Template:Infobox South Park episode Smug Alert! is episode 1002 of South Park. It first aired on March 29,2006.
Plot
Template:Spoiler Kyle's father buys a new hybrid car, which makes him obsessed with the environment and getting smug; he begins to talk with his eyes closed all the time and "likes to smell his own farts," according to Randy, who is assumed to be speaking figuratively. When the people in town decide they don't like his smugness, Kyle's family decides to move. Before leaving, Kyle's dad says to Stan they can't live in South Park as long as the people don't support the environment; Stan, then, in a bid to get Kyle's family to move back, writes a song about the importance of hybrid cars, which gets on the radio and gets everyone to drive hybrids. They then decide, like Mr. Broflovski, that they are enlightened for their habits and will not associate with people who do not drive a hybrid. Afterwards, Stan meets Ranger McFriendly, protector of the environment, who quickly begins to cuss at him; for it turns out that though smog rates are down, people who drive hybrids create a toxic gas called "smug," which results in South Park having the second highest levels in the country, after San Francisco.
Kyle moves to San Francisco, and Kyle's father is glad to meet others like himself—people who, mid-conversation, will loudly fart, bend over and sniff with pleasure, then resume discussing their philosophies and congratulating themselves for being more progressive than the rest of the country. Kyle finds himself unable to fit in with the other kids, who explain that they spend their time taking drugs and drinking to help them to deal with their parents' "smugginess". After witnessing a brief scene in which his dad is revealed to be even more arrogant than before, Kyle and Ike accept acid from the kids (Kyle asks for "maybe just half a hit," while Ike asks for three.) Meanwhile, Cartman—who was joyous over Kyle leaving, throwing a going-away party to which Kyle wasn't invited—tries to fill the void by ripping on Butters, the new "Jew boy," but finds him too kind and not aggressive like Kyle.
A cloud of smug in South Park develops and begins to combine with the cloud of smug from San Francisco. In a series of scenes parodying the film The Perfect Storm, McFriendly then reveals that a cloud from George Clooney's Oscar acceptance speech — claiming that Hollywood was ahead of the curve on social issues — will soon drift into the center of the "super cell", combining to create the "perfect storm of self-satisfaction". San Francisco and South Park will be completely destroyed. Stan must help the town to eliminate hybrid cars; Cartman — desperate to get Kyle back so he can resume hating him — plans a daring mission to infiltrate San Francisco, capital of the hippie movement, and find and rescue his foe.
Cartman enters the city in an "anti-smug suit" (connected to a hose than spanned back to an air tank outside the city, managed by Butters), and finds the Broflovskis in their house, completely stoned on drugs/smug. Just as the storm hits, the scene fades out. Back in town, later, the storm is revealed to have destroyed thousands of homes, and San Francisco has disappeared up its own asshole. The Broflovskis reappear, explaining they were passed out and mysteriously woke up on a bus. The town discusses getting new cars but declares no hybrids. Kyle makes an empassioned speech that hybrids really are good and just asks that the people who drive them not be smug about it or act as if they are better than everybody else. The townspeople admit they are not ready to drive them without being smug, so they return to driving gas guzzlers. Cartman talks to Kyle, and they get into a fight; as Kyle storms away, Cartman expresses relief to have the status quo returned.
A running gag throughout the episode is that people who are being smug, including all hybrid car owners and all residents of San Francisco, speak with their eyes closed and enjoy the smell of their own farts.
Trivia
- Isaac Hayes is no longer credited. In the opening sequence, the likeness of Chef is now replaced with Darth Chef, who was "introduced" in the last episode.
- The most frequently seen hybrid in this episode is a newer Toyota Prius, called Pious, an obvious pun, in the episode. A Honda Insight is also seen, called a Hindsight.
- Though George Clooney and the South Park creators were once close—Clooney's promotion of the pre-South Park short "The Spirit of Christmas" played a key role in helping the series get off the ground; he also played Dr. Doctor in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, as well as Sparky in "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride"— Clooney's liberal views have caused Stone and Parker to mock him in recent years, as in Team America: World Police (although this was after Clooney had said that he would have been offended if he weren't made fun of in the film) as well as this episode.
- All the mutterings of the George Clooney smug are actual quotes from his acceptance speech, although it is Trey Parker saying them rather than actual audio footage of the speech. The full text of Clooney's speech is as follows: "Wow. Wow. All right, so I'm not winning director. [Clooney won Best Supporting Actor for Syriana.] It's the funny thing about winning an Academy Award, it will always be synonymous with your name from here on in. It will be Oscar winner, George Clooney. Sexiest Man Alive, 1997. Batman, died today in a freak accident at a -- Listen, I don't quite know how you compare art. You look at these performances this year, of these actors and unless we all did the same role, everybody put on a bat suit, and we'll all try that. Unless we all did the same role, I don't know how you compare it. They are stellar performances and wonderful work, and I'm honored, truly honored to be up here. And finally, I would say that, you know, we are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while. I think it's probably a good thing. We're the ones who talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. And we, you know, we bring up subjects. This Academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be a part of this Academy. Proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch. And I thank you so much for this."
- Kenny is nowhere to be found in this episode. In fact, the only proof given that Kenny's family was around at all was the tip of Stuart McCormick's hat showing up in the crowd scene at the episode's end. A possible explanation for this is that Kenny's family is too poor to afford a hybrid car. Fans have noticed that Kenny has, in fact, been missing from several recent episodes, such as "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" (coincidentally also mocking environmentalism), and in other episodes barely appears at all.
- The store that Gerald, Kyle, and Ike visit is True Value, coinciding with the earlier episode Something Wall-Mart This Way Comes where Mr. Garrison last mentions "Let's go shop at True Value" after burning down the rest of the town's stores.
- Ranger McFriendly may be a reference to Officer Friendly from Princess, a Flash cartoon Matt and Trey created.
- One of the shops in San Francisco is called Jen and Berry's, Frozen Yogurt and Ice Cream, which is an obvious play on Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and Frozen Yogurt. It is shown at the corner of Haight Street and Ashbury Street, where there is an actual Ben & Jerry's.
- The song that Stan writes to get people to drive hybrid cars, resembles The Youngbloods' hit song "Let's Get Together".
- In Kyle's San Francisco room there is a poster for 'MC Dreidel' a parody of Matisyahu.
- The hybrid dealership in South Park is Toyonda. A combination of the leading two hybrid producers, Toyota and Honda.
- Gerald's license plate says "1TMYMPG" – pronounced "Want my miles per gallon?".
- This episode reminds viewers that the fictional city of South Park is just south-west of Denver, Colorado, in the general area of the real-life South Park basin and Fairplay, Colorado.
- While Stan is writing his song, a poster of Mad Max from The Road Warrior can be seen on his wall. The Road Warrior is set in a chaotic, post-apocalyptic world experiencing a severe gasoline shortage. The movie's setting in the desert and over-the-top case chase was used in the next South Park episode, Cartoon Wars Part I.
- This is the second time Cartman attempts to replace Kyle, the first time was in Cripple Fight.
- From this episode forward Cartman has an Xbox 360 with a wired controller.
- This episode was parodied by the VW Passat TV commercial where drivers of flashy cars drove around with megaphones announcing the reasons for their vehicle choice. The closing shot shows the rear of a Passat with "Lowest Ego Emissions".