Holographic Michael Jackson featured in new South Park episode

HIStoric

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So I just finished watching the new South Park episode... and turns out Holographic Michael Jackson is actually a major part of the episode. I don't have any clips but I got some screenshots so here's basically what happens.

Early on in the episode, a concert is thrown in the city of Denver with many female musicians (Miley Cyrus, Iggy Azalea, Nicki Minaj and 'Lorde'), but it's also announced it's featuring a holographic performance by Michael Jackson. We see him come on when Iggy is performing, dancing to a tune similar to Billie Jean.

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For the record in the last shot, he isn't grinding up against Iggy, he's still standing to the side of her. 'Lorde' (who, to keep things simple, is really just the character Randy dressed up as her) then makes a comment about how rehashing dead people is so wrong.

A while later, 'Lorde' comes up on stage and performing, awkwardly knocking over a microphone and pulling out a few cables, which cause a technical mishap as the Holographic Michael Jackson comes on stage, yells "I'm free!" and jumps off, before running off into the crowd.
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He then runs through the foyer of the arena, escaping security guards (who grab him, but go right through him because he's a hologram) before rushing out into the free world.
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A while later, we cut to a bus that is travelling to South Park. The old guy asks MJ what he's upto in the mountains, to which MJ says he is going there to take care of some important business.
Old guy: "Ohh! Are you a fisherman?"
MJ: "Yes... I'm just a fisherman... I'm just gonna fish and hunt".
Old guy: "What do you prey upon"
MJ (freaking out): "NOBODY - THAT'S IGNORANT!"
It goes on for another 15 seconds, MJ stressing it's all 'allegedly' before saying he doesn't want to talk about the topic (nobody around them really cares). We then see the bus travel into South Park.
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We then cut to the lab where they made the holograms. A group of men are trying to decide what exactly to do about the escaped hologram. They decide to bring back 'Project Alpha' - the first ever hologram to ever premiere on stage... yep. In a parody of the Terminator, they bring back Holographic Tupac to hunt down Holographic Michael Jackson and contain/destroy him.
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It's one of many plots in the whole episode (that are merging towards the end) and it's going to be a two-parter so I'm not sure what Holographic Michael Jackson is trying to achieve. I don't think they will do something along the lines of MJ preying on a child or anything. In 2004 they did an episode based around him that strongly implied that they believed MJ was being framed for the allegations because he was an easy target so I don't think they'll resort to that... at least I hope not. It seems to be parodying the Terminator so it might be similar to that film or something.

Interested to see how it turns out though because I think the idea of a Holographic Tupac hunting down a Holographic Michael Jackson in a Terminator-like style is pretty funny.

PART 2 UPDATE:
Keep in mind, if you haven't watched either of these episodes it probably won't make a lot of sense as I leave out many details since I focus solely on MJ's involvement. If you like South Park's humour though, you should totally go watch it! So focusing on Michael Jackson, he is first seen when 'Lorde' (aka Randy) is at the Police Station, trying to report the Hollywood producers who hologram'd him.

An officer walks in and states they caught a black man sneaking around the old Jefferson house. The Chief then asks the officer if he shot and beat the black man (obvious reference to what's been going on in America). MJ is then brought is struggling and yelling "We have to stop them! HEE-HEE!", to which the surprised Chief goes "Oh my god! He's not BLACK!" (referencing the joke from the Jeffersons episode).
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A while later, we are back at the police station. Many of the officers are crowded around a desk, trying to figure out a way to profile him as a black man so they can beat and choke the hell out of him.

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Meanwhile, Randy talks to Michael Jackson and we find out that Michael Jackson intended to stop the Holiday Special that's going on (which is being run by the record label executives who hologram'd 'Lorde' against 'her' will. They're going to use a bunch of holograms of Elvis and Kurt Cobain etc and for it to make much more sense, just watch the actual two episodes). ANYHOW Randy and Michael agree to help each other stop it. Michael says "We have to reach the children, it's our only hope!" to which Randy replies "Then we'll have to do it together. I love children just as much as you do". "ALLEGEDLY!" Michael screams, "THAT WAS A CIVIL SUIT AND THERE WAS NO EVIDENCE!!"

