Fishsticks (South Park)

"Fishsticks" received largely positive reviews, and generated a great deal of media attention when West wrote in a blog that the episode hurt his feelings, although he said it was funny and admitted that he needed to work on his ego problem.

According to Nielsen Media Research, "Fishsticks" was watched by more than 3.1 million households in its original broadcast, making it the most-watched Comedy Central production of the week.

Jimmy Valmer works on writing jokes for his comedy routine while Eric Cartman sits on his couch, eating potato chips.

Kyle instead says he believes Jimmy wrote the entire joke, and suggests that Cartman's ego is so big that he subconsciously remembers things incorrectly to make himself feel more important.

The concept for "Fishsticks" began when Parker, fellow co-creator Matt Stone, and actor Bill Hader attended a writers' retreat in Seattle, Washington and they visited a body of water where they could watch salmon jump.

[3][4] This led to them picturing a scene with West on a news program, angrily denying reports that he is a fish, shouting "No, I am not a salmon!

This was inspired by people Parker and Stone have worked with in the television business who were present for discussions the duo had, then later claimed credit for the idea even though they had nothing to do with it.

[9][10] Mencia's death scene in the episode, as well as his claims that he uses a catheter to relieve himself, are a reference to Lalin, a character who uses a wheelchair in the 1993 crime film Carlito's Way.

[9] Talk show hosts Jimmy Kimmel, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Jay Leno, and Ellen DeGeneres were featured in the episode.

[1] In its original American broadcast, "Fishsticks" was watched by 3.1 million overall households, according to the Nielsen Media Research, making it the most-watched Comedy Central production of the week.

[3] Simon Vozick-Levinson of Entertainment Weekly said the post was "a fascinating look at where Kanye's head is at these days", and complimented West for his "humility and honesty".

[17] Daniel Kreps of Rolling Stone said: "Many have tried, all have failed, but in the end it only took four animated children from Colorado to topple Kanye West's ego.

[18] Kerrie Mitchell of Entertainment Weekly suggested West's modest response was actually a marketing stunt to help sell his upcoming personal fragrance and energy drink.

[19] In response to the media coverage, West wrote another blog entry on April 10 claiming he had only seen part of the episode and found it funny, but he had been working on his arrogance problem for some time and that South Park did not lead to his "ego epiphany".

Ramsey Isler of IGN declared it the best episode of the season, calling it a "beautiful Kanye West spoof that was so well-timed, so hilarious, and so spot-on" that it became a "phenomenon".

[23] Carlos Delgado of If-Magazine said the episode was "another South Park classic" which "takes full advantage of Cartman's monumental ego".

[1] On September 13, 2009 during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, Kanye West interrupted an acceptance speech from Taylor Swift by walking onto stage, grabbing the microphone and praising her fellow nominee, Beyoncé.

[29] Kanye West references the episode in the song "Gorgeous" from his 2010 album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy where he says "choke a South Park writer with a fishstick".

[30] He similarly referenced the episode on his album Watch the Throne in the song "Made in America" when he says "South Park had them all laughin'/ Now all my niggas designing and we all swaggin'".

It was also referenced in a leaked demo of his 2021 song "Life of the Party" that appeared on the deluxe version of West's 10th studio album Donda, in which he says "South Park had jokes about fish sticks/'Til this day the whole team can kiss this dick".

[31] In an interview with Big Boy TV in 2019, West demonstrated not understanding the joke when he conflated "fish sticks" with a slur for homosexuality.