View source for Cartman Gets an Anal Probe

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2012}}
{{Infobox television episode
| series         = [[South Park]]
| image          = South park cartman gets an anal probe episode.jpg
| image_alt      = A crudely animated cartoon image of an obese child with a red jacket, brown pants, black shoes and a blue hat. Flames appear from the rear of his body, as well as a tall vertically shaped machine with a single eye and two antennae. Standing next to him is another boy wearing an orange jacket, green pants, brown shoes, a green hat and gloves.
| caption        = [[Eric Cartman|Cartman]] flatulates fire as the anal probe emerges. The episode garnered some controversy for being "self-conscious and self-congratulatory in its vulgarity", with flatulence jokes like the one pictured here made examples.<ref name="'South Park' Falls Flatulent"/>
| season         = 1
| episode        = 1
| director       = [[Trey Parker]]
| writer         = * Trey Parker
* [[Matt Stone]]
| music          = "[[I Love to Singa]]" by Norman Spencer
| production     = 101
| airdate        = {{Start date|1997|08|13}}
| next           = [[Volcano (South Park)|Volcano]]
| season_article = South Park season 1
| episode_list   = List of South Park episodes
}}
"'''Cartman Gets an Anal Probe'''" is the [[series premiere]] of the American animated television series ''[[South Park]]''. It originally aired on [[Comedy Central]] in the United States on August 13, 1997. The episode introduces child protagonists [[Eric Cartman]], [[Kyle Broflovski]], [[Stan Marsh|Stanley "Stan" Marsh]] and [[Kenny McCormick|Kenneth "Kenny" McCormick]], who attempt to rescue Kyle's adopted brother [[Ike Broflovski|Ike]] from being [[Alien abduction|abducted by aliens]].

Part of a reaction to the [[culture war]]s of the 1990s in the United States, ''South Park'' is deliberately offensive. Much of the show's humor, and of "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", arises from the juxtaposition of the seeming innocence of childhood and the violent, crude behavior exhibited by the main characters. At the time of the writing of the episode, ''South Park'' creators [[Trey Parker]] and [[Matt Stone]] did not yet have a series contract with Comedy Central. Short on money, they animated the episode using a [[Cutout animation|paper-cutout]] [[stop motion|stop-motion]] technique, similar to [[The Spirit of Christmas (short films)|the short films]] that were the precursors to the series. "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" remains the only ''South Park'' episode animated largely without the use of computer technology.

Despite ''South Park'' eventually rising to immense popularity and acclaim, initial reviews of the pilot were generally negative; critics singled out the gratuitous obscenity of the show for particular scorn. Regarding the amount of obscenity in the episode, Parker later commented that they felt "pressure" to live up to the earlier shorts which first made the duo popular. Critics also compared ''South Park'' unfavorably with what they felt were more complex, nuanced animated shows, such as ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and ''[[Beavis and Butt-Head]]''.

== Plot ==
As [[Kyle Broflovski]], [[Stan Marsh]], [[Kenny McCormick]], and [[Eric Cartman]] wait for the school bus, Kyle's brother, [[List of South Park families#Ike Broflovski|Ike]], tries to follow Kyle to school. Kyle tells Ike he cannot come to school with him. Cartman tells the boys about a dream he had the previous night about being [[Alien abduction|abducted by aliens]]. The others try to convince him the events did happen and that the aliens are called "visitors", but Cartman refuses to believe them. [[Chef (South Park)|Chef]] pulls up in his car and asks if the boys saw the alien spaceship the previous evening, confirming Cartman's "dream", and relays stories of alien [[Alien implants|anal probes]] (which Cartman denies he experienced throughout the episode). After Chef leaves, the school bus picks up the boys, and (looking out the back window) they watch in horror as the visitors abduct Ike. Kyle spends the rest of the episode attempting to rescue him.

