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"Cash for Gold" is the second episode of the sixteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 225th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 21, 2012. The episode centers around Stan's irritation with J&G Shopping Network and television home shopping networks in general, who prey upon the elderly and fleeces them of their money, as well as Cartman's new entrepreneurship inspired by that same idea.

The episode was written by series co-creator Trey Parker and is rated TV-MA L in the United States.

Plot

Stan Marsh's grandfather, Marvin Marsh, gives Stan a bejeweled bolo tie, saying that J&G Shopping Network, from which he bought it, claimed that its 14 carat gold and diamonds makes it worth $6,000. Stan's friends tease him for wearing such a tacky and unfashionable item, with Cartman calling it "fucking gay as fuck". Stan takes it to a Cash For Gold store where he is offered $15 for it. Other such merchants (including a Taco Bell) similarly offer him little or nothing for the item.

Cartman subsequently reveals to the boys that he has discovered the formula for making money out of gold, similar in intent to one of the main goals of alchemy. When Stan learns that Marvin is about to buy him another worthless item from J&G Shopping Network, Stan intervenes, telling him not to. Marvin, who suffers from Alzheimer's disease, is unable to remember that Stan's sister Shelly is now 13, and not an infant. He wistfully relates to Stan an oft-repeated anecdote of a Border Collie named Patches he once had, but laments that he can no longer remember what she looked like.

Cartman begins his own venture, the Old People's Shopping Network, which similarly exploits elderly customers. Stan calls J&G, and tells them that its exploitation of senior citizens is unjustifiable, and that the host can only redeem himself by committing suicide. He also excoriates cash-for-gold merchants for being part of this system, but the merchants attempt to shift blame to others in the system. Stan visits a factory in India and is surprised to run into Cartman, who is also at the factory to buy cheap jewelry directly from the source. The items are made in the factory and shipped to J&G, which sells them to the elderly, who in turn give them to relatives as gifts. The relatives sell the items to cash-for-gold stores, which then sell them to refineries that separate the worthless gems from the valuable metals, and the gems are shipped back to India to start the cycle again.

A worker in the factory gives Stan a picture frame as a gift. Stan puts a picture of Marvin and Patches in this frame and gives it to him. Marvin, who no longer remembers giving Stan the bolo tie, now remarks that it is "fucking gay as fuck", prompting Stan to tell him that he will not wear it anymore.

J&G becomes deluged with calls from the elderly now telling the host to kill himself, which he eventually does.

Cultural references

Stan's phone call to J&G, in which he angrily urges the host to kill himself, is similar to the "Marketing and Advertising" bit from comedian Bill Hicks' 1997 album Arizona Bay.

References

1. "Episode 1602 'Cash For Gold' Press Release". South Park Studios. March 19, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
2. Kleinman, Jacob (March 22, 2012). "South Park New Episode Exposes 'Cash For Gold' Conspiracy". International Business Times. Retrieved March 28, 2012.
3. "'South Park': Cartman Opens His Own Cash 4 Gold Business". TV Replay. The Huffington Post. March 22, 2012. Retrieved March 24, 2012.
4. Nicholson, Max (March 22, 2012). "South Park: "Cash For Gold" Review. The dawn of tacky keepsakes is upon us.". IGN. Retrieved April 06, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

External links

• "Cash For Gold" at South Park Studios.

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Category

• South Park (season 16) episodes
• 2012 television episodes