Rate/Review South Park 1007: "Tsst"

[TriforceBun]

Cartman is out of control...can the Dog Whisperer set him straight?

[Semaj]

Of course Cartman is gonna be back to his bad widdle self by the next episode.

Best episode of the season.

5/5

[JoshG]

THAT'S more like it! Where has this BEEN all season? An undeniably sub-par Season 10 ends its spring run on a high note, and not just compared to the rest of the run. Nanny Skexis was awesome. Kenny's "fuck you" was awesome. Cartman's good side & bad side was great. Nanny Jo eating her own feces was sublime. Definitely had a Season 5-7 feel to it. It was the sort of story you'd think they'd have done earlier.

[That Jerk]

I don't usually partake in these threads, but I've gotta say how happy I am to finally see a good episode of South Park this season. It started off shaky. I didn't like how they just literally brought in shows like Supernanny and Nanny 911, when making a loose parody of them would have allowed for jokes. Also, talking about Cartman being bad can never live up to actually showing him be bad.

It all picked up in the second act and made for an awesome episode. Too bad the show is going on break now.

[homer5000]

5/5

Supernanny eating her own feces? That makes the episode alone...

[DotheBartman]

Hmm, I'm actually not quite seeing the hype for this. It was an entertaining episode for sure, and the ending was great, but it didn't seem like anything special to me, especcially comapared to some other episodes this season. There were some parts that were slow or just didn't go anywhere, and parodying reality tv has just gotten sorta old (though not as old as reality tv itself). Still pretty funny, though. 3.5/5

What was with the scene of Cartman going crazy, though? (The ghost heads popping out of his head and all that) I assume it was a parody of something, but what?

[Gay4Moleman]

Good, but not great. I loved the mockery of Nanny 911, and Supernanny as a scat-muncher was classic. 4/5

[SideshowTim]

the best episode of the season. i enjoy character-driven episodes over topical ones and this was no different, i don't see why matt and trey don't make more of them. i felt pretty sorry for cartman's mum though...cartman is all she has and cartman is just going to go back to take advantage of her again!

9/10

[bovine_university]

I'm a little conflicted about this episode myself. It was probably my favorite episode of the season, but it still was lacking in some areas. It's a bit interesting how this episode compared and contrasted Cartman's behavior over the years. Lately he's become more sadistically evil, being cold, calculating, intelligent, and able to screw other people up psychologically with words. He starts off the episode in this way, but by the time the Dog Whisperer guy shows up, he seems to act more like how he used to act when the show first began: rude, loud, bratty, crude, and whiny.

Anyways, in regards to the episode, there was some very good humor all around. I saw some of the jokes regarding the nannies coming, but seeing Supernanny eating her excrement was pretty funny. Once the Dog Whisperer showed up, it was funny how Cartman was being treated and how he was reacting to it, but the "Tsst" jokes got stale after a while. The subplot about Cartman's mom and the Dog Whisperer was very bland though, and it seemed to build up quite a bit, but there was no payoff. The other kids weren't in the episode much, but the few scenes they had were great ones, especially Cartman going door-to-door, and the plan to kill Cartman's mom. I also liked the conflict between Cartman's good and evil sides, but again the plot builds and builds, but not much happens and it feels very underwhelming.

I'm very torn between giving this a 3 or a 4, but it seems to fall a little short of a 4, so a highly respected 3/5 it is.

[JoshG]

it didn't seem like anything special to me, especcially comapared to some other episodes this season.

Really? This season's been uncharacteristically weak, I think. For the record, my personal ranking would be 1007, 1002, 1001, 1006, 1004, 1003, 1005.

What was with the scene of Cartman going crazy, though? (The ghost heads popping out of his head and all that) I assume it was a parody of something, but what?

I believe Cartman's good vs. bad side was a parody of "Contact" (which the show bashed in 704-Cancelled).

[homer5000]

^Someone at SPS said it was a parody of some film called "Altered States"...

[caribou]

I'm glad Matt and Trey have updated their animation techniques and everything for this season, but all these partial-side view shots crammed into every episode now don't look right. At all. It's starting to make the show into something more surreal than it's already been in the past, but not really in a good way. It's almost unsettling.

[deshem]

just what this season needed. really hope they make more episodes like this. it was hilarious and was interesting to have a lianne/cartman story at this time. now i'm excited for the second half of season 10.

