Simpsons Already Did It
Encyclopedia
"Simpsons Already Did It" is the seventh episode of the sixth season
of the American animated television series South Park
, and the 86th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central
in the United States
on June 26, 2002. In the episode, which continues on from the events of the previous episode "Professor Chaos", Butters
thinks up a series of schemes to take over the world, but realizes that each one has already been performed on The Simpsons
. Meanwhile, Ms. Choksondik dies and Cartman
, Kyle
and Stan
think that they are responsible.
The episode was written by series co-creator Trey Parker
and is rated TV-MA in the United States.
shows Kyle
, Stan
, and Tweek an advertisement he found for "Sea People" (a parody of Sea-Monkeys). Cartman imagines them to be a race similar to mermaid
s who will "take me away from this crappy goddamn planet full of hippie
s." He convinces everyone to chip in so they can buy them.
Meanwhile, Butters
, in his evil alter-ego persona Professor Chaos, is trying to figure out a way to bring disarray to the town. When he plots to block out the sun, his assistant, Dougie/General Disarray, informs him that it mirrors a plot of Mr. Burns's from The Simpsons
and Butters abandons the idea.
Cartman soon begins to prepare for the Sea People, even making a sign to welcome them, but after placing them in the water, Stan reveals that they are simply brine shrimp. Cartman, in a fit of rage, begins to berate his friends, but stops after the group decides to place the shrimp in Ms. Choksondik's coffee. The scene then cuts to Ms. Choksondik's house, where an ambulance is taking away her corpse.
Butters decides to cut the head off of the town's central statue — which mirrors Bart Simpson
's decapitation
of Springfield's Jebediah Springfield statue. On the news report, the newscaster interprets Butters' vandalism as an homage to The Simpsons; the police are not investigating the crime because they want the statue to remain headless as a tribute.
Upon hearing that semen
was discovered in the teacher's stomach, the boys conclude that they killed Ms. Choksondik with their "sea men". They go to the morgue to steal the evidence, fearful that they will "find the women too!" Butters devises increasingly outlandish schemes, but Dougie keeps pointing out that they have already been done on The Simpsons.
Eventually, Chef
explains that there is a difference between "sea men/semen" and "Sea People", and that the brine shrimp did not kill their teacher. Cartman then discovers that when the semen they recovered has been added to the Sea People aquarium, it combines with the Brine Shrimp to create an intelligent race of actual sea people.
Trying to come up with an original plot, Butters watches every episode of The Simpsons before introducing his newest plan: build a machine that replaces the cherry centers of chocolate covered cherries with rancid mayonnaise (a plot that Dougie/General Disarray dismisses as being too unoriginal to appear on The Simpsons). As Butters is about to use his device a Simpsons commercial announces that Bart will do exactly the same thing in that night's episode. Butters has a nervous breakdown and begins picturing the town in the animation style of The Simpsons.
At the Cartman household, the boys have bought more Sea People, a larger aquarium, and several gallons of semen. Their Sea-Ciety evolves into an Ancient Greek
-esque civilization, and they begin worshipping Cartman.
Stan and Kyle invite Butters and others to see the aquarium. Butters realizes that the Sea-Ciety plot is similar to that of the "Treehouse of Horror VII
" short "The Genesis Tub". The boys agree with him, but note that The Simpsons has done everything, so worrying about that is pointless. Chef points out that they in turn borrowed their ideas from a classic Twilight Zone
episode, "The Little People
". Butters understands and everyone returns to their normal appearance. Butters leaves, getting ready to wreak havoc once again. The Sea People on the other side of the aquarium begin worshipping Tweek, leading to a holy war. Seconds later they develop nuclear weapons and destroy themselves. While Kyle concludes war is inevitable, Cartman wonders, "Why can't societies live in peace?"
gave it a 8.5 rating, especially praising Trey Parker
and Matt Stone
for managing to contrast the episode with the actual Simpsons (with themes like Cartman performing fellatio
on "some guy in an alley"), while respectfully paying their dues. Daniel Vancini of Amazon.com
liked the homage to The Simpsons longevity, while pointing out that the writing for season six
has not taken a downfall, quality wise.
The episode "calls out" the obvious observation that the Simpsons have realized a vast amount of ideas throughout their long lived run. Some have taken this statement even further, finding instances of repetitiveness in the show itself
while quoting South Park. However, although the leitmotif
throughout the episode is "Simpsons did it first", South Park creators released their feature film based on the series
in 1999, eight years prior to The Simpsons Movie
.
