and Raising the Bar are all pretty damn good episodes all around and the others did have some pretty good moments. There hasn't been an episode yet where I had to shake my head and start reading a book while the rest played in the background (Humancentipad, Funnybot). I think at this point people like to complain.

Of course the one thing with this season is it's been almost entirely Cartman. Stan's had a couple moments, but Kyle's pretty much only been around for some brief commentary and to set up Cartman's scheme of the week. And Kenny's been even more of a prop than normal this season.

Thank you for this post. There sure is a lot of whiners on this forum. On Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, IGN and other sites, people are raving about the episode. Whereas here, on the official South Park forum, almost everyone just complains. Some fans, huh? No one forces you to watch South Park, and Matt and Trey don't owe you anything, so shut up. Just accept the fact that a couple of 40 year olds aren't as creatively vibrant as they were ten years ago.

Personally, I think this is one of their best episodes in years. It's fast-paced, well-written, and it has some great jokes in it. It feels like an episode from season 6. Raising the Bar, Cartman Finds Love, Butterballs and plenty of shows from 15B prove that M & T can still produce some quality sh*t.

9.2/10 from me.

You mean "I'm Dreaming"? He's trying to be ironic in the song, not necessarily sarcastic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... vLeQbwuKys

No one is forced to watch South Park, but it dictates and reflects so much of the public's popular opinion that it's almost irresponsible not to watch it--like how not reading the newspaper used to be irresponsible, before everyone found out/acknowledged that newspapers are whores.

I didn't watch all of Raising the Bar. The first half of the episode seemed to be setting me up for a moral that goes something like, "Fat people aren't ashamed, or aren't ashamed enough, of their bodies." Is that what the moral wound up being, someone?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

No, the moral is "we dropped the bar so low, shamelessly"