5/5

[Faaip de Oiad]

Good episode, really liked Cartman’s struggle between good and evil.4/5

[Gibbles]

loved it. For a little while I was worried that the whole episode would be about the English nanny and Cartman, but instead this turned out to be a good character driven and kind of (for south park this is weird) emotional story.

5/5

[I'M A BRICK]

Best of the season, The Dog whiperer is great.
Cartman as a dog was clasic. And the strugle between good cartman & Evil Cartmen was an "Altered States" parody.

[TriforceBun]

This episode did a good job at providing a new look at Liane and Cartman. Whether intentional or not, it was a rather engrossing (if not all that deep) character study, with some good humor mixed in for balance. Very interesting look at Cartman's soul, and the climax was done very well (though I expected a Tenorman-esque vengeance scheme on the Dog Whisperer). There were a few slow/predictable spots, mainly in the first half or so, but for the most part, this episode worked well.

I don't quite agree with those saying best of the season though...but then again, I liked a lot of episodes this season that got mixed reviews. Full evaluation so far:

1001: The Return of Chef! -- B+
1002: Smug Alert! -- B-
1003: Cartoon Wars -- B+
1004: Cartoon Wars Part II -- A-
1005: A Million Little Fibers -- D
1006: Manbearpig -- B
1007: Tsst -- B

From favorite to least, I'd say 04, 03, 01, 07, 06, 02, 05. Very solid showing so far, with only one clunker.

EDIT: Come to think of it, this season has had a lot of development on Cartman. Not only did we see what lengths he'd go to manipulate people so he can get something he doesn't like off the air, we also find out that 1) without Kyle, Cartman is nothing, and 2) the root of all Cartman's evil is his own mother. Pretty interesting.

[Semaj]

1001: The Return of Chef! - 1.0/5
1002: Smug Alert! - 3.5/5
1003: Cartoon Wars - 4.25/5
1004: Cartoon Wars Part II - 4.75/5
1005: A Million Little Fibers - 3.0/5
1006: Manbearpig - 3.25/5
1007: Tsst - 5/5

[doyle]

the return of chef - 3.5/5
smug alert - 3/5
cartoon wars - 4/5
cartoon wars part ii - 3/5
a million little fibers - 1/5
manbearpig - 4/5
tsst - 2.5/5

[D DEBBS]

FINALLY-a DECENT episode (so far the best of the season).

I can do without Cartman's racial slurs.

[Jayrayman]

The return of chef - B-
Smug alert - B+
Cartoon wars - B-
Cartoon wars part II - A-
A million little fibers - C-
Manbearpig - B-
Tsst - B

Decent first half to the season, though I am expecting more from the impending seven episodes.

[Lyle Lanley]

A really good episode, but not quite as good as "Cartoon Wars". That Nanny 911 stuff is pure crap, it's about time someone lampooned it. I give it 4/5.

[brancely]

EDIT: Come to think of it, this season has had a lot of development on Cartman. Not only did we see what lengths he'd go to manipulate people so he can get something he doesn't like off the air, we also find out that 1) without Kyle, Cartman is nothing, and 2) the root of all Cartman's evil is his own mother. Pretty interesting.good analysis. i agree with most of your post, though i thought 'smug alert' was better than a B-. that was probably my #1 of the season

[Imperciph]

Well I am happy with the last two episodes of this season. Don't get me wrong, I loved the Cartoon Wars two-parter, but relying in topical events was getting stale. I like this show best when it can alternate handling topical events and off-the-wall surreal stuff . Starting from latter half of season 9 and the first five episodes of Season 10 I was afraid the show was becoming too dependent and over-reliant on topical episodes but these last two episodes have showed they can still balance topical satires and insane episodes featuring the boys.

1001: The Return of Chef! -- B-
1002: Smug Alert! -- B-
1003: Cartoon Wars -- B+
1004: Cartoon Wars Part II -- A-
1005: A Million Little Fibers -- D-
1006: Manbearpig -- B+
1007: Tsst -- B+

Solid half-season with only one real clunker.

[Blythy]

immense

5/5

semi season has been great.

[-Bartman-]

Tsst (what a name for an episode!) was pretty damn funny, but the ending wasn't what I was waiting for. 4/5

So far season 10 has been pretty good. My earlier ratings:

The Return of Chef - 4/5
Smug Alert! - 3.5/5
Cartoon Wars - 4.5/5
Cartoon Wars II - 4/5
A Million Little Fibers - 3/5
Manbearpig - 4/5

[Malachy]

Fantastic episode, especially the ending.