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Some time later, we go back to the Police Station and the Police are starting to agree on how they should profile MJ. Down at the reception, a Terminator-esque theme plays as Holographic Tupac marches in and ignores the receptionist, proceeding up to the main office.

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"SIR! A black guy just walked into the police station!". The chief chuckles and edges him on, interpreting it as a joke. This carries on for a bit until Holographic Tupac suddenly walks up into the main office, to which the cops immediately open fire on him (and one even tries to choke him). Upon seeing him, Michael freaks out and tells Randy to run as they climb out a window and escape through the stairwell.

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We later see Randy, Sharon (his wife) and Michael run into their home. They check on the TV to see if the holiday special had started yet, which thankfully it hasn't. They decide to need to spread the word about the Holiday Special, so they agree to try and start a trend via Twitter. Next time we see MJ, he's on Twitter (haha) trying to spread the word as Randy gets a call from the Record Executive, (who hologram'd him earlier), saying he has his son and that he better co-operate.

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Randy runs down the stairs - only the open the door to Tupac!! He rushes back upstairs as the Police surround the house (cue more jokes about the American police being racist etc etc).
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A while later one of the cops announces to the rest of the Police that Tupac said he wasn't going to shoot him ("I ain't gonna kill you man, you're the King of Pop. Let's go cap that whitey producer"). Eventually, we see Michael Jackson sneak up from behind and cap the record executive who's responsible for starting all the holograms :p
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You can often see 'people' tweeting throughout the program, many of the usernames are MJ references too! I saw one called thillern1ght and another one mentioning Billie Jean.
Ahh I just love how absurd South Park gradually gets throughout it's episodes :hysterical:
 
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As a huge South Park fan I've never been able to work out how the writers feel about MJ. For, against or a combination of both...

Btw was South Park 'off' for a week? My Sky box is set to series record and last night it picked up an old episode in the slot where there's usually a new ep...
 
A world of Holograms. Will see part two tonight in between the football game.
 
Btw was South Park 'off' for a week? My Sky box is set to series record and last night it picked up an old episode in the slot where there's usually a new ep...

Yup it was! Last year they switched to doing 10 episodes in a row instead of doing 14 a year split into two parts. Of course since their schedule is absolute mayhem, Comedy Central have let them take 2 scheduled weeks off this season. First one was about a month ago and second one was last week.

First one surprised me but I knew of the second break about a week or two before it happened :p
 

When they start to bring back Holographic Tupac, you can hear a Terminator-esque theme song playing. So the basic plot of (at least the first 2, I haven't seen #3 or #4) is that a Terminator is sent back in time to hunt and destroy a specific target. Here we have a hologram being sent to go hunt down and destroy a specific target (MJ's hologram). Both Terminators are seen as widely invincible to us because they're so powerful, similar to how the holograms are (literally) untouchable by humans as, well, they're holograms :p

They've uploaded clips to the official website now so you can see the part I'm referring to here: http://southpark.cc.com/clips/gfcw55/godspeed-tupac :)
 
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I'm not sure what Holographic Michael Jackson is trying to achieve. I don't think they will do something along the lines of MJ preying on a child or anything. In 2004 they did an episode based around him that strongly implied that they believed MJ was being framed for the allegations because he was an easy target so I don't think they'll resort to that... at least I hope not

I hope not either but this is South Park after all
 
Yup it was! Last year they switched to doing 10 episodes in a row instead of doing 14 a year split into two parts. Of course since their schedule is absolute mayhem, Comedy Central have let them take 2 scheduled weeks off this season. First one was about a month ago and second one was last week.

First one surprised me but I knew of the second break about a week or two before it happened :p

Ah great, thanks for clearing that up!
 
As a huge South Park fan I've never been able to work out how the writers feel about MJ. For, against or a combination of both...

I don't think that Matt and Trey have a strong opinion either way.
 
