Gnomes (South Park)
| "Gnomes" | |
|---|---|
| South Park episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 2 Episode 17 |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Written by |
Pam Brady Trey Parker Matt Stone |
| Production code | 217 |
| Original air date | December 16, 1998 |
"Gnomes" is the seventeenth episode in the second season of the American animated television series South Park. The 30th episode of the series overall, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on December 16, 1998. The episode was written by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with Pam Brady, and directed by Parker. This episode marks the first appearance of Tweek Tweak and his parents.
In the episode, Harbucks plans to enter the South Park coffee market, posing a threat to the local coffee business owners, the Tweak Parents. Mr. Tweak, scheming to use the boys’ school report as a platform to fight Harbucks, convinces the boys to deliver their school report on the supposed threat corporatism poses to small businesses, moving the South Park community to take action against Harbucks.
"Gnomes" satirizes the common complaint that large corporations lack consciences and drive seemingly wholesome smaller independent companies out of business. Paul Cantor described the episode as "the most fully developed defense of capitalism" ever produced by the show, because of various themes in the episode. In the episode, smaller businesses are portrayed as being at least as greedy as their corporate counterparts, while their products are of lower quality compared to the products offered by large corporations.
Mr. Garrison's job is on the line because he does not teach anything relevant, so in an effort to save his job, he makes the class do oral presentations on a current event for the town committee. Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny are grouped together with Tweek, a jittery child, who suggests that the presentation should be on the "Underpants Gnomes", tiny gnomes that sneak into his house and steal his underpants. The boys agree to stay at Tweek's house to work on Mr. Garrison's homework assignment and to see if Underpants Gnomes exist.
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