Matt Groening
has a friendly relationship with Parker and Stone, which he demonstrated several times, going as far as openly supporting their case against censorship in the episodes 200
and 201
through that week's chalkboard gag. Groening issued a poster congratulating South Park with releasing 200 episodes, stating that "[they] already did it[...t]wice". South Park was parodied in a 2003 Simpsons episode, "The Bart of War", with Marge
disapproving of Bart
and Milhouse
's apparent enjoyment of "cartoon violence", and the latter two contemplating about adults voicing children's characters.
South Park (season 6)
Season six of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 6, 2002. The sixth season concluded after 17 episodes on December 11, 2002. This season is notable for being the only one without Kenny as a main character, as he was...
of the American animated television series South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...
, and the 86th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
on June 26, 2002. In the episode, which continues on from the events of the previous episode "Professor Chaos", Butters
Butters Stotch
Leopold "Butters" Stotch is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by series co-creator Matt Stone and loosely based on co-producer Eric Stough. He is a fourth-grade student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town...
thinks up a series of schemes to take over the world, but realizes that each one has already been performed on The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
. Meanwhile, Ms. Choksondik dies and Cartman
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
, Kyle
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
and Stan
Stan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
think that they are responsible.
The episode was written by series co-creator Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
and is rated TV-MA in the United States.
Plot
CartmanEric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...
shows Kyle
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
, Stan
Stan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...
, and Tweek an advertisement he found for "Sea People" (a parody of Sea-Monkeys). Cartman imagines them to be a race similar to mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
s who will "take me away from this crappy goddamn planet full of hippie
Hippie
The hippie subculture was originally a youth movement that arose in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to other countries around the world. The etymology of the term 'hippie' is from hipster, and was initially used to describe beatniks who had moved into San Francisco's...
s." He convinces everyone to chip in so they can buy them.
Meanwhile, Butters
Butters Stotch
Leopold "Butters" Stotch is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by series co-creator Matt Stone and loosely based on co-producer Eric Stough. He is a fourth-grade student who commonly has extraordinary experiences not typical of conventional small-town...
, in his evil alter-ego persona Professor Chaos, is trying to figure out a way to bring disarray to the town. When he plots to block out the sun, his assistant, Dougie/General Disarray, informs him that it mirrors a plot of Mr. Burns's from The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
and Butters abandons the idea.
Cartman soon begins to prepare for the Sea People, even making a sign to welcome them, but after placing them in the water, Stan reveals that they are simply brine shrimp. Cartman, in a fit of rage, begins to berate his friends, but stops after the group decides to place the shrimp in Ms. Choksondik's coffee. The scene then cuts to Ms. Choksondik's house, where an ambulance is taking away her corpse.
Butters decides to cut the head off of the town's central statue — which mirrors Bart Simpson
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
's decapitation
The Telltale Head
"The Telltale Head" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons first season, and it originally aired February 25, 1990. It was written by Al Jean, Mike Reiss, Sam Simon, Matt Groening, and directed by Rich Moore. In the episode, Bart cuts the head off the statue of Jebediah Springfield in the center of...
of Springfield's Jebediah Springfield statue. On the news report, the newscaster interprets Butters' vandalism as an homage to The Simpsons; the police are not investigating the crime because they want the statue to remain headless as a tribute.
Upon hearing that semen
Semen
Semen is an organic fluid, also known as seminal fluid, that may contain spermatozoa. It is secreted by the gonads and other sexual organs of male or hermaphroditic animals and can fertilize female ova...
was discovered in the teacher's stomach, the boys conclude that they killed Ms. Choksondik with their "sea men". They go to the morgue to steal the evidence, fearful that they will "find the women too!" Butters devises increasingly outlandish schemes, but Dougie keeps pointing out that they have already been done on The Simpsons.
Eventually, Chef
Chef (South Park)
Jerome "Chef" McElroy is a fictional character on the Comedy Central series South Park. He was voiced by Isaac Hayes. A cafeteria worker at the local elementary school in the town of South Park, Colorado, Chef was generally portrayed as more level-headed than the other adult residents of the town...
explains that there is a difference between "sea men/semen" and "Sea People", and that the brine shrimp did not kill their teacher. Cartman then discovers that when the semen they recovered has been added to the Sea People aquarium, it combines with the Brine Shrimp to create an intelligent race of actual sea people.
Trying to come up with an original plot, Butters watches every episode of The Simpsons before introducing his newest plan: build a machine that replaces the cherry centers of chocolate covered cherries with rancid mayonnaise (a plot that Dougie/General Disarray dismisses as being too unoriginal to appear on The Simpsons). As Butters is about to use his device a Simpsons commercial announces that Bart will do exactly the same thing in that night's episode. Butters has a nervous breakdown and begins picturing the town in the animation style of The Simpsons.
