Best Friends Forever
Episode 904
Original Airdate: March 30, 2005
Contrary to whatever we may claim during times ofunbridled glee, no game system is worth dying for. And who'da thunk that of all consoles, the PSP would be the one to require professional corpse, Kenny McCormick to make the ultimate sacrifice? It seems the angels above sent down the launch title, Heaven vs. Hell, as recruitment tool to root out the perfect battle tactician to wage holy war upon Satan's evil forces of the underworld. And as luck would have it, Kenny's proficiency with Sony's portable won him the coveted spot of Heaven's very own "Keanu Reeves."
But this is South Park, and even something as simple as biblical warfare could never go that smoothly. Well meaning doctors revive the boy in orange and hook him up to a feeding tube, effectively barring him from tending to his goodly destiny, and potentially dooming the realm of Heaven for all eternity. Friends and family square off on the "right to life" issue, and a media controversy ensues as they are wont to do. Stan and Kyle desperately want to see their buddy pull through, while Cartman goes so far as to plead to Congress to pull the plug for the sole reason of getting his tubby mitts on the left behind PSP.
We'll refrain from espousing our own opinions on vegetables and the people who love them, since eschewing the Terry Schiavo debacle is just one of the many reasons "Best Friends Forever" is one of our favorite episodes. Jam packed with with references to Lord of the Rings, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and of course, The Last Starfighter, the episode has a timeless quality beyond its topicality, makingit a consistent fan favorite and it also won the show its first and only Emmy for Outstanding Animated Series.
