Dances with Smurfs
In the episode, Eric Cartman becomes the reader of the elementary school announcements, and starts making politically charged accusations against student body president Wendy Testaburger.
"Dances with Smurfs" serves as a parody of the political commentary style of Glenn Beck, a nationally syndicated radio show host and former Fox News Channel pundit.
Gordon Stoltski, a third grader who reads the South Park Elementary morning announcements, is shot dead in a murder-suicide by a deranged jealous husband mistaking him for a truck driver with a similar name who had an affair with his wife, which the entire school hears due to it being heard over the intercom.
Principal Victoria asks Cartman to stick to the script during announcements, but he accuses her of trying to silence him, and brings in the American Civil Liberties Union to ensure his freedom of speech.
On his set's chalkboard, he uses the first letters of an acronym to make keywords that he writes to spell out Wendy's intent to "kill Smurfs" which concerns Butters and some other students.
The next day, however, he appears on his show and spins a portrayal of himself in blue face-paint and suspenders, having somehow found Smurfland, becoming part of Smurf culture and eventually falling in love with Smurfette.
On the "EC" set the next morning a reluctant Wendy joins Cartman (who has his sideburns dyed gray in make-up) who promises he will stick to school-related questions and go easy on her.
The episode ends with Casey Miller reading the announcements, which include a student's letter of disgust for Cartman's performance as president, causing him to run out the room crying, "I'm doing the best I can!"
Steve "Stu" Burguiere, the executive producer of Beck's radio show, also complimented the episode, and said of Parker and Stone, "These guys skewer everybody and they are always very good at it".
[9] "Dances with Smurfs" satirized Avatar, the 2009 science-fiction epic film directed by James Cameron, which tells the story of humans in the distant future mining for minerals on an alien planet inhabited by blue natives called the Na'vi.
This is a reference to Going Rogue: An American Life, the 2009 autobiography of former United States Vice President candidate Sarah Palin, who had recently announced her resignation as Governor of Alaska.
It ranked behind a special 90-minute episode of Sons of Anarchy, the FX series about an outlaw motorcycle club, which was the most watched cable program of the week with 2.5 million households among 18–49 viewers.
Ramsey Isler of IGN said Cartman worked well for a Beck satire, and said, "The real accomplishment of this episode is how it totally roasted a semi-political figure, without being political at all."
However, Isler said the script loses focus with the appearance of the Smurfs, and that Gordon's death was disturbing and inappropriate in the light of recent school shootings in the United States.