Just saw the episode. Wish they would've kept it respectful this time around, instead of like the 2 older episodes about MJ.

Looks like they didn't, although it was as bad, but it's South Park.

Would've been nice if they just kept anything regarding "allegations" out of it.

Let's see what the next episode brings, as it continues on then. Sadly, I foresee Tupac "killing" MJ.
 
Just saw the episode. Wish they would've kept it respectful this time around, instead of like the 2 older episodes about MJ.

Looks like they didn't, although it was as bad, but it's South Park.

Would've been nice if they just kept anything regarding "allegations" out of it.

Let's see what the next episode brings, as it continues on then. Sadly, I foresee Tupac "killing" MJ.

Ehh, I feel the 2004 South Park episode was actually one of the better episodes of any show that featured Michael Jackson (from the 2000s onwards). I remember Family Guy had cutaways of MJ dancing in Captain EO, before jumping out of the screen and kidnapping a child. In that 2004 South Park episode, they did make fun of a few aspects, such as the plastic surgery and child-dangling incident but most of the episode was focusing on how the police had framed for a crime he didn't commit simply because he's a rich black man and an easy target.

I'm not saying that the episode was nice towards MJ (I mean, it is South Park - the show where basically everything is made fun of) but I think considering it was made during the height of the child molestation allegations and how easily they could've ripped MJ apart, it was actually surprising that they suggested he was being framed for the allegations.

I agree with you about the allegation jokes though. Apart from that scene on the bus, I'm glad most of the episode was just the usual "heehee, shamona!" caricature of MJ cos I don't mind shows parodying that. If anything I can find that stuff pretty funny.
 
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I just remembered the first time they parodied MJ though. All the way back in the first season (1997!) Chef becomes a zombie after being bitten by one, instantly donning a Thriller jacket as he dances to his own version of the song :hysterical:

 
When they start to bring back Holographic Tupac, you can hear a Terminator-esque theme song playing. So the basic plot of (at least the first 2, I haven't seen #3 or #4) is that a Terminator is sent back in time to hunt and destroy a specific target. Here we have a hologram being sent to go hunt down and destroy a specific target (MJ's hologram). Both Terminators are seen as widely invincible to us because they're so powerful, similar to how the holograms are (literally) untouchable by humans as, well, they're holograms :p

They've uploaded clips to the official website now so you can see the part I'm referring to here: http://southpark.cc.com/clips/gfcw55/godspeed-tupac :)

Thanks. Terminator Genisys will be awesome:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62E4FJTwSuc
 
Ehhh the 2009 one tbh. This latest one really wasn't that bad in all honesty, the vast majority of it was just playing on the "hee-hee! shamone!" caricature.

Yeah, other than the bus scene (which wasn't that bad for South Park), he's just dancing/"Shamone"-ing. They haven't really gotten into where his holograph is going after he escapes. I can't really tell what direction they're going to go with it.
 
I don't think that Matt and Trey have a strong opinion either way.

Well what I mean is, can the material in the show be viewed as positive or negative towards Michael?

HIStoric there saying that the 2004 episode suggested MJ was framed and I've watched it several times and I'm not absolutely sure it does.
 
HIStoric there saying that the 2004 episode suggested MJ was framed and I've watched it several times and I'm not absolutely sure it does.

Yeah, it does. Excerpts from the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jeffersons_(South_Park) (For those who don't watch the show, Mr. Jefferson is the name MJ goes under when he moves to South Park).

...Meanwhile at the Park County Police Station, Sgt. Harrison Yates gets a report about the Jefferson's that says they are wealthy and black, and the whole department sets off to frame him for a crime as they express their disdain for African Americans who are wealthier than they are. They spend that night planting cocaine and blood in Mr. Jefferson's home and wait for him to come home. When Mr. Jefferson returns with Blanket from Stan's house they see he really isn't black and they abort the operation, sick with themselves that they had almost put an innocent white man in jail.