At school, Cartman begins [[Fart lighting|farting fire]], and Kyle unsuccessfully tries to convince their teacher, [[Mr. Garrison]], to excuse him from class to find his brother. When Chef learns that Kyle's brother was abducted and sees a machine emerge from Cartman's anus, he helps the boys escape from school by pulling the fire alarm. Once outside, Cartman reiterates that his abduction was only a dream, when suddenly he is hit by a beam that inexplicably causes him to begin singing and dancing to "[[I Love to Singa]]". Soon afterward, a spaceship appears. Kyle throws a stone and the spaceship fires back, propelling Kenny into the road. As he gets back up, he is trampled over by a herd of cows, but survives. A police car then runs Kenny over and kills him.

Stan and Kyle meet [[Wendy Testaburger]] at Stark's Pond, where she suggests using the machine lodged inside Cartman to contact the visitors. To lure them back, the children tie Cartman to a tree and, the next time he flatulates, a massive [[satellite dish]] emerges from his anus. The alien spaceship arrives and Ike jumps to safety once Kyle asks him to do an impression of "[[David Caruso]]'s career". In the meantime, the visitors communicate with the cows in the area, having found them to be the most intelligent species on the planet. Cartman is again abducted by the aliens, but is returned to the bus stop the following day with [[pinkeye]].

== Background ==
The origins of ''South Park'' date back to 1992, when [[Trey Parker]] and [[Matt Stone]], then students at the [[University of Colorado Boulder|University of Colorado]], created a Christmas-related animated short commonly known as "[[The Spirit of Christmas (short film)#1992 film (Jesus vs. Frosty)|Jesus vs. Frosty]]". The low-budget, crudely made animation featured prototypes for the main characters of ''South Park''. [[Fox Broadcasting Company]] executive [[Brian Graden]] saw the film, and in 1995, he commissioned Parker and Stone to create a second short that he could send to his friends as a video Christmas card. Titled ''The Spirit of Christmas'' (also known as "[[The Spirit of Christmas (short film)#1995 film (Jesus vs. Santa)|Jesus vs. Santa]]"), the short more closely resembled the style of the later series.<ref name="circumstance">{{Cite news |first=Kinney |last=Littlefield |title=Comedy Central scores with poop and circumstance |newspaper=[[The Orange County Register]] |location=Santa Ana, California |date=January 28, 1998 |page=F04}}</ref> The video was popular and widely shared, both by duplication and over the Internet.

After the shorts began to generate interest for a possible television series, Fox hired Parker and Stone to develop a concept based on the shorts for the network. The duo conceived the series set in the [[Colorado]] town of South Park and revolving around the child characters Stan, Kyle, Kenny, and Cartman as main protagonists, and included a talking stool character named Mr. Hankey as one of the minor supporting characters. The inclusion of Mr. Hankey led to disputes between Fox and Parker and Stone, and further disagreements caused the duo to part ways with the network. Later, [[Comedy Central]] expressed interests in the series, and Parker and Stone created a pilot episode for the network.<ref name="102Commentary">{{Cite AV media | people = Parker, Trey; Stone, Matt | at = Audio commentary for "[[Weight Gain 4000]]" | title = South Park – The Complete First Season: Episode Commentary | year = 2002 | medium = CD | publisher = Comedy Central}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://glamourfame.com/fox-refused-south-park-1997-because-one-character|title=Fox Refused to Take 'South Park' in 1997 Because of One Character, and Something Else as well|work=Glamour Fame|date=September 18, 2019|access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2480397/that-time-fox-refused-to-pick-up-south-park-because-of-mr-hankey|title=That Time Fox Refused To Pick Up South Park Because Of Mr. Hankey|last=Ashton|first=Will|work=CinemaBlend|date=September 17, 2019|access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.eonline.com/news/36709/d-oh-fox-turned-down-south-park|title=D'oh! Fox Turned Down "South Park"?|last=Pride|first=Ray|work=[[E! News]]|date=July 14, 1998|access-date=October 7, 2019}}</ref>