A+

[Tomacco]

Heh, I thought the ending was definitely the worst part of the episode. It was just too abrupt, we got to see maybe 10 seconds of "good Cartman", which wasn't enough. The best parts were the nanny TV shows parts, and the initial dog whisperer training. I found the episode got a little worse as it went. Still good though. 4/5

Run Recap:


Chef is Back: C-
Smug Alert: B-
Cartoon Wars pt1: D+
Cartoon Wars pt2: B+
A Million Little Fibers: D-
Manbearpig: B
Tsst: B

Pretty bad. :o|

[Spartan]

The subplot about Cartman's mom and the Dog Whisperer was very bland though, and it seemed to build up quite a bit, but there was no payoff.

I don't think so...it added to her character and how it seems she has to have someone to live under. the trainer was just a hired worker, and had no feelings for her, and once he was gone, she only had eric. and you can see where it goes from there...

as for the trainer himself, i found it interesting that he was one of the major characters of the episode and he wasn't made fun of. he was in a completely normal light the entire episode. a straight character.

[DotheBartman]

I'm glad Matt and Trey have updated their animation techniques and everything for this season, but all these partial-side view shots crammed into every episode now don't look right. At all. It's starting to make the show into something more surreal than it's already been in the past, but not really in a good way. It's almost unsettling.

Yeah, I was wondering if anyone else felt that way. They had a lot of those shots in this episode, and some others like the news reporter in Manbearpig and that government guy (I think) in Smug Alert. It looks really awkward, as much as I like the rest of the updated animation, especcially since it looks out of place with the other characters.

Season ratings:

The Return of Chef!: 5/5
Smug Alert: 4/5
Cartoon Wars: 5/5
Cartoon Wars Pt 2: 5/5
A Million Little Fibers: 2.5/5
Manbearpig: 5/5
Tsst: 3.5/5

A few of my favorites are in this season so far...though I hope we don't see another drop off like the second half of season nine (the first half of that had several classics as well). Still, strong season so far IMO. I wish the run wasn't already over, since this is the only weekly series I've looked forward to at all lately (with "Boondocks" on break and apparently not likely to return until close to the end of the year at earliest).

[bovine_university]

I don't think so...it added to her character and how it seems she has to have someone to live under. the trainer was just a hired worker, and had no feelings for her, and once he was gone, she only had eric. and you can see where it goes from there...

Maybe I was wrong to say there was no payoff whatsoever, but I felt that more could have been done with it. Overall it seemed underplayed when I would have preferred something more outrageous or extravagant.

Well the first half of the season is over and I thought it was an improvement over the last couple of seasons, but not by very much:

The Return of Chef!: 2/5
Smug Alert: 3/5
Cartoon Wars: 3/5
Cartoon Wars Pt 2: 3/5
A Million Little Fibers: 1/5
Manbearpig: 3/5
Tsst: 3/5

Previous seasons had a habit of being very erratic and all over the place, being great one week and terrible the next, but this season was more consistenly average. On the other hand, in each half-season run there's usually at least one episode that I really like, and one that I really dislike. A Million Little Fibers was the clunker this time around, but there was no episode that really got me consistently laughing overall.

Even though it might have already become the norm already, it's interesting how very all-or-nothing the show has been recently with it's ambition and tackling of recent events. On the one hand, you've got episodes like Cartoon Wars I and II and The Return of Chef that seemed to got all out on current events, and episodes like Manbearpig and Tsst that relied almost entirely on character driven humor. However, all and all I have to say there have been a fair share of problems this season as well.

As far as being outrageous, shocking, and envelope-pushing goes, this season has been all over the place as well, and either way there have been issues bringing the show down. The Return of Chef and Cartoon Wars made headlines and were ambitious projects, but were marred by recycled humor and watered-down plotlines. On the other side of the spectrum, Manbearpig and Tsst had good character driven humor, but also seemed to play it safe a little too much with their celebrity jabs and stories.

Anyway, I still think the show has shown some improvement, but there's plenty more room left.

[TriforceBun]

About the 3/4th character angles, it was used as early as Volcano (Stan looks over his shoulder while talking in the episode). It is a tad distracting and slightly contrasts the style, but it never bothered me much, and it seems a little more natural at points than a character turning COMPLETELY to the side to face someone (or for that matter, facing completely forward while talking to them).