...ater that midnight at Stan's house, he is woken by Mr. Jefferson dressed up as Peter Pan who wants to play. Cartman then comes through the window after Mr. Jefferson not wanting Stan to have Mr. Jefferson all to himself. Kyle then shows up at the door with Blanket who he found alone in his backyard. Mr Jefferson suggests a sleepover between the boys and even though they are reluctant they agree. (There is a short scene here where Stan looks over to MJ and Cartman, only to see them lean in and almost kiss, before suddenly waking up to see it was all a dream and that nothing happened). That next morning Stan's parents walk in to see Mr. Jefferson in Stan's bed and reprimand Mr. Jefferson, he offers Stan's parents $100 each to be quiet. Sharon forbids the boys to see Mr. Jefferson anymore; none of them have a problem with it except Cartman....

Mr. Jefferson refuses to let Blanket outside anymore because he thinks everyone is against them. Harrison Yates returns home planning on quitting the force, but his wife tells him 'framing wealthy black people is in his blood', and encourages him to stay on the force. Harrison agrees, and decides to check into the Mr. Jefferson case to see what went wrong. Harrison Yate [checks with the] Santa Barbara Police Department [about] Mr. Jefferson's former place of residence. The Police Department alert him that they framed a rich black man of molestation who didn't look black at all, and he ran away before the trial...

...Mr. Jefferson chases the other three outside where the police are waiting to arrest him for the molestation charges put in Santa Barbara. A crowd gathers around. Cartman then jumps to the defense of Mr. Jefferson, saying he is tired of all the 'lies' being spread about Mr. Jefferson. He adds that Mr. Jefferson may be different, but it was only because he had to work all the time when he was young and never had a childhood of his own, which was why he associated more with children. Kyle then explains to everyone that it might seem logical that the police really do spend all their time framing rich black people (the police look at each other nervously at this point) and that it might be OK if Mr Jefferson acts like a child because he never had a childhood. But he delivers the message that he has to grow up because he has a child of his own now. Mr. Jefferson then sees what he should do and decides to be more of a father to Blanket and give away their wealth to the needy, no longer leaving a reason for the police to arrest him since he is no longer rich, and saying that there was "no point in putting another poor black man in jail."
 
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Just saw the episode. Wish they would've kept it respectful this time around, instead of like the 2 older episodes about MJ.

Looks like they didn't, although it was as bad, but it's South Park.

Would've been nice if they just kept anything regarding "allegations" out of it.

Let's see what the next episode brings, as it continues on then. Sadly, I foresee Tupac "killing" MJ.

Yes they make fun of MJ's looks, surgery etc which is disrespectful but I guess it is normal for South Park. They mock every single person.

While I agree it would be nice to keep allegations out of it, at least they had hologram MJ say "allegedly" hence defend himself. Given how current tabloids don't even use "alleged" anymore in their reporting, South Park is actually being a lot more balanced. The 2004 episode in my opinion was pro-MJ in regards to the allegations. Given Mr.Jefferson was portrayed as innocent and cops framing him.

As for the next episode, I'm curious about where hologram MJ is going and what is his unfinished business. It would make or break the episode.
 
Big South Park fan, I don't mind the MJ stuff on South Park as he is not alone. On South Park they target everyone. Some of the first episode in 2004 was funny and they did imply MJ was framed.

I will check out the new one.
 
I think the main point they made in the 2004 episode was that just because MJ is ''weird'' it doesn't mean he's a child molester
 
This seems more like a commentary on the culture of cashing in on artists who have died, rather than an MJ jibe specifically.
 
Yeah, it does. Excerpts from the Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jeffersons_(South_Park) (For those who don't watch the show, Mr. Jefferson is the name MJ goes under when he moves to South Park).

...Meanwhile at the Park County Police Station, Sgt. Harrison Yates gets a report about the Jefferson's that says they are wealthy and black, and the whole department sets off to frame him for a crime as they express their disdain for African Americans who are wealthier than they are. They spend that night planting cocaine and blood in Mr. Jefferson's home and wait for him to come home. When Mr. Jefferson returns with Blanket from Stan's house they see he really isn't black and they abort the operation, sick with themselves that they had almost put an innocent white man in jail.