''South Park'' was part of a reaction to the United States [[culture war]]s of the 1980s and 1990s, in which issues such as [[Murphy Brown]]'s motherhood, [[Teletubbies#Tinky Winky controversy|Tinky Winky's sexuality]], and the [[Simpson family|Simpsons]]' family values were extensively debated. The culture wars, and [[political correctness]] in particular, were driven by the belief that [[relativism]] was becoming more relevant to daily life, and thus what were perceived as "traditional" and reliable values were losing their place in American society. ''South Park'', one scholar explains, "made a name for itself as rude, crude, vulgar, offensive, and potentially dangerous" within this debate about values. Its critics argued that Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Kenny were poor role models for children while its supporters celebrated the show's defense of free speech.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Groening |first=Stephen |chapter=Chapter 6: Cynicism and Other Postideological Half Measures in ''South Park'' |title=Taking ''South Park'' Seriously |editor-last=Weinstock |editor-first=Jeffrey Andrew |location=Buffalo, New York |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2008 |page=113 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AJbNJm2W1UgC&pg=PA113 |isbn=978-0-7914-7565-2}}</ref>

== Production ==
{{see also|South Park season 1#Development|l1=Development of South Park season 1}}
[[File:Trey Parker Matt Stone 2007.jpg|thumb|240px|[[Trey Parker]] (left) and [[Matt Stone]] used [[cutout animation|cut-paper]] [[stop motion|stop-motion]] animation over a three-month period to create "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"|alt=Two men sitting on chairs wearing jeans and hoodies.]]

The pilot episode was written by creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the latter of whom served as director;<ref name="Far-out"/> it was made on a budget of $300,000.<ref name="Far-out">{{Cite news |first=Kinney |last=Littlefield |title=South Park is a Far-out Place to Play |work=AAP Newsfeed |publisher=[[LexisNexis]] |date=February 1, 1998}} {{subscription required}}</ref> Similarly to Parker and Stone's Christmas shorts, the original pilot was animated entirely with traditional [[cutout animation|cut-paper]] [[stop motion|stop-motion]] animation techniques.<ref name="Commentary">{{Cite AV media | people = Parker, Trey; Stone, Matt | at = Audio commentary for "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" | title = South Park – The Complete First Season: Episode Commentary | year = 2002 | medium = CD | publisher = Comedy Central}}</ref> This laborious process involved creating hundreds of [[construction paper]] cutouts—including individual mouth shapes and many of the characters in several different sizes—and photographing every [[film frame|frame]] of the show with an overhead camera, to the dialogue that had been recorded earlier.<ref name="Commentary"/><ref name="unairedpilot_dvd_cover">Back cover. {{Cite video |title=South Park – The Original Unaired Pilot |year=2003 |medium=DVD |publisher=Warner Home Video}} (Included with purchase of the following at [[Best Buy]], USA: {{Cite video |title=South Park – The Complete Second Season |year=2003 |medium=DVD |publisher=Paramount Home Entertainment}})</ref> Assistants helped with the cutting and pasting of the cutouts, while the animation was primarily done by Parker, Stone and [[animation director]] [[Eric Stough]].<ref name="Commentary"/> The episode took about three months to complete, with the animation done in a small room at Celluloid Studios in [[Denver]], Colorado, during the summer of 1996.<ref name="Commentary"/><ref name="unairedpilot_dvd_cover"/> Additional animation techniques involved creating the starry night sky by putting holes into a black posterboard and illuminating it from behind,<ref name="Commentary"/> and having the pooling of Kenny's blood simulated by drawing an initial dot with a red marker pen, and drawing more to it with every frame.<ref name="ascrappy">{{Cite web |url=http://www.creativeplanetnetwork.com/news/news-articles/crappy-possible-method-behind-madness-south-park/382927 |title='As Crappy As Possible': The Method Behind the Madness of South Park |date=May 1, 1998 |first=Matt |last=Cheplic |work=Millimeter |access-date=January 29, 2012}}</ref> The characters who are not speaking rarely move, which was done to save time in the animation process.<ref name="Commentary"/>

