Preview
Cartman Gets an Anal Probe
Aired: August 13, 1997
This is where it all began. It’s been years since I’ve seen it. Interestingly enough, it’s not one I’ve seen a ridiculous amount of times. What I remember before re-watching is that this episode is our introduction to this crazy world with these unforgettable characters. We meet our core four and the obscenities fly from the get go. I think this episode is going to have a high secondary character score as I know we meet Chef and one of my favorite side characters Ms. Crabtree. We also get introduced to the visitors and they are a big part of the South Park N64 gaming world that I couldn’t get enough of growing up. Time to sit down and enjoy. Watching at home? Make your own score sheet for yourself at home by using our template here. – Drew
Character Score (Out of 3)
Stan – Composite: 1.85
Drew – 2.5: This episode was classic Stan. He’s there but not in the lead.
Matt – 1.2: Wasn’t involved in the main story line much.
Cartman – Composite: 2.9
Drew – 3: This is Cartman at his best, denying the truth and cursing like a madman.
Matt – 2.8: Plays a main role in the episode. Gets the anal probe from the aliens and ends up with an 80 foot satellite dish sticking out of his ass.
Kyle – Composite: 2.85
Drew – 3: Kyle’s speech at the end puts him over the top for a great episode score.
Matt – 2.7: Kicks the baby, then spends rest of the episode trying to save him from the aliens.
Kenny – Composite: 1.8
Drew – 1.5: Kenny’s death is his high point in the episode with a few fake outs before getting to the real thing.
Matt – 2.1: Shot by alien, ran over by cows, hit by cop car, then Kyle pulls off his head.
Secondary Characters (Out of 10)
Drew – 9.5: This episode was our introduction to so many great South Park secondary characters. Chef and Ms. Crabtree steal the show for me.
Matt – 6.6:
Composite – 8.05
Total Character Score (Out of 22)
Drew – 19.5
Matt – 15.4:
Composite Character Score – 17.45
Episode Score
Relevance (5) – Composite: 3.75
Drew – 4: The relevance from this episode comes from the relevance of the characters to the rest of the series rather than the relevance to the state of the world in 1997.
Matt – 3.5: I saw relevance in a way of how there are always alien conspiracy theories. This episode revolved around The Visitors, so I correlated the two.
Irreverence (5) – Composite: 3
Drew – 4: This episode was irreverent for its place and time. It wasn’t common to see kids cussing and kicking babies on TV in 1997.
Matt – 2: There wasn’t much in this episode that made me think “That didn’t show much respect”
Laugh Score (5) – Composite: 4.3
Drew – 4.5: I had several laughs throughout this episode. My biggest laugh came from Chef telling the visitors to hurry up because he had to get back inside so he could watch Sanford and Son.
Matt – 4.1: This episode was full of good laughs. Cartman is fantastic.
Personal (7) – Composite: 5.25
Drew – 6: This episode brought back all the feels of discovering South Park for the first time.
Matt – 4.5: This was a great first episode and I can’t wait to get going!
SP Factor (1) – Composite: 1
Drew – 1: Yes
Matt – 1: Yes
Total Episode Score (Out of 22)
Drew – 19.5
Matt – 15.1
Composite Character Score – 17.3
Favorite Quote
Drew – “Screw you guys, I’m going home!”
Matt – “Cartman, there’s an 80 foot satellite dish sticking out of your ass”
Favorite Moment
Drew – Cartman standing in the field, tied to a tree, while everyone yells at him to fart.
Matt – Kyle gives a heartfelt talk to the aliens in an attempt to get his brother back. They start walking away and he goes on an absolute rampage of cursing them out.
Total Score / Rank
Drew – 39
Matt – 30.5
Composite – 34.75 Current Rank: 1/1
Matt’s Review
As a whole, this is a decent first episode. Of the 4 main characters, Cartman and Kyle definitely are the most involved. Cartman gets anally probed by aliens and Kyle is on the hunt for his brother. There were not many real life events that this episode connected with or had a lack of respect for. It had some relevance with the aliens. Everyone is always skeptical about aliens. It definitely made me laugh a few times. Cartman had a great role with lighting the cat on fire because of thinking it would steal his chicken pot pie and then how he is farting fire and eventually has an “80 foot satellite dish sticking out of his ass”. I also laughed when Kyle was giving a heartfelt talk to the aliens about his brother then proceeded to go on a rampage of cursing them out. Overall, it has that IT factor and I enjoyed the episode.
The Spirit of South Park 