South Park takes on Baby Yoda to skewer Disney+ and cable TV

Two fan favourites collide as a South Park character's back story meets the meme of the moment.

South Park's 'Baby Yoda'

South Park's 'Baby Yoda' Source: Comedy Central

What can you expect from season 23’s penultimate episode of South Park, ‘Basic Cable’? Poking fun, of course. At Disney+, its viral meme star Baby Yoda, and at itself.

Fan favourite character Scott Malkinson (not Australia’s Prime Minister), known until now for his diabetes and lisp, needs access to Disney’s new streaming service to impress a girl called Sophie, who has diabetes too. This episode forms a Scott Malkinson spin-off show.
Scott Malkinson finally gets his own show.
Scott Malkinson finally gets his own show. Source: Comedy Central
But Scott’s father is a cable TV guy who refuses to sign up for any such cable-threatening streaming service. Those shows lack original ideas, he says, and just make up stories within stories (which is of course exactly what South Park is doing these days).

How then will Scott and Sophie be able to watch The Mandalorian? And why, when they finally gain access, is Baby Yoda the last thing they will see?
The 'real' Baby Yoda.
The 'real' Baby Yoda. Source: Disney+
Were you in America, you might not find out until the cable repair person shows up, which can reputedly take quite a while and is the butt of more jokes in this episode.

Thus ends “The Scott Malkinson Show”, which is then offered for sale to networks via a US phone number. Were you to call this number, you’d hear sales pitches for all the other shows-within-a-show featured on South Park this season, offered for hundreds of millions of dollars apiece.

The recorded voice on the line is co-creator Trey Parker himself. For you see, HBO Max recently paid Hulu a reported $500 million for the rights to stream South Park itself.

South Park 'Basic Cable' premiered on on SBS VICELAND and is now available to stream .

Share
Published 9 December 2019 2:31pm
Updated 10 December 2019 11:39am

Share this with family and friends


SBS News in your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS On Demand
SBS News
SBS Audio

Listen to our podcasts
Join host Yumi Stynes for Seen, a new SBS podcast about cultural creatives who have risen to excellence despite a role-model vacuum.
The day's top stories from SBS News.
Ease into the English language and Australian culture. We make learning English convenient, fun and practical.
Get the latest with our sbs podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch SBS On Demand
Over 11,000 hours

Over 11,000 hours

News, drama, documentaries, SBS Originals and more - free.