The finished pilot was 28 minutes long, which was too long to air, as Parker and Stone did not realize that more time should be allowed for television commercials during the half-hour spot reserved for an episode on Comedy Central.<ref name="Commentary"/> In order to shorten the episode to 22 minutes, the creators cut out about ten minutes' worth of material and added back another three minutes in order to tie up the changed storyline.<ref name="unairedpilot_dvd_cover"/> For example, in the original pilot, Cartman flatulates fire after some older kids feed him hot [[tamale]]s, while in the shortened version, he does so because of the alien probe implanted inside him.<ref name="Commentary"/> Other scenes focused more heavily on the character [[List of students at South Park Elementary#Pip Pirrup|Pip]];<ref name="Commentary"/> the scene in the pilot where he is introduced was later reused for the series' fifth episode "[[An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig]]", in its original cutout animation form.<ref name="105Commentary">{{Cite AV media | people = Parker, Trey; Stone, Matt | at = Audio commentary for "[[An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig]]" | title = South Park – The Complete First Season: Episode Commentary | year = 2002 | medium = CD | publisher = Comedy Central}}</ref> The storyline additions were created with the use of computer animation, and all subsequent episodes of the series have been computer-animated.<ref name="Commentary"/> While the creators' aim was for the computer animation to visually simulate the cardboard cut-out animation, the techniques were not perfected until later in the series, and as a result, the two styles of animation are easily distinguishable in the pilot.<ref name="Commentary"/><ref name="unairedpilot_dvd_cover"/> When the episode was re-rendered in HD in 2009 along with all the other episodes made at that point, the computer animated segments were updated to resemble more closely to the original cut-out animation, and are harder to distinguish.<ref>https://web.archive.org/web/20150402144620/http://www.highdefdiscnews.com/previous-seasons-of-the-hit-series-south-park-are-being-re-rendered-in-full-1080p-hi-def/</ref>

The idea for the town of South Park came from the real [[South Park (Park County, Colorado)|Colorado basin of the same name]], where the creators said that folklore and news reports originated about "[[UFO]] sightings, and [[Cattle mutilation#Aliens|cattle mutilations]], and [[Bigfoot]] sightings".<ref name="pennington">{{Cite news |title=A cartoon about kids that isn't for them |first=Gail |last=Pennington |date=August 13, 1997 |newspaper=[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]] |location=St. Louis, Missouri |page=6E}}</ref> Parker and Stone's original intentions were to have the alien presence feature more frequently in the plots of subsequent episodes, but eventually they decided against this, as they did not want the show to look like a parody of the popular television series ''[[The X-Files]]''.<ref name="Commentary"/> However, the crew started hiding aliens in the background in many ''South Park'' episodes as [[Easter egg (media)|Easter eggs]] for fans,<ref name="hiddenaliens_s12">{{Cite web|url=http://www.southparkstudios.com/news/357349/find-the-aliens-in-season-12 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130202181245/http://www.southparkstudios.com/news/357349/find-the-aliens-in-season-12 |url-status=dead |archive-date=February 2, 2013 |title=News: Find the Aliens in Season 12 |date=May 28, 2008 |publisher=South Park Studios |access-date=February 7, 2012 }}</ref> a tradition that goes back to their first major collaboration, the 1993 [[independent film]] ''[[Cannibal! The Musical]]''.<ref name="unaired_commentary_act1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/240347/south-park-unaired-pilot-with-commentary-act-1 |title=Video Clips: South Park: Unaired Pilot with Commentary – Act 1 |publisher=South Park Studios |first1=Eric |last1=Stough |authorlink1=Eric Stough |first2=Chris |last2=Brion |year=2009 |access-date=February 7, 2012 }}{{dead link|date=November 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref name="cannibalcarrots">"Did You Notice?" section, "Visitors in Cannibal!" link In: {{Cite web |url=http://www.cannibalthemusical.net/carrots.shtml |title=Carrots & Peas |publisher=Cannibal! The Musical – The Official Website |access-date=February 7, 2012}}</ref>

