Preview
Mecha-Streisand
Aired: February 18, 1998
The run of episodes I’ve never seen continues as I have no recollection of this episode. It’s truly amazing to me that there are this many episodes in season one that I am not familiar with. As I mentioned in the beginning, we didn’t have fancy recording tools and it was hard to find South Park on tv when you were 12 and your parents tried to “protect you”. There is always a chance I’ve seen this one and don’t remember it, but it’s not likely with this one.
My first thought is I’m going to be mocking Matt for not knowing who Barbra Streisand is. If I’m being completely honest I’m not sure who she is either. A popular singer of some kind I think… She’s not Barbara Walters and that’s all that matters.
As I dig into the history of the episode I find that it was seen by 5.4 million viewers according to Nielsen, which made it the highest total for South park at that time. A few articles I read show that Streisand was very critical of her portrayal in the episode. (I’ll share her blow-hardy quote on the pod). Several other celebrities make an appearance in this episode, like Robert Smith who voiced himself. He chose to do it because his nieces and nephews liked the show. This episode led me down an intricate internet rabbit hole. I can’t wait to watch the episode.
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Character Score (Out of 3)
Stan – Composite: 1.3
Drew – 0.9: Stan was less than Stan
Matt – 1.7: Stan was Stan
Cartman – Composite: 2.75
Drew – 2.6: Cartman’s quest of the triangle led to some hilarious moments
Matt – 2.9: Slave songs, Ro-Sham-Bo, Constant narrative of things being ‘his’
Kyle – Composite: 1.95
Drew – 2.2: Kyle was on the other side of the triangle battle and had some good lines
Matt – 1.7: Fight between Cartman about who the triangle actually belong to. Other than that, he was just there.
Kenny – Composite: 1.25
Drew – 1.5: It’s all about the marble sack here
Matt – 1: Sack of marbles joke with snowman…Death: When running away from Mecha-Streisand, Kenny goes to the playground and hits the tetherball. The rope proceeds to wrap him up and he is choked to death by the tetherball rope.
Secondary Characters (Out of 10) Composite – 8.85
Drew – 9.2: Several celebrities, but my favorite was the Japanese singer
Matt – 8.5: Chef, Barbara Streisand, Mr. Garrison, Officer Barbrady, Leonard Maltin, Uncle Jimbo, Ned, Robert Smith, Sidney Poitier
Total Character Score (Out of 22)
Drew – 16.4
Matt – 15.8
Composite Character Score – 16.1
Episode Score
Relevance (5) – Composite: 1.65
Drew – 2.3: The use of celebrities, even though outdated and D listers, was still relevant.
Matt – 1: Celebrities
Irreverence (5) – Composite: 2.3
Drew – 3.6: The scene with Cartman singing the slave songs carried the irreverence score here.
Matt – 1: Mocking Streisand
Laugh Score (5) – Composite: 3.8
Drew – 3.7: Several good laughs throughout
Matt – 3.9: Ro-Sham-Bo, Cartman, Barbara Streisand
Personal (7) – Composite: 5.55
Drew – 5.6: Not a lot of memories to call back to, but a very good episode. The alternate meaning to Ro-Sham-Bo was created here.
Matt – 5.5: The overall storyline and laughable moments made this episode enjoyable
SP Factor (1) – Composite: 1
Drew – 1
Matt – 1
Total Episode Score (Out of 23)
Drew – 16.2
Matt – 12.4
Composite Episode Score – 14.3
Favorite Quote
Drew – “Well, you ain’t Fiona Apple and if you ain’t Fiona Apple I don’t give a rats ass!” – Officer Barbrady,
Matt – “No, not when money is involved, dumbass”
Favorite Moment
Drew – Quadriplegic swiss man on a horse
Matt – When Robert Smith wants his walkie talkie back but Cartman won’t give it back so he Ro-Sham-Bos Cartman for it
Total Score / Rank
Drew – 32.6
Matt – 28.2
Composite 30.4 – Current Rank: 9/12
Matt’s Review
This episode begins with the boys on a field trip digging up old arrowheads. Cartman ends up finding a triangle and throws it aside. Kyle picks it up and it shines so Cartman wants it back, but Kyle won’t give it back. This is a ‘special’ triangle so Kyle and Cartman are interviewed on the news. Barbara Streisand sees this on the news and wants the triangle as it is the triangle of zinthar. Leonard Maltin also sees this and goes to South Park to help save the boys and the triangle. Cartman eventually gets the triangle from Kyle. Barbara Streisand ends up conning them into going to her condo to get the triangle from the boys. She gets the triangle and turns into Mecha-Streisand. She proceeds to start to destroy South Park. Leonard Maltin, Sidney Poitier and Robert Smith then come to fight Mecha-Streisand. Mecha-Streisand is eventually defeated. The episode then ends with Mecha-Ike walking across the screen.
The Spirit of South Park 