[Green_Peaness]

Wow, that was a good one! We have a full-blown character study of Cartman that isn't averse to sentimental moments, though thankfully the characters haven't learned anything. It ended on a high note, but there were some flaws earlier on. The second nanny going insane and eating her own excrement was lame and probably unnecessary as a plot point. I was glad to see the dog whisperer because I've seen that show several times; however, it seems like Matt & Trey did their research on the show and got to know the details of what the guy does, then they put just put him in the show. Other than the situation of Cartman being human, the dog whisperer wasn't exaggerated in any way from what I could tell. It's more like an advertisement of the show than a parody. I'm actually not sure if that's a flaw or not...just odd. Anyway, what is a flaw is that the dog whisperer stuff was stretched out a bit too long.

Cartman was in classic form. Whoever said that he became more like early Cartman toward the end of the episode was right. I really hope the show keeps going in this direction. It seems like they still have a lot of ideas involving characters and real stories, it's pretty exciting.

B+

[Gatorgod]

Just caught it. Great Episode! Made last weeks lame-o Al Gore nightmare fade away

[barfly]

it got a little boring at times, but seeing cartman lying like a dog on the ground after repeated "tssts" was hilarious

[Tomacco]

Yeah, I was wondering if anyone else felt that way. They had a lot of those shots in this episode, and some others like the news reporter in Manbearpig and that government guy (I think) in Smug Alert. It looks really awkward, as much as I like the rest of the updated animation, especcially since it looks out of place with the other characters.

Season ratings:

The Return of Chef!: 5/5
Smug Alert: 4/5
Cartoon Wars: 5/5
Cartoon Wars Pt 2: 5/5
A Million Little Fibers: 2.5/5
Manbearpig: 5/5
Tsst: 3.5/5

A few of my favorites are in this season so far...though I hope we don't see another drop off like the second half of season nine (the first half of that had several classics as well). Still, strong season so far IMO. I wish the run wasn't already over, since this is the only weekly series I've looked forward to at all lately (with "Boondocks" on break and apparently not likely to return until close to the end of the year at earliest).

I agree, it does look kind of awkward. It was plain funny for Miss Haveshem (sorry, I don't know the spelling) in 'Pip', but in regular use it's kind of awkward. I remember how bad it looked for Cartman in the infomercial for his Faith + 1 cd.

[DotheBartman]

I agree, it does look kind of awkward. It was plain funny for Miss Haveshem (sorry, I don't know the spelling) in 'Pip', but in regular use it's kind of awkward. I remember how bad it looked for Cartman in the infomercial for his Faith + 1 cd.

Oh, was it done consistantly in "Pip"? (That's one of four episodes I still need to see, and Comedy Central has pulled it I think, though it does show in regular syndication). I thought it was mostly a new thing except for really brief moments, like whenever Tweek is spazzing out. But yeah, it just looks really weird with characters that are supposed to be flat looking, especcially in contrast to the characters that aren't drawn from that perspective. Kind of the same problem some of the later Simpsons one-timers have, where they tend to look really out of place next to the much simpler and weirder-looking Simpsons family members. Those shots where Cesar Milan is talking to Cartman's mom with that 3/4 perspective and she's still facing forward and looking to the side old-school style just look weird.

[Toli]

4/5. Solid episode.

[Ihaveblink]

Liked it.

4/5

[E-I-E-I-Moe]

I loved Cartman hating his food and saying it's like Auschwitz. Yeah, the 3/4 is kind of weird though. When I watched this as a younger kid, I always thought that the characters were flat and really didn't have real feet, just the black lines that you see on the bottom of them.

[Jayrayman]

I wonder what Paul thinks of this episode, he said in the review thread of “manbearpig” that if the show didn’t get better the following week then he would never watch South Park again. Surely this episode was an improvement….

[Rowdy]

Very, very funny episode. Possibly my favorite ending in the show's history.

[Mira]

Awesome episode, better than everything this season except The Cartoons Wars.

[Paul]

I wonder what Paul thinks of this episode, he said in the review thread of “manbearpig” that if the show didn’t get better the following week then he would never watch South Park again. Surely this episode was an improvement….
:D I thought it was a decent episode actually. Best of the season for sure, but it still had a few flaws. I'm not going to give up on South Park just yet.

3.5/5