Merry Christmas Charlie Manson!
Encyclopedia
"Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" is the sixteenth episode of the second season
South Park (season 2)
Season two of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on April 1, 1998. The second season concluded after 18 episodes on January 20, 1999...

 of the animated television series South Park
South Park
South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...

, and the 29th episode of the series overall. "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" originally aired in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 on December 9, 1998 on Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

. "Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" is also the second Christmas episode of the series.

Its title is a Peanuts
Peanuts
Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday American comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000, continuing in reruns afterward...

 joke, taking the typical naming format of Peanuts holiday specials and replacing "Charlie Brown" with "Charlie Manson". The words, "Merry Christmas, Charlie Brown!" were spoken in the Peanuts Christmas special, A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas
A Charlie Brown Christmas is the first prime-time animated TV special based upon the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. It was produced and directed by former Warner Bros. and UPA animator Bill Melendez, who also supplied the voice for the character of Snoopy...

.

Plot

Stan
Stan Marsh
Stanley Randall "Stan" Marsh is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by and loosely based on series co-creator Trey Parker. Stan is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Kyle Broflovski, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...

 asks his parents for permission to see Cartman's
Eric Cartman
Eric Theodore Cartman is a fictional character in the American animated television series South Park. One of four main characters, along with Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Kenny McCormick, he is generally referred to within the series by his last name...

 grandmother in Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

 for the holidays, but is denied, then sent to his room for refusing to eat dinner. Feeling disillusioned with the idea of family, he runs off to Cartman's house just in time to join the other boys. On the way to his Grandma's house, Cartman and his mother sing "Over the River and Through the Woods
Over the River and through the Woods
"Over the River and through the Woods" is a Thanksgiving song by Lydia Maria Child. Written originally as a poem, it appeared in her Flowers for Children, Volume 2, in 1844. The title of the poem is, "A Boy's Thanksgiving Day". It celebrates her childhood memories of visiting her Grandfather's House...

" repeatedly, driving the other boys crazy. When they cross the border into Nebraska, the scenery goes from green and snow to endless cornfields and grey skies (a sign reads "You are now in Nebraska, sorry"). They also see a sign for an appearance of Mr. Hankey in a mall
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...

 near where Cartman's grandmother lives. When they finally make it to the house, Cartman hopes to receive a cool present, instead he gets a Hawaiian shirt, prompting him to claim that "Grandma's gone senile, let's stick her in a home
Retirement home
A retirement home is a multi-residence housing facility intended for senior citizens. Typically each person or couple in the home has an apartment-style room or suite of rooms. Additional facilities are provided within the building, including facilities for meals, gathering, recreation, and some...

!". Cartman's relatives are there, all of whom share Cartman's mannerisms, which include yelling at their pet dog named 'Jimmy' who growls for some pot pie
Pot pie
A pot pie is a type of baked savory pie with a bottom and top completely encased by flaky crusts and baked inside a pie tin to support its shape....

. At dinner, they meet Cartman's Uncle Howard, live via satellite from the state prison. Later that night, the boys hear someone breaking into the house and discover that it is Uncle Howard and another inmate, Charlie Manson
Charles Manson
Charles Milles Manson is an American criminal who led what became known as the Manson Family, a quasi-commune that arose in California in the late 1960s. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit the Tate/LaBianca murders carried out by members of the group at his instruction...

.

The boys want to go to the mall to see Mr. Hankey, but no one in the family will take them. Cartman is asked to keep an eye on his cousin, Elvin. Looking for action, Manson offers to take the boys to the mall. At the "Mall of Nebraska" Kenny
Kenny McCormick
Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is one of the four central characters along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, and Eric Cartman. His oft-muffled and indiscernible speech—the result of his parka hood covering his...

 goes off with Manson to a secluded part of the mall and Cartman "disciplines" his cousin Elvin after he gets upset about finishing his Fudgesicle (Cartman hits him on the head and he goes into a concussion-like state, much to Cartman's shock after realizing what he had done). Meanwhile, Manson has become obsessed with holiday specials and takes time out to watch The Grinchie-poo. Kyle
Kyle Broflovski
Kyle Broflovski is a fictional character in the animated television series South Park. He is voiced by co-creator Matt Stone. Kyle is one of the show's four central characters, along with his friends Stan Marsh, Kenny McCormick, and Eric Cartman...

 and Stan meets a human-sized "Mr. Hankey", whom Kyle exposes as somebody in a Mr Hankey suit and a riot breaks out. The boys (and Manson) escape from the mall when the riot police recognize Manson, and they get into a televised high speed chase with the police.

Back at the Cartman household, everyone is watching Terrance and Phillip, and do not seem to care very much when Manson arrives and together with Uncle Howard proceeds to hold everyone hostage. Stan's parents arrive and express their disappointment (and anger) in him. Stan asks to make an escape with Uncle Howard and Manson. Uncle Howard says he can, but Manson talks to him about the meaning of family, which makes him change his mind. Kenny is shot dead by the police, but Manson and Uncle Howard surrender and sing a holiday-special style song. Stan's parents agree that they were unreasonable when denying him a Christmas with his friends, so they tell him to come back home for Christmas and that they will hold off punishing him until after Christmas. Later Manson is seen in jail reading to the other inmates. After being ignored by the prisoners for reading his new book, he places his book on the shelf with the others and goes to sleep.

Suddenly, Stan, Kyle, and all of the Cartmans appear to sing "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” is a Christmas carol that first appeared in 1739 in the collection Hymns and Sacred Poems, having been written by Charles Wesley. This is not the version widely known today. A sombre man, Wesley had requested and received slow and solemn music for his lyrics, not the...

" to Manson during the credits. Near the end of the song, Stan states "Dude, this is pretty fucked up right here."

External links

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