2x14 Chef Aid

[7.2/10] It’s especially amusing watching this episode following a viewing of the O.J.: Made in America documentary. Seeing a roughly contemporary send-up of Johnny Cochran’s strategy to, as another huckster would say, “flood the zone with shit” in order to win the day and pervert justice is entertaining and telling at the same time. The scene where one of the jurors’ head explodes was particularly funny. And hey, as a Star Wars fan, the fact that it’s the “Chewbacca Defense” comes with an extra layer of amusement. (Though I’m not sure Chewie ever lived on Endor -- maybe that's part of why it “doesn’t make sense.” Oh no, did Cochran get me too?)

For the most part though, this is just an excuse to trot out a bunch of famous musical guest stars. Some of the material for them is amusing. Meatloaf starting out as a musician named “couscous” is a laugh. And Ozzy biting Kenny’s head off is a nice melding of the iconic bits from both the singer and the show. Plus hey, it’s nice to see Primus in the show proper and not just the intro. But for the most part, this is the kind of cameo cavalcade that seems antithetical to the show’s sensibilities.

That said, returning to these early episodes, there’s still a charming DIY quality to them, before the show got more polished and sure of itself. Frankly, this is more of a patched-together bit of nonsense than a cohesive story, but that's part of the charm.

I enjoy the sheer randomness of the early episodes. The boys going around to celebs and selling candy is a laugh via their sales pitch. Cartman’s frantic German dance is rib-tickling in its silliness. Even Chef’s exhaustion from escorting around town has a raunchy charm to it from the show’s puerile early days.

Overall, this one is mostly interesting as a time capsule of both the 1990s and of a particular shaky-but-endearing early era of South Park, but still has plenty of ridiculous charm to go ‘round.