Disney+'s Baby Yoda has taken the world by storm to the point that The Mandalorian leading man Pedro Pascal has had to make his peace with it, but South Park recently proved that even the cutest little Star Wars creature ever wasn't immune to mention. The latest episode of South Park, called "Basic Cable," saw young Scott Malkinson trying to win over a girl who loves The Mandalorian and -- of course -- Baby Yoda.
In the process, South Park managed to make a mockery of streaming services, The Mandalorian, and the worldwide obsession with Baby Yoda. This was far from the harshest and most brazen commentary South Park has ever aired, but it is an example of the show exploring pop culture in a far more timely manner than many other series possibly could.
South Park has a notoriously short turnaround on episodes, which can be produced, finished, and broadcast within the span of a week. While this can surely be incredibly stressful for creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone as well as the whole production team, it does mean that South Park has the opportunity to make jokes on very current events.
The appearance of Baby Yoda and a character who is a huge fan of The Mandalorian is a prime example of how South Park can quickly poke fun at popular trends. When "Basic Cable" aired on December 4, only four episodes of The Mandalorian had released on Disney+, and it took a couple of weeks for Baby Yoda fever to really sweep the internet.
Surely other animated shows, like The Simpsons and Family Guy, couldn't have been expected to comment on the craze so soon! If The Simpsons does joke at Disney's expense about how Baby Yoda has come to dominate the buzz for streaming video in the month since The Mandalorian's premiere, the jabs would probably be a lot gentler.
Of course, "Basic Cable" could have worked as an episode even if Disney+ hadn't delivered Baby Yoda to drive streamers crazy and earn commentary from South Park. There's no denying that the influx of streaming services in recent years borders on the mind-blowing, with even more slated to debut in 2020.
Interestingly, South Park landed a massive streaming deal of its own. Will it go the Simpsons route and gently mock its parent company, the John Oliver route of shamelessly and explicitly slamming his network's owner on Last Week Tonight, stick with its own caustic humor and make fun of itself, or just refrain from commenting altogether?
The "Basic Cable" episode of South Park went the extra mile to make fun of streaming TV shows. Take a look:
Yes, that is indeed a real phone number that reaches a line offering streaming rights for The Scott Malkinson Show as well as other fake original shows featured on South Park, plus an option to "talk to Santa," which offers the streaming rights for Santa South Park explicitly to Netflix for the modest sum of $480 million. If you're in the market for a fake TV show and have several hundred million dollars to spare -- or if you're curious and have a few minutes to spare -- give that phone number (via Twitter) a call!
The next new episode of South Park (presumably not featuring Baby Yoda) airs Wednesday, December 11 at 10 p.m. ET on Comedy Central. For some more upcoming TV options, check out our 2020 winter and spring premiere schedule.
