S22E03: "The Problem with a Poo" preshow discussion.

[Big-Will]

Episode 2203 - The Problem with a Poo

Mr. Hankey must defend his character or lose everything that is important to him. Mr. Hankey’s offensive behavior puts him in jeopardy of being fired as the Director of the Annual Christmas Pageant. Meanwhile, at South Park Elementary, Strong Woman and PC Principal face a whole new set of challenges in their relationship.

Christmas in October, no Columbus Day episode, heh.

[Female345]

I was hoping there would be a Halloween episode this season. Strange how it was skipped for a Christmas ep especially since it's October.

[JVM]

There's two more episodes scheduled before Halloween, one the day of. Still time. The clip also has the characters refer to there being some weeks to Christmas.

Title seems to be a reference to "The Problem With Apu" and the preview clip is obviously reminiscent of the recent Brett Kavanaugh Hearings; we'll see if the episode actually parodies either of those events directly.

Now, let me focus on the important thing... Mr. Hankey is one of the characters I never expected to see headline an episode again; he's reappeared a few times in the last decade and a half, sure, especially in spin-offs, because he's an iconic part of the show's history, but my impression is he was one of those older elements Trey and Matt didn't really enjoy anymore. So it's very exciting to see him back. I often appear a stickler about continuity, but I don't give a rat's ass if previous episodes say he has to live in the Sewers if it means seeing more of the character!

I was a little worried when we got out first image about a possible #MeToo parody, for which Mr. Hankey would be a poor fit, but the preview clip relaxed me significantly. Mr. Hankey is looking plausible guilty of saying some mean things, but calling people 'douchebags' is so inoffensive by the show's standards that it feels like a good way to show him, in metaphor, on trial, without having to get into lurid details of complicated issues... but it's still understandable why his career might be at stake when he's insulted the whole town. I wonder if any of these 'past events' might be episode references. (Probably not, but.... it's me.)

We know nothing on the subplot, except that it looks like Strong Woman is back. I'm curious to see how she and PC Principal will fit into the rest of the story.

EDIT: Added to the wiki!

[Randy Marsh 2016]

If they're doing a cancel culture episode with specific references to certain cases of the trend, they could bring Kanye into this (but not his character). It could be that Mr. Hankey could play or sing "Lift Yourself" by Kanye West to go against his accusers. That song does have "poopity scoop / woopity scoop poop" as some of its only lyrics, so it could be Hankey's anthem in this episode.

I wonder what the challenges in PC Principal/Strong Woman's relationship are going to be.

[Sgt. Sarge]

The Problem with A Poo

The Problem with Apu

I see what they did there

[JamesPolo]

So, with the Simpsons joke in the title, will the episode cover that Mr. Hankey is a bad character that stereotypes poop? I didn’t catch the Apu joke. I’m sure the clip was of the Kavanaugh hearings but those are over. Maybe we will get a bunch of flashbacks of Mr. Hankey behaving badly but others will point out him helping in situations? Taylor Swift is in the news for supporting Democrats, wonder if that will make it into the episode? I feel a little worried about this episode. Maybe it’s because I’m a supporter of Kavanaugh. I don’t think Mr. Hankey has been in an episode since that ziplining one. I think I’ll like the Apu type jokes the best over the Kavanaugh. The episode also is about Strong Woman and PCP, I think details from their past will come to light that endangers their relationship. Maybe PCP is running for a position and allegations come up against him too like Mr. Hankey? I think Strong Woman will be Miss Ford and maybe Mr. Hankey as Kavanaugh.

[Big-Will]

I guess I should see the Simpsons episode this title is based on, eh? I don't yet know what Apu did to merit this... tribute, lol.

[JVM]

I feel a little worried about this episode. Maybe it’s because I’m a supporter of Kavanaugh. I don’t think Mr. Hankey has been in an episode since that ziplining one. I think I’ll like the Apu type jokes the best over the Kavanaugh.

After seeing the preview clip, I don't think it's really about Kavanaugh because they press Mr. Hankey about saying mean things but there's no reference to actual misconduct. I think they're just borrowing the visuals, like how they animated Garrison and Hillary's debate akin to the first presidential debate, but the dialogue wasn't really based on what really happened.

I guess I should see the Simpsons episode this title is based on, eh? I don't yet know what Apu did to merit this... tribute, lol.

It was a documentary last year that tried to use Apu as an illustration of racial stereotyping; I've not seen the actual documentary, but I've heard that it's actually thoughtful and more trying to use Apu to illustrate the bigger issue about stereotyping.

Unfortunately, press reports usually reduced it to "Millennials think Apu is offensive; how will The Simpsons respond?" and their response was some dismissive words from Matt Groening, and a defensible shrug from the show that was reported in a way that made it sound a lot worse.

The whole narrative reminds me a little of "Super Size Me", a lot of people missed the bigger picture and just took it as a criticism of only the brand in question.

[triplemultiplex]

My stars, when was the last time we saw Mr. Hankey? Was it that 200th episode thing?
He's a forgotten icon of the early days. Recall that Matt & Trey turned down a deal from Fox because the network balked at the idea of a talking turd on their network (standards were apparently higher back then) and instead went to Comedy Central. I guess Fox didn't want to compete with their cable news channel and the talking pieces of sh*t they already had.

I'm worried this will be too 'current-events' driven and we're looking at an episode that won't age well once everyone forgets about Justice White Privilege.

I suspect the title is just good word play and won't really touch on the thing it's parodying.
About which I will simply say, "Hey stupid liberals, stop eating your own kind! Can you please focus on the 800 pound [s]gorilla[/s] orangutan in the room?"