A plotless, all singing episode of South Park, where the boys, their parents, school teachers, and even Satan, sing about the joy of the Christmas season. 22 min.
Yet another South Park Christmas episode, and creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have hit a dry spell. There’s a few clever ideas mixed in with some uninspired routines and a few bombs. Over all, it comes out better than even.
The host is Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo; the “talking poo” didn’t have enough comedy potential for one episode. As this is the third where Mr. Hanky makes an appearance, it is just rundown filler. As for the songs he introduces, some are standards while others were written for the show. They are:
- Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo (Postman & Choir)
- Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel (Kyle, Cartman, Stan, parents)
- Oh, Tannenbaum (Hitler)
- Satan sings “Christmas in Hell (Satan)
- Carol of the Bells (Mr. Mackey)
- O Holy Night (Cartman)
- Merry Fucking Christmas (Mr. Garrison)
- I Saw Three Ships (Shelley Marsh)
- Christmas Medley (Jesus and St. Nick)
- Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (Mr. Hankey and company)
The first and the last are a bust (unless you are still cracking up on the idea of talking poo) and the Shelley joke is worth about 10 seconds of time, but takes longer. Mr. Garrison’s Merry Fucking Christmas, which attempts to insult every non-Christian, tries too hard to be shocking, and relies on the impact of saying “Merry Fucking Christmas” over and over. Most of the others are worth a smile, though not much more, except for Jesus and Santa’s Christmas Medley, which is one of the episodes smartest segments (they trade songs about themselves back and forth till Santa finds he’s run out), and Christmas in Hell, which is prime South Park. It could offend people (check out who’s in Hell), is really funny, and is actually a pretty good song. You just might find yourself humming this one afterwards, which should get you kicked out of Grandma’s proper Christmas celebration.
All of the songs, along with a few others, appear on the Mr. Hankey’s Christmas Classics album, but I wouldn’t want to listen to Satan’s happy holiday number without seeing him decking the halls of hell.