SPOILER SPACE
Well, I can't say that I'm a big fan of Officer Barbrady, so I was very disappointed by this week's episode. I just find him irritating rather than funny. Anyone else watch the previews last week and think the show would be a lot funnier than it actually was? Think about it... they showed the Chickenlover (well, they talked about him anyway) and a bit of Deputy Cartman, two strong subplots that I thought had a lot of potential. But two-thirds of the episode was devoted to the uncharacteristically dull "Barbrady Can't Read" storyline. Which, if I'm not mistaken, was not mentioned once in the preview. That's gotta be the most misleading promo since... well, since "Not Without My Anus".
Like "Mecha Streisand" and "Death" before it, though, there were some memorable moments scattered among the generally weak main story. I liked most of the "Deputy Cartman" stuff - the "domestic dispute" at Kenny's house was particularly good - although I do think the "You Will Respect My Authori - TAY!" catchphrase was overused (was ANYBODY laughing the fourth time??) The mirror shades may be the best "special effect" they've ever done. The bookmobile guy was good (and yes, I do think there was more than a passing resemblance to Doug Henning). Also liked the multiple Kenny fakeouts, and thought the totally offhand way he was killed during the closing credits made it that much funnier.
Btw, anybody else catch the "Police Squad!" reference? This was an 80's TV series that featured Leslie Nielsen as Lt. Frank Drebin, and later spawned the "Naked Gun" movies. At the end of every show, the actors would do a phony "freeze" while the credits rolled, although there was always a tertiary character or two who would be moving around while the principal characters remained motionless. I wondered if a similar scene in this week's "South Park" was just a coincidence... until I remembered that "Police Squad!" was a Zucker/Abrams/Zucker production. I believe Jerry Zucker is also the director of "BASEketball", the Parker & Stone flick due out this summer.