South Park: The End of Obesity

"South Park: The End of Obesity"
South Park episode
Promotional poster
Directed by	Trey Parker
Written by	Trey Parker
Produced by	Trey Parker Matt Stone
Original air date	May 24, 2024 (2024-05-24)
Running time	50 minutes

"South Park: The End of Obesity" is an 2024 American adult animated comedy television special episode. It is the seventh South Park television special, and the 328th episode of the series overall. The special premiered on May 24, 2024, on Paramount+.

The special satirizes celebrities' glamorized usage of weight loss drugs (such as Ozempic), as well as Lizzo and the inaccessibility of the American health care system.

Plot

Eric Cartman and his mother Liane visit the doctor, concerned with his weight. Refusing exercise, Cartman is informed of the weight loss properties of Ozempic, which lets him immediately dream of not being counterattacked on his obesity while insulting any person, including those in Pakistan. However, his mother is unable to afford the new drugs, as they are not covered by insurance for weight loss purposes.

Butters Stotch and Kyle Broflovski see Cartman's abnormal desperation, and decide to go with him to the insurance company. They are brought to an outdated receptionist for making a claim. After a long and complicated journey through the American health care system, they are still unable to get Ozempic for Cartman, and decide to make it themselves after learning from TikTok. Meanwhile, Randy Marsh tries to embarrass his daughter, Shelley, by wearing one of her crop-tops to pick her up from school. Many of the town's moms have been slimming their waists by using various semaglutide drugs, and exposing their midriffs at all times. When they see Randy wearing a crop-top, they assume he is doing the same thing and invite him to one of their parties. Randy joins in taking the injections, believing it to be some new party drug with no hangover, and possibly experiencing the placebo effect.

The first dose made by the boys and taken by Cartman seems successful in curbing his appetite, encouraging Kyle to produce more in order to benefit all the people who could not afford the drug. The news of their counterfeit Ozempic reaches a mafia consisting of cereal mascots worshiping sugar, who agree to take down the boys' new drug manufacturing base.

As legitimate Ozempic starts to run short, the moms and Randy start robbing pharmacies and eventually the boys. The mascots also shoot up a semaglutide plant in India that the boys rely on, and secretly promote a body positivity drug that suppresses the hope for weight-loss named "Lizzo". In a last-ditch effort to get semaglutides, Kyle orders them wholesale. The truck delivering the last batch of semaglutides is ambushed by the moms and Randy, who gets cold feet and drives off with it. The boys get in the truck as it is being pursued by the cereal mascots and the moms. They eventually ward the mascots off, at the cost of Kenny McCormick being killed by Tony the Tiger. Once the boys open the truck, it is revealed that it contains the outdated receptionist from the insurance company, revealing that the way to get semaglutides in the country is yet again a long and complicated journey through the American health care system.

After Sharon takes the Lizzo drug, supplemented by listening to Lizzo's music, she begins defecating out of her ears. After seeing her condition, the doctor is able to prescribe her Ozempic. Randy finds her before she takes her first injection and convinces her not to take it. They decide to go back to do some good drugs instead; namely, molly. Kyle gives a speech calling for the end of fat shaming, causing Cartman to joyously insult classmates without repercussions; he then boards a flight bound for Pakistan in order to fulfill his dream.

Promotion and release

The teaser trailer, released on May 15, 2024, has Eric Cartman meeting with a doctor, who says that they need to resort to "drastic measures" to reduce his weight. It then shows Kyle Broflovski discouraging Cartman from using something, but Cartman says, "Let's do it". It also shows Randy Marsh and Butters Stotch discussing the weight loss drugs and the American health care system.

Voice cast

• Trey Parker
• Matt Stone
• April Stewart
• Mona Marshall
• Kimberly Brooks
• Jessica Makinson
• Vernon Chatman
• Jennifer Howell
• Feraz Ozel
• Betty Boogie Parker
• Abdullah Saeed

Development

On August 5, 2021, Comedy Central announced that Trey Parker and Matt Stone had signed a $900 million deal for extending the series to 30 seasons through 2027 and 14 feature films, exclusive to the Paramount+ streaming platform. It was eventually confirmed that they would be released as two films per year. Parker and Stone would later state that the projects would not be feature films, and that it was ViacomCBS who decided to advertise them as movies.