I'm a Little Bit Country
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"I'm a Little Bit Country" is the fourth episode of the seventh season of the American
animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...
''
South Park ''South Park'' is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormickand th ...
'', and the 100th episode of the series overall. Going by production order, this is the 1st episode of Season 7. It originally aired on
Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy programming ...
in the United States on April 9, 2003. The episode title is based on the song "A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock and Roll" by Marty Cooper, as made famous by
Donny and Marie Osmond The Osmonds were an American family music group who reached the height of their fame in the early to mid-1970s. The group had its best-known configurations as a quartet (billed as the Osmond Brothers) and a quintet (as the Osmonds). The group ...
. The episode aired around the time the U.S. invasion of Iraq and the start of the
Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...
. In the episode, the boys join some anti-war protesters because it's a free pass out of school for the day. Their simple plan to protest their way out of class goes south when they find themselves in the middle of the two opposing sides of the issue. Meanwhile, Cartman attempts a flashback to 1776 to avoid studying for his American History assignment. The episode was written by series co-creator
Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. P ...
.


Plot

When
Mr. Garrison Herbert Garrison, formerly known as Janet Garrison, Ethan F Garrison, and the President, is a fictional character and occasional antagonist on the American animated television series ''South Park''. The character is voiced by cocreator Trey Pa ...
agrees to let anyone protesting the war out of school early for a rally, all the kids pretend to care about the cause so as to get out of school early, even though they know little to nothing about the war. Some of the townspeople are protesting against the war, while others are supporting it. While the rest of the school races to enjoy their day off, the boys lag behind to watch the protest and end up being interviewed for their views on what the
Founding Fathers The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...
would think about the protests and the war in Iraq that the protests were about. It becomes clear that they do not know who the Founding Fathers were, and angered at the embarrassment, Garrison gives his class an assignment to figure out what the founding fathers' views of the war would have been. While
Stan Stan or STAN may refer to: People * Stan (given name), a list of people with the given name ** Stan Laurel (1890–1965), English comic actor, part of duo Laurel and Hardy * Stan (surname), a Romanian surname * Stan! (born 1964), American author ...
,
Kyle Kyle or Kyles may refer to: Places Canada * Kyle, Saskatchewan, Canada Ireland * Kyle, County Laois * Kyle, County Wexford Scotland * Kyle, Ayrshire, area of Scotland which stretched across parts of modern-day East Ayrshire and South Ayrshir ...
, and
Kenny Kenny is a surname, a given name, and a diminutive of several different given names. In Ireland, the surname is an Anglicisation of the Irish language, Irish ''Ó Cionnaith'', also spelt ''Ó Cionnaoith'' and ''Ó Cionaodha'', meaning "descendant ...
begin to study for their project,
Eric Cartman Eric Theodore Cartman, commonly referred to by his surname Cartman, is a fictional character in the adult animated sitcom '' South Park'', created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. He is voiced by Parker, and is one of the series' four main chara ...
decides to take a different approach, trying to induce a flashback of the colonial era to get out of studying, first by saying clichéd flashback-inducing dialogue, and then by dropping a large rock on his head. The people of the town are divided about the war, and after splitting in two, they both plan rallies: one pro-war (
hawks Hawks are birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. They are widely distributed and are found on all continents except Antarctica. * The subfamily Accipitrinae includes goshawks, sparrowhawks, sharp-shinned hawks and others. This subfamily a ...
), one anti-war (
doves Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...
), both on the same day in the same place.
Mayor McDaniels The following is a list of recurring characters in the animated television series ''South Park''. The list does not include the List of students at South Park Elementary, school children, List of South Park families, family members or List of Sou ...
says that the town square is a public place, and if neither group wants to move, they'll have to share the space. The stage is split down the middle, and on the day of the protest, they end up having a large argument during both rallies, and ultimately get into a huge fight where they all begin to kill each other. Eventually, Cartman electrocutes himself in water with a
TiVo TiVo ( ) is a digital video recorder (DVR) developed and marketed by Xperi (previously by TiVo Corporation and TiVo Inc.) and introduced in 1999. TiVo provides an on-screen guide of scheduled broadcast programming television programs, whose fea ...
full of colonial documentaries from
The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
in order to induce a flashback. He falls into a coma, and in his mind, he travels back to the colonial era in
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
. After murdering the official messenger boy, he manages to get the job of delivering the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
from
Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...
's home to the
Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislative bodies, with some executive function, for thirteen of Britain's colonies in North America, and the newly declared United States just before, during, and after the American Revolutionary War. ...
for a vote; there, a great argument breaks out about whether or not to go to war against
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, paralleling the events in present-day South Park, which Cartman recognizes as being "very, very relevant". While both protests rage on,
Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher. Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the leading inte ...
shows up and announces that he believes the new country must not seem to be a war-monger to the rest of the world, but it cannot appear to be weak either. Therefore, it must go to war but allow protests, thereby acting like it does not want war. He refers to this as " saying one thing and doing another". One member refers to this as " having our cake and eating it too". Having learned what the Founding Fathers would say, Cartman wakes up at the hospital and goes to the town square protest to tell them what he learned. Meanwhile, both sides decide to use Stan and Kyle's project to justify their opinion about the war. However, when on stage, they admit that they didn't do their homework. Another argument erupts, but Cartman arrives and tells the town what he learned in the colonial era about America saying one thing and doing another, and how the system works. The hawks and the doves learn to appreciate their differences and how they're both needed in the system of saying one thing and doing another and sing a song about it. In it, they celebrate their differences and their achievement (
100 episodes In the U.S. television industry, 100 episodes is the traditional threshold for a television series to enter syndicated reruns. One hundred episodes are advantageous for stripped syndication because it allows for 20 weeks of weekday reruns (depend ...
); ending the song with the line, "For the war, against the war—who cares! 100 episodes!" Kyle ends the episode by saying "I hate this town. I really, really do."


Production

Matt and Trey noticed that while all the pro-Iraq War songs were by country artists, all the anti-war songs were by rockers. This made them think of the old Donny and Marie standard, "I'm A Little Bit Country, I'm A Little Bit Rock 'N Roll" Thus the entire episode hinged on getting rights to use the song—rights that weren't secured until the last possible moment. Benjamin Franklin is voiced by TV producer
Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...
(who also served as a creative consultant for this episode). The flashback was inspired by Lear's touring around schools with a copy of the
Declaration of Independence A declaration of independence or declaration of statehood or proclamation of independence is an assertion by a polity in a defined territory that it is independent and constitutes a state. Such places are usually declared from part or all of the ...
.


Release and reception

"I'm a Little Bit Country", along with the fourteen other episodes from ''The Complete Seventh Season,'' were released on a three-disc DVD set in the United States on March 21, 2006. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode. Keith Finn of the ''
Daily Nebraskan ''The Daily Nebraskan'', established in 1871 as the ''Monthly Hesperian Student'', is the student newspaper of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. Although many journalism students are on staff, the ''Daily Nebraskan'' is independent of the uni ...
'' praised the episode's portrayal of the United States's
two-party system A two-party system is a political party system in which two major political parties consistently dominate the political landscape. At any point in time, one of the two parties typically holds a majority in the legislature and is usually referre ...
and free speech.


References


External links


"I'm a Little Bit Country"
Full episode at South Park Studios * {{South Park episodes, 7 Cultural depictions of Benjamin Franklin Cultural depictions of George Washington Cultural depictions of Thomas Jefferson Television episodes about the Iraq War South Park (season 7) episodes Television episodes about time travel Television episodes about the American Revolution