Regarding the language in the episode, Parker has said that they "felt the pressure to live up to ''Spirit of Christmas''", which contains a lot of obscenities, and as a result, they "tried to push things&nbsp;... maybe further than we should".<ref name="Deggans">{{cite news |first=Eric |last=Deggans |title=A stroll in the park with a demented muse |newspaper=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |date=August 13, 1997 |page=1.D}}</ref> In particular, Parker said that they felt the need "to put in ''dildo'' and every word we can get away with."<ref name="RS708">{{Cite journal |journal=[[Rolling Stone (magazine)|Rolling Stone]] |issue=708 |date=February 19, 1998 |pages=32–37, 61 |title=South Park's Evil Geniuses and the Triumph of No-Brow Culture |first=David |last=Wild}}</ref> In contrast, they allowed subsequent episodes to "be more natural",<ref name="RS708"/> saying that those episodes are "more about bizarre happenings and making fun of things that are taboo<ref name="pennington"/> [...] without just throwing a bunch of dirty words in there."<ref name="Deggans"/>

"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" received poor results from test audiences, and Comedy Central executives were uncertain whether to order additional episodes of the show.<ref name="102Commentary"/> However, as the two original Christmas shorts continued to produce Internet buzz, the network paid Parker and Stone to write one more episode. In writing "[[Weight Gain 4000]]", the duo sought to give the network an idea of how each episode could differ from the others. The network liked the script and agreed to commit to a series when Parker and Stone said they would not write another individual episode until the network signed off on a season of at least six episodes.<ref name="102Commentary"/>

== Themes ==
{{Quote box
 | quote  = "You can’t just say, “Hey, fuck you;” ’cause I would just end every scene with Cartman going, "Fuck you, I’m going home," and it would make me laugh, but after a while, it would get old."
 | source = —[[Matt Stone]] on the language in the show<ref>{{Cite web |last=Semel |first=Paul |date=2014-10-22 |title=Vintage Interview: Matt Stone of South Park from 1997 ... . |url=https://paulsemel.com/vintage-interview-matt-stone-south-park-1997/ |access-date=2023-02-23 |website=paulsemel.com |language=en-US}}</ref>
 | width = 25em
 | align = right
}}
[[File:CartmanAnalProbeSinga.webm|thumb|Cartman, hit by a beam from the spaceship, sings "[[I Love to Singa]]". Cut-paper stop-motion animation is conservatively used: the non-speaking figures do not move.]]
Describing the general tone of the show, Teri Fitsell of ''[[The New Zealand Herald]]'' explains that "South Park is a vicious social satire that works by spotlighting not the immorality of these kids but their amorality, and contrasting it with the conniving hypocrisy of the adults who surround them."<ref>Teri Fitsell, "Not in front of the children&nbsp;...", ''[[The New Zealand Herald]]'' (July 8, 1999). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> Often compared to ''[[The Simpsons]]'' and ''[[King of the Hill]]'', ''South Park'', according to Tom Lappin of ''[[Scotland on Sunday]]'', "has a truly malevolent streak that sets it apart" from these shows; he cites the repeated death of Kenny as an example.<ref>Tom Lappin, "Shock value", ''[[Scotland on Sunday]]'' (March 22, 1998). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref>

