Tom's Rhinoplasty (South Park episode)
"Tom's Rhinoplasty" is episode 11 of
Comedy Central's
animated series South Park. It originally aired
February 11,
1998.
In this classic episode,
Valentine's Day approaches, which
Wendy Testaburger awaits as an opportunity to spend time with her boyfriend,
Stan. However, when schoolteacher
Mr. Garrison goes to get a
rhinoplasty, a new substitute named Ms. Ellen comes, and all the boys in class find themselves inexplicably enamored with her, including Stan, making Wendy incredibly jealous.
Mr. Garrison's nose job works out well, and he soon finds himself the most attractive man in South Park (looking like
David Hasselhoff). This in mind, he decides to quit teaching and spend his time "hanging out and screwing hot chicks." Ms. Ellen is hired as the class' permanent teacher. The boys by this time are actively trying to court her, but
Chef (having beaten them in their attempts of courtship) warns them she is a
lesbian. Unsure what that is, the boys try to become lesbians themselves, in order to woo Ms. Ellen's heart.
Wendy's attempts to ruin Ms. Ellen or make herself more noticeable to Stan all fail. But then, inexplicably, a bunch of
Iraqi men burst into the classroom during a session, and declare that Ms. Ellen is actually an Iraqi fugitive; they take her into custody and shoot her via a rocket into the center of the sun. Concurrently, a large group of women rampages the streets in search for Mr. Garrison. Mr. Garrison, frightened by all the attention and horny women, decides to return to his normal looks. Wendy is therefore able to reclaim Stan as her boyfriend.
At the end of the episode, as
Kyle is questioning the unusual end of Ms. Ellen, Wendy speaks with the Iraqi men in fluent
Arabic and pays them with a huge amount of
American money. She also thanks one of the women from the group that chased Garrison. Wendy, slightly deranged, admits she was behind the plot, proving that even the smartest little eight-year-old in South Park is more psychotic than most
serial killers.
*Miss Ellen is voiced by a
celebrity guest star,
Natasha Henstridge. She is billed in the credits as "That Chick From
Species."
*The character Miss Ellen is likely a reference to
Ellen DeGeneres, who announced she was a lesbian shortly before this episode aired.
*People Chef uses to compare to Miss Ellen when asking the boys about her are
Vanessa L. Williams,
Toni Braxton,
Pamela Anderson and "
Erin Gray in the Second Season of
Buck Rogers."
*Mr. Garrison throws up when the movie
Contact is mentioned. This is the first of three times
South Park has referenced
Contact ("
Cancelled" & "
Tsst" were the other two). According to the commentary for this episode, this was removed from the initial
DVD pressing because
Trey Parker and
Matt Stone express just how much they hate it (stating that after that movie was made, everything
Jodie Foster and
Robert Zemeckis made was automatically awful and not worth seeing). Warner took the commentary out most likely because of these comments. Some have even suggested this is the reason why most DVDs made after have included a disclaimer that states in effect, that the opinions in the commentaries and interviews on a DVD are not of the studio, but of the filmmakers.
*There is an alien visitor's face on the pin wall at the back wall of the classroom.
*The song that plays in the background whenever Mr. Garrison is seen after his rhinoplasty is "Shadow Dancing" by
Andy Gibb.
*The theme and song used when Wendy thinks of Stan was used in the unaired version of "
Cartman Gets An Anal Probe", it also plays in
Pink Eye when Stan makes up with Wendy.
*The boys do the
Charlie Brown smile, like Stan did in the first episode.
*Cartman says that his mother told him that to become a lesbian one has to lick carpet.
Carpet muncher or simply
carpet are slangs for lesbian.
When the Iraqis arrest Ms. Ellen, she grabs a
scimitar off one of them. She quickly loses her grip on it and it flies away, impaling Kenny between the eyes and pinning him to the wall.
