South Park Duo Tones Down Bush Parody (from GIST.COM)
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone say they are not planning to portray George W. Bush's twin daughters as incestuous lesbians in their upcoming live-action Comedy Central series, contradicting a previously published report.
The series, formerly known as Family First, is now called That's My Bush! It is scheduled to premiere in March.
Facing the press at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, CA, Wednesday, the pair insisted that the series would be a satire of sitcoms, not politics.
"What we are going to do is make everyone love George Bush," said Parker. "The whole point of a sitcom is taking a character and forcing you to love that character." He added that the show would make ample use of sitcom devices such as the laugh track and the catchphrase.
"George always says, 'One of these days, Laura, I'm going to smack you right in the mouth,' " Parker announced. "But it's a really cute, fun thing."
The series will place serious issues, including abortion and the death penalty, in common sitcom scenarios. In one episode, the Bushes will entertain the head of the pro-life movement: an aborted, underdeveloped fetus that scampers around causing trouble. In another, Bush's former frat buddies visit the White House and want to accompany the president to an execution. Bush decides to stage a fake one so that he can put on a macho act in front of his college chums, but things go wrong and they end up at a real execution. D'oh!
- Diane Snyder