The humor of the show comes from the "disparity" between the "cute" appearance of the characters and their "crude" behavior.<ref>Rick Martin, [https://www.newsweek.com/peanuts-gone-wrong-174300 "'Peanuts' Gone Wrong"], ''[[Newsweek]]'' (July 21, 1997). Retrieved February 21, 2022.</ref><ref>Brian Lowry, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-aug-13-ca-21873-story.html "Out of the mouths of babes&nbsp;..."], ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' (August 13, 1997). Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> However, Parker and Stone said in an early interview that the show's language is realistic. "There are so many shows where little kids are good and sweet, and it's just not real&nbsp;... Don't people remember what they were like in third grade? We were little bastards."<ref name="Owen"/> Frederic Biddle of ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' notes how the show "constantly plays on its grade-school aesthetic for shock value, with great success", arguing that at its height, it is "more a profane '[[Peanuts]]' than a downsized '[[Beavis and Butt-Head]].'" He points, for example, to Kenny, who symbolically represents the voiceless underclass, which is eliminated in each episode.<ref>Frederic M. Biddle, "'South Park' wickedly makes the grade", ''[[The Boston Globe]]'' (August 13, 1997). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> Claire Bickley of the ''[[Toronto Sun]]'' explains that "The show captures that mix of innocence and viciousness that can co-exist in kids that age", that "the boys are fascinated by bodily functions", and that they "mimic adult behavior and language". For example, Kyle instructs Stan and Wendy to "make sweet love down by the fire", a phrase he learns from Chef.<ref name="Bickley">Claire Bickley, "Charlie Brown they ain't", ''[[Toronto Sun]]'' (September 25, 1997). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> In a light-hearted study of the humor of flatulence, Jim Dawson explains how the rise of adult animation in the 1990s allowed television to indulge in such humor with ''[[The Ren & Stimpy Show]]'', ''The Simpsons'', and ''Beavis and Butt-Head''. Beginning with "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", ''South Park'' builds on this tradition.<ref>Jim Dawson, ''Who Cut the Cheese? A Cultural History of the Fart'' (Berkeley: Ten Speed Press, 1999), 129–30.</ref>

The episode employs what literary theorist [[Mikhail Bakhtin]] calls the [[carnivalesque]]. As Ethan Thompson explains in his article, "Good Demo, Bad Taste: ''South Park'' as Carnivalesque Satire", the style consists of four crucial elements: humor, bodily excess, linguistic games that challenge official discourse, and the inversion of social structures. Cartman's body—his obesity and his inability to control his farting—is supposed to exemplify the [[Grotesque body|grotesque]]. The boys swear throughout the episode, using words and phrases such as "fat ass" and "dildo", challenging the boundaries of appropriate language. Finally, the social structure of the town is inverted, as the episode focuses on the knowledge that the four boys have of the aliens as opposed to the ignorant and incompetent adults. Moreover, the aliens perceive the cows as more intelligent than the humans, inverting the species order.<ref name="Thompson">Ethan Thompson, "Good Demo, Bad Taste: ''South Park'' as Carnivalesque Satire". ''Satire TV: Politics and Comedy in the Post-Network Era''. Eds. Jonathan Gray, Jeffrey P. Jones, and Ethan Thompson. (New York: New York University Press, 2009), 221–22. {{ISBN|978-0-8147-3199-4}}.</ref>

''South Park'' tends to employ large-scale musical numbers in its episodes, often parodying 1930s cartoons. For example, Cartman sings part of "[[I Love to Singa]]", from the cartoon of the same name, when he is struck by a beam from the alien ship.<ref>Daniel Goldmark, ''Tunes for 'toons:music and the Hollywood cartoon'' (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005), 162.</ref>

== Broadcast and reception ==
The episode was broadcast for the first time at 10&nbsp;pm EDT in the United States on August 13, 1997 on Comedy Central.<ref name="Owen">Rob Owen, "'South Park' is Sure to Make Parents Cringe", ''[[Times Union (Albany)|Times Union]]'' (August 12, 1997). Access World News {{subscription required}}. Retrieved May 4, 2009.</ref> ''South Park'' was originally broadcast during prime time after ''[[Seinfeld]]'' on Canada's [[Global TV]], with objectionable material cut from the show.<ref name="AP"/> The "dildo" jokes were removed from the pilot as well as two scenes in which Kyle kicks his baby brother, Ike.<ref name="Bickley"/> After complaints from viewers, the series was moved to midnight on October 17, 1997 and the deleted material was restored.<ref name="AP">[[Associated Press]], "Midnight slot for adult cartoon show", ''[[The Gazette (Montreal)|The Gazette]]'' (October 10, 1997). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> Almost a year after its original air date, the episode was broadcast for the