"Crippled Summer" is the seventh episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series '' South Park'', and the 202nd overall episode of the series. It originally aired on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy program ...

in the United States on April 28, 2010. In the episode, the South Park children try to help

Towelie "Towelie" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of the American animated sitcom '' South Park'', and the 73rd episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 8, 2001. In the episode, the boy ...

overcome his drug addiction, while Nathan and his lackey Mimsy plot to destroy Jimmy during athletic competitions at a summer camp for disabled children. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator

Trey Parker Randolph Severn "Trey" Parker III (born October 19, 1969) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating ''South Park'' (since 1997) and ''The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Matt Stone. P ...

, and was rated

TV-MA The TV Parental Guidelines are a television content rating system in the United States that was first proposed on December 19, 1996, by the United States Congress, the television industry and the federal communication commission (FCC), and went ...

L in the United States. The story of Towelie's addiction is presented as a parody of the reality series '' Intervention''. Parker and fellow co-creator

Matt Stone Matthew Richard Stone (born May 26, 1971) is an American actor, animator, filmmaker, and composer. He is known for co-creating '' South Park'' (since 1997) and '' The Book of Mormon'' (2011) with his creative partner Trey Parker. Stone was inte ...

originally planned an ''Intervention'' parody around Towelie for the tenth season episode "

A Million Little Fibers "A Million Little Fibers" is the fifth episode in the tenth season of the American animated television series '' South Park''. The 144th episode of the series overall, it was first broadcast on Comedy Central in the United States on April 19, 2006 ...

", but those plans were eventually scrapped. Several of the disabled children in "Crippled Summer" are made to resemble characters from the ''

Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series '' Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation. ...

'' cartoon series, including

Elmer Fudd Elmer J.'' Hare Brush'' (1956) Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes''/''Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. He has one of the more disputed origins in the Warner Bros. cartoon panth ...

Beaky Buzzard Beaky Buzzard is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He is a young turkey vulture (sometimes called a "buzzard" in the United States) with black body feathers and a white ...

Sylvester the Cat Sylvester Pussycat, Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic tuxedo cat in the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. He ...

Pete Puma The ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of animated shorts released by Warner Bros. feature a range of characters which are listed and briefly detailed here. Major characters from the franchise include Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fud ...

, and

Porky Pig Porky Pig is an animated character in the Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' and '' Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many crit ...

, as well as non-Looney Tunes characters

Droopy Droopy is an animated character from the golden age of American animation. He is an anthropomorphic white Basset Hound with a droopy face; hence his name. He was created in 1943 by Tex Avery for theatrical cartoon shorts produced by the Metr ...

and

Fat Albert ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' is an American animated television series created, produced, and hosted (in live action bookends) by comedian Bill Cosby, who also lent his voice to a number of characters, including Fat Albert and himself. Fil ...

. "Crippled Summer" received positive reviews, though some commentators expressed disappointment that the episode did not respond to the controversies surrounding the show's

depictions of Muhammad The permissibility of depictions of Muhammad in Islam has been a contentious issue. Oral and written descriptions of Muhammad are readily accepted by all traditions of Islam, but there is disagreement about visual depictions. The Quran does not ...

in the previous episodes, "

200 __NOTOC__ Year 200 ( CC) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Severus and Victorinus (or, less frequently, year 953 ''Ab u ...

" and "

201 Year 201 ( CCI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Fabianus and Arrius (or, less frequently, year 954 ''Ab urbe condit ...

". According to

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, "Crippled Summer" was seen by 3.56 million viewers, making it the most watched cable show of the night, and outperforming even some prime time network shows that evening.

Plot

The drug addiction of

, a living and talking towel, is growing so overwhelming that the South Park boys make attempts to help him. Towelie's history is shown, using head interviews and on-screen captions (in a parody of ''Intervention''), starting with years of drug addiction to

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternativel ...

crystal meth Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamph ...

, heroin and crack. He previously had a girlfriend named Rebecca and conceived a child with her (a

washcloth {{Short pages monitor