South Park has a "Broadway Bro Down"

     In this week's episode of Comedy Central's South Park, "Broadway Bro Down," Randy (Trey Parker) discovers that Broadway shows have subliminal messages that cause women to want to give their men blow jobs. Thus, he begins taking Sharon (April Stewart) to many of these performances. Annoyed at the inconvenience, he begins writing his own show, with the subtext more overt. This angers Stephen Sondheim, Stephen Schwartz, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Elton John, all legendary Broadway giants, who come to South Park to challenge Randy. In the end, they all become friends, and help Randy with his show.

     Going after Broadway is timely and predictable, considering that Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, have a Tony-award winning show, Book of Mormon, on the Great White Way right now. This does not detract from the enjoyment, of course, as obviously the duo have some serious skill in addressing the musical world. Robert Lopez, who worked with the boys on Book of Mormon, guest co-wrote this episode, too. But the guys don't shove their own thing down viewers' faces. In fact, other than an extremely brief advertisement for Book of Mormon just before the opening credits, their show is absent from reference in the episode.

     Plenty of other shows get the focus, most notable Wicked. The songs portrayed in the South Park version of Wicked are similar to those in the actual musical, but have some different lyrics, including the word "blowjob" inserted in many places. The same thing happens when other Broadway shows are glimpsed. Are the guys onto something? Does Broadway really make girls blowjob-crazy, despite the notable absence in reality of the subtext glimpsed in "Broadway Bro Down?" Well, that depends, of course. If the woman a man takes really likes the man and the show, the reward may be offered. But that's likely more a show of gratitude and affection, rather than anything in the actual material.

     The portrayal of the Broadway legends as beer drinking, "normal," manly men is the oddest part of "Broadway Bro Down." After all, these people have well-known personalities that do not match at all their South Park versions. But if they even see this episode, a possible, but far from guaranteed, occurrence, it probably won't be an issue. This is a well known recurring gag from the series, South Park always wanting to be unpredictable and force new perspectives. Thus, it comes across as light-hearted, funny, and not mean-spirited at all.

     Things do take a turn for the dark when Randy's daughter, Shelley (also Stewart) goes on a date to see Wicked with a vegan boy, whose last name happens to be Feegan, whom she has bonded with. Randy panics, and must tell Sharon the secret of Broadway, as they rush to stop their young daughter from giving oral sex. This is a bit disturbing, made even more so when Randy meets an older gentleman and his very young granddaughter in the audience. Thankfully, South Park does not actually address kids giving hummers, but instead, with a dig at the failure of Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, disrupts the show. Shelley's guy's death is unfortunate, as it takes away possible character development, but not out of the realm for how South Park ties up loose ends.

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You're Welcome Will Ferrell

    Recently released on DVD is Will Ferrell's Broadway show, You're Welcome America A Final Night With George W. Bush.  With a runtime of just under an hour and a half, the HBO-produced movie gets a little boring after awhile.  Note: If you get the movie from Netflix, the runtime is listed as two hours.  This is (thankfully) wrong.  The entire show was amusing, but not once did it elicit an out loud laugh.  Not a single one.

     Will Ferrell played George W. Bush on Saturday Night Live and various online sites.  He did so successfully, and often with hilarious results.  The problem here is that the character is stretched far too long.  However, one would think that there would be some gems, but none emerge.  It is more or less a historical walk through of Bush's life, concentrating on the presidency, laced with inane tangents, some true, some less so.  There are actual quotes thrown in.  Sometimes a TRUE flashes on the screen behind him, unneccessarily.  The graphics behind the actor play like a power point presentation, mostly factual and supporting, not a joke.  The one notable exception is the picture of someone's penis, shown three times.  Don't know who's, and don't care to.  The show tries to break things up by having a Secret Service agent (played by Ferrell's brother) dance while Will changes costumes, but even that falls a little flat.

     If you liked the character on SNL, prepare to be disappointed.  Perhaps live, with the robust theater energy, and the novelty of a clever, witty idea, this played well.  Watched at home on the DVD player, it doesn't.  It wasn't terrible.  I sat through the entire thing.  There was just nothing about it that stands out, nor any examples I can point to to recommend the movie.

     As 'Bush' says at the end, "I know you're not going to thank me...", I assume Will Ferrell means as well.  The "You're welcome" is said to himself, certainly not from the viewer.