...ater that midnight at Stan's house, he is woken by Mr. Jefferson dressed up as Peter Pan who wants to play. Cartman then comes through the window after Mr. Jefferson not wanting Stan to have Mr. Jefferson all to himself. Kyle then shows up at the door with Blanket who he found alone in his backyard. Mr Jefferson suggests a sleepover between the boys and even though they are reluctant they agree. (There is a short scene here where Stan looks over to MJ and Cartman, only to see them lean in and almost kiss, before suddenly waking up to see it was all a dream and that nothing happened). That next morning Stan's parents walk in to see Mr. Jefferson in Stan's bed and reprimand Mr. Jefferson, he offers Stan's parents $100 each to be quiet. Sharon forbids the boys to see Mr. Jefferson anymore; none of them have a problem with it except Cartman....

Mr. Jefferson refuses to let Blanket outside anymore because he thinks everyone is against them. Harrison Yates returns home planning on quitting the force, but his wife tells him 'framing wealthy black people is in his blood', and encourages him to stay on the force. Harrison agrees, and decides to check into the Mr. Jefferson case to see what went wrong. Harrison Yate [checks with the] Santa Barbara Police Department [about] Mr. Jefferson's former place of residence. The Police Department alert him that they framed a rich black man of molestation who didn't look black at all, and he ran away before the trial...

...Mr. Jefferson chases the other three outside where the police are waiting to arrest him for the molestation charges put in Santa Barbara. A crowd gathers around. Cartman then jumps to the defense of Mr. Jefferson, saying he is tired of all the 'lies' being spread about Mr. Jefferson. He adds that Mr. Jefferson may be different, but it was only because he had to work all the time when he was young and never had a childhood of his own, which was why he associated more with children. Kyle then explains to everyone that it might seem logical that the police really do spend all their time framing rich black people (the police look at each other nervously at this point) and that it might be OK if Mr Jefferson acts like a child because he never had a childhood. But he delivers the message that he has to grow up because he has a child of his own now. Mr. Jefferson then sees what he should do and decides to be more of a father to Blanket and give away their wealth to the needy, no longer leaving a reason for the police to arrest him since he is no longer rich, and saying that there was "no point in putting another poor black man in jail."

I'm not saying you're wrong. If you take the episode very literally then yes of course thats the implication.

However at times it feels a bit tongue in cheek. Like when the cop comes home to his wife and is going on about framing innocent black men it almost feels as if the writers are suggesting that whole notion of that is ridiculous and extremely unlikely.

I've weighed it all up several times when watching and from my perspective it just isn't clear.
 
This seems more like a commentary on the culture of cashing in on artists who have died, rather than an MJ jibe specifically.
I have never watched South Park and glad I never became a fan, because it sounds like I would have stopped watching the show in 2004, like I did with L&O SVU and others.
But reading this, makes me think that he will probably go after all the people releasing his music after his death-the Estate, LA Reid, etc.
 
So they released a preview for this week's episode. Seems that the business MJ had to attend to was finally fulfilling his dream of playing Peter Pan in a play or something. Link: http://cart.mn/HppyHologrms_prev

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I have never watched South Park and glad I never became a fan, because it sounds like I would have stopped watching the show in 2004, like I did with L&O SVU and others.
But reading this, makes me think that he will probably go after all the people releasing his music after his death-the Estate, LA Reid, etc.

Yeah, the episode was also a commentary on that sort of stuff (I left it out though in my original post). To keep it simple, in the South Park universe, there's a joke that Lorde isn't really some 18 year old girl from New Zealand but instead the character Randy with a lot of processing on his voice. In the episode, he is about to 'resign' from the industry when his label's boss announces they don't even need him anymore - they now have a hologram of 'Lorde' instead (who walks into the room). Then you have the new preview of this week's episode that also mentioned holograms of Elvis Presley and Kurt Cobain so I can definitely see it going that way (in a more general sense, not focusing on just MJ).
 
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