At the Cartman household, the boys have bought more Sea People, a larger aquarium, and several gallons of semen. Their Sea-Ciety evolves into an Ancient Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
-esque civilization, and they begin worshipping Cartman.
Stan and Kyle invite Butters and others to see the aquarium. Butters realizes that the Sea-Ciety plot is similar to that of the "Treehouse of Horror VII
Treehouse of Horror VII
"Treehouse of Horror VII" is the first episode of The Simpsons eighth season and originally aired October 27, 1996. In the seventh annual "Treehouse of Horror" episode, Bart discovers his long-lost twin, Lisa grows a colony of small beings and Kang & Kodos impersonate Bill Clinton and Bob Dole in...
" short "The Genesis Tub". The boys agree with him, but note that The Simpsons has done everything, so worrying about that is pointless. Chef points out that they in turn borrowed their ideas from a classic Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone is an American television anthology series created by Rod Serling. Each episode is a mixture of self-contained drama, psychological thriller, fantasy, science fiction, suspense, or horror, often concluding with a macabre or unexpected twist...
episode, "The Little People
The Little People
"The Little People" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:Astronauts William Fletcher and Peter Craig – each of whom happens to be the chief thorn in the other's side – set down in a canyon on another planet to repair their ship...
". Butters understands and everyone returns to their normal appearance. Butters leaves, getting ready to wreak havoc once again. The Sea People on the other side of the aquarium begin worshipping Tweek, leading to a holy war. Seconds later they develop nuclear weapons and destroy themselves. While Kyle concludes war is inevitable, Cartman wonders, "Why can't societies live in peace?"
Reception
The episode received generally positive reviews. Travis Pickett of IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave it a 8.5 rating, especially praising Trey Parker
Trey Parker
Trey Parker is an American animator, screenwriter, director, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of the television series South Park along with his creative partner and best friend Matt Stone.Parker started his film career in 1992, making a holiday short...
and Matt Stone
Matt Stone
Matthew Richard "Matt" Stone is an American screenwriter, producer, voice artist, musician and actor, best known for being the co-creator of South Park along with creative partner and best friend, Trey Parker....
for managing to contrast the episode with the actual Simpsons (with themes like Cartman performing fellatio
Fellatio
Fellatio is an act of oral stimulation of a male's penis by a sexual partner. It involves the stimulation of the penis by the use of the mouth, tongue, or throat. The person who performs fellatio can be referred to as the giving partner, and the other person is the receiving partner...
on "some guy in an alley"), while respectfully paying their dues. Daniel Vancini of Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
liked the homage to The Simpsons longevity, while pointing out that the writing for season six
South Park (season 6)
Season six of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 6, 2002. The sixth season concluded after 17 episodes on December 11, 2002. This season is notable for being the only one without Kenny as a main character, as he was...
has not taken a downfall, quality wise.
The episode "calls out" the obvious observation that the Simpsons have realized a vast amount of ideas throughout their long lived run. Some have taken this statement even further, finding instances of repetitiveness in the show itself
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
while quoting South Park. However, although the leitmotif
Leitmotif
A leitmotif , sometimes written leit-motif, is a musical term , referring to a recurring theme, associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical idea of idée fixe...
throughout the episode is "Simpsons did it first", South Park creators released their feature film based on the series
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut is a 1999 animated musical comedy film based on the animated television series South Park, created by Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The film was directed by Parker, who also stars along with the rest of the regular voice cast from the series, including Stone, Mary...
in 1999, eight years prior to The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie
The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, and stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress...
.
Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
has a friendly relationship with Parker and Stone, which he demonstrated several times, going as far as openly supporting their case against censorship in the episodes 200
200 (South Park)
"200" is the fifth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 200th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 14, 2010...
and 201
201 (South Park)
"201" is the sixth episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 201st overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 21, 2010. The episode continued multiple storylines from the previous episode, "200", in which a group of angry...
through that week's chalkboard gag. Groening issued a poster congratulating South Park with releasing 200 episodes, stating that "[they] already did it[...t]wice". South Park was parodied in a 2003 Simpsons episode, "The Bart of War", with Marge
Marge Simpson
Marjorie "Marge" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
disapproving of Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
and Milhouse
Milhouse Van Houten
Milhouse Mussolini Van Houten is a fictional character featured in the animated television series The Simpsons, voiced by Pamela Hayden. He is Bart Simpson's best friend in Mrs. Krabappel's fourth grade class at Springfield Elementary School....
's apparent enjoyment of "cartoon violence", and the latter two contemplating about adults voicing children's characters.