As the children of South Park rehearse for the annual Christmas play, with a birth of Jesus re-enactment and the Jewish Kyle as Joseph, Kyle’s mother intervenes, horrified her son would be put in such a role. Kyle’s mother ultimately storms out, determined the play will be more sympathetic to the Jewish community. Chaos ensues, as all communities come together and decide to remove anything from town that may possibly offend anyone, even mistletoe and Christmas trees. The resulting school nativity is a non-sensical, non-themed mess that drives its audience into a brawl.
South Park S01 E09 – Mr Hankey the Christmas Poo
The real story lies with Kyle and his obsession with Mr Hankey, a supposedly talking literal piece of human waste who visits those who eat fibre in their diet before Christmas. His attempts to convince his parents and friends of Mr Hankey hilariously result in faecal-related mishaps leading to him being committed to a psychiatric hospital. That is until Chef reveals Mr Hankey is real and all you have to do is believe in him to see him, Kyle is freed and the subsequent nonsense nativity play outrage is over.
Another episode laden with social satire, with Parker and Stone targeting political correctness. This one wouldn’t be out of place today, some 27 years later, dealing with issues in the wry, ironic way the creators are famous for. Such issues are dealt with so ridiculously, such as the town erasing any sign of Christmas and/or religion for the school nativity yet not batting an eyelid when Chef (Isaac Hayes) sings an erotic-laden pre-show song.
There are better episodes with Mr Hankey out there, but his introduction is certainly the most festive, and these early days of Parker and Stone’s humour are still worth a watch.