"Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" is the sixteenth episode of the second season of the American animated television series ''

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 ...

''. The 29th episode of the series overall 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 December 9, 1998. 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 ...

along with Nancy M. Pimental and directed by Eric Stough. In the episode, the boys go to Cartman's grandma's house in Nebraska for the holidays but Stan was told by his parents that he cannot go because it’s far away from South Park. Stan challenges their authority and goes anyway. Meanwhile Cartman's Uncle Howard and his friend

Charlie Manson Charles Milles Manson (; November 12, 1934November 19, 2017) was an American criminal and musician who led the Manson Family, a cult based in California, in the late 1960s. Some of the members committed Manson Family#Crimes, a series of nine ...

bust out of prison and cause mayhem and mischief.

Plot

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 ...

asks his parents for permission to see

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 charact ...

's grandma in

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

for the holidays but they refuse because this place is far away from South Park. Stan's parents forbid their son to go there and order him to stay with their family for the holidays but he argues with them about it and gets sent to his room without dinner. Angry Stan sneaks out to Cartman's grandma's house just in time to join the other boys. During the drive to Nebraska they see a sign for an appearance of Mr. Hankey at a

mall Mall commonly refers to a: * Shopping mall * Strip mall * Pedestrian street * Esplanade Mall or MALL may also refer to: Places Shopping complexes * The Mall (Sofia) (Tsarigradsko Mall), Sofia, Bulgaria * The Mall, Patna, Patna, Bihar, India * M ...

. When they finally arrive, Cartman's relatives are there, all of whom share Cartman's mannerisms. At dinner they meet Cartman's Uncle Howard, live via satellite from the state prison. Later that night the boys hear someone breaking into the house and discover that it is Uncle Howard and another inmate

. The boys want to go to the mall to see Mr. Hankey, but no one in the family will take them and Cartman is asked to keep an eye on his cousin, Elvin. Manson offers to take the boys to the mall.

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 Stan meet a human-sized Mr. Hankey whom Kyle exposes as a fake causing a riot. The boys and Manson escape from the mall but when the riot police recognize Manson, they get into a televised high speed chase with the police. Meanwhile the Marsh family realizes Stan has run away and head out to Nebraska to find him. Manson arrives at Cartman's grandma's house and together with Uncle Howard proceeds to hold everyone hostage. Stan's parents arrive and Sharon scolds him for disobeying their order to not go to Cartman's grandma's house in Nebraska and for leaving his house without their permission. Stan asks to make an escape with Uncle Howard and Manson but Manson talks to him about the meaning of

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

which makes him change his mind. Manson and Uncle Howard surrender and sing a holiday-special style song. Stan's parents agree that they were unreasonable when denying him a Christmas with his friends and they will punish him after the holidays. Later as Manson goes to sleep in prison Stan, Kyle and all of the Cartmans appear to sing " Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" to Manson. Afterwards Stan tells Kyle how messed up the events of the episode were.

Home media

All 18 episodes of the second season, including "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!", were released on a DVD box set on June 3, 2003.Blevins, Tal (June 30, 2003)
"South Park: The Complete Second Season"
''

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

''. Retrieved December 27, 2016.

References

External links

"Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!"
Full episode at South Park Studios * {{Manson Family 1998 American television episodes American Christmas television episodes Cultural depictions of Charles Manson Television episodes set in Nebraska South Park (season 2) episodes