Tom's Rhinoplasty (episode)
Tom's Rhinoplasty
| Season | s01 |
| Episode | e11 |
| Written By | Trey Parker |
| Production Code | 0111 |
| Original Air Date | 1998-02-11 |
Episode Chronology
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Story
If you live in Latin America, you cannot see this episode in his original language
Mr. Garrison deserts the class for a visit to Tom's Rhinoplasty. All the boys compete for the attention of their beautiful substitute teacher Ms. Ellen.
Description
When Mr. Garrison decides to get surgery, he's replaced by a substitute named Ms. Ellen. Stan and the other boys in class fall in love, to Wendy's horror. Later she warns Ms. Ellen not to get between her and Stan.
The next day, Ms. Ellen announces that whoever gets the highest score on the next spelling test wins dinner with her. Chef tells the boys that he has learned their teacher is a lesbian. They have no idea what a lesbian is, but if Ms. Ellen likes them then that' is what they want to be. Told by Cartman's mom that lesbians like to "lick carpet," they spend hours on the floor doing so.
Wendy tries to win Stan back by dressing like the bad-girl version of Sandy from "Grease". But her plan derails when Ms. Ellen shows up wearing leather pants. Even worse, Mr. Garrison returns to announce that he quits teaching to "hang out and screw hot chicks." It seems his surgery -- a nose job from Tom's Rhinosplasty -- worked out better than expected. When the bandages come off, he looks exactly like David Hasselhoff.
Wendy's day couldn't get worse. Ms. Ellen will replace Mr. Garrison as their home teacher. Stan got the high score on the spelling test and gets to have dinner with her. Also, Principal Victoria tells Wendy that her grandma just died.
However, things turn around. Mr. Garrison tires of being pursued by horny women and has his surgery reversed. Then a group of Iraqi soldiers burst into the school and grab Ms. Ellen, whom they say is a war criminal. She's taken back to Iraq, packed into a missile and shot into the sun.
Wendy monitors her teacher's execution with great satisfaction during a pool party at her house. The attendees are a suspicious mix of the women who drove Mr. Garrison to reverse his operation, and the Iraqis responsible for capturing and killing Ms. Ellen.
What I Learned Today
"Don't fuck with Wendy Testaburger!"
Memorable Quotes
- "Damn man, somebody's got to pull that monkey out of Wendy's ass." (Eric Cartman)
- "You know what they say about women with one arm longer than the other..." (Chef)
- "...Yeah, they totally kick ass at spanking!" (Kenny McCormick in reply to Chef)
- "I can't wait for Ms. Ellen to see what a raging lesbian I am!" (Stan Marsh)
- "Oh thank you very much, Kenny. This is a very scrumptious looking sausage." (Miss Ellen)
- "When someone gets as old as you, do they have to wear Depends undergarments?" (Wendy Testaburger)
- "Wow! That's a pretty good nose job!" (Mr. Garrison)
- "I've been licking this carpet for three hours and I still don't feel like a lesbian!" (Eric Cartman)
- "Hoh boy, I'm gonna need some more smack." (Mr. Garrison)
- "Are we making love now?" (Stan Marsh, having dinner with Miss Ellen)
Original Songs
Chef croons Ms. Ellen with his funky jam "No Substitute." It secures him a dinner date, but no love making.
Characters
Character Debuts
Body Count
Locations
Behind The Scenes
"Tom's Rhinoplasty" shows significant improvement in animation compared to previous episodes, as Trey stated the technology was not available before. For example, the episode uses a real photographic image of a person's head on a character's body for the first time. Comedy Central was required to pay royalties to the photographer of the picture used for David Hasselhoff's head. Other improvements in animation include the first perspective angle of a street and computer simulated rain.
Where Did The Idea Come From
This episode is the show's first and only Valentine's Day episode, since it came out three days before Valentine's Day and involved semi-romantic plot lines.
Trey asked for Natasha Henstridge to make a guest appearance on South Park solely because he found her attractive in 1995 science horror film Species. He subsequently wrote the episode centered around her character.
Pop Culture References
Shout Outs
Guest star Natasha Henstridge who voices Ms. Ellen is referred to simply as "The Chick from Species" during the opening credits.
David Hasselhoff, famous star of television shows Baywatch and Knight Rider. After Mr. Garrison's plastic surgery, pictures of Hasselhoff's actual face are used. This is a parody of Knight Rider, when the character Michael Knight (initially played by Larry Anderson) was shot in the face and given plastic surgery so David Hasselhoff could take over the role.
The Andy Gibb song "Shadow Dancing" plays whenever Mr. Garrison with David Hasselhoff's face appears.
When trying to gauge Ms. Ellen's looks, Chef uses a scale of female celebrities: "Is she like Vanessa Williams beautiful or Toni Braxton beautiful? Or Pamela Anderson beautiful? Or is she Erin Gray in the second season of Buck Rodgers beautiful?"
When Ms. Ellen asks where Mr. Garrison left off, Cartman responds, "We were learning about how Yasmine Bleeth was going out with that Richard Greico guy that used to be on 21 Jump Street, but then he got his own show for just a while." Actor Richard Grieco and actress Yasmine Bleeth had an on and off relationship during the late '90s until their split in 2000.
The song during Wendy's sad montage is "I Remember When We Fell in Love" sung by actress Courtney Ford.
Pwn'd
When Wendy shows up for class in her raunchy makeup and outfit, Cartman says "Wow, Wendy looks just like that chick from Grease, Elton John." Cartman mistakes Sandy, played by Olivia Newton-John, with singer Elton John.
After his nose job, Mr. Garrison vomits when the 1997 movie Contact is mentioned. He slams the movie for having such a bad ending, which is an opinion also shared by Trey and Matt.
In their desperate attempt to become lesbians, Stan buys an Indigo Girls CD which they listen to while licking the carpet. The folk rock inspired song "I Love Domestic Chores" was written and sung by Toddy Walters.
Bonus Factoids
Pointless Observations
- Stan, counting flashbacks, pukes 19 times in this episode.
- This is the first of three episodes in which Mr. Garrison gets major cosmetic surgery. The other two episodes are "Mr. Garrison's Fancy New Vagina" and "Eek, A Penis!".
- In an effort to meet Ms. Ellen, Chef comes into the classroom saying Kyle left his detergent on the playground. He gives Kyle a box of "Whitey's Washing Detergent".
- Bebe goes to Wendy's house to give her a make-over. This is the first time they're seen hanging out together outside of school and the first hint that they're friends.
- When the Iraqis arrive, one of the alien "drawings" on the back wall has blinking eyes.
- Wendy becomes the first female character to drop an F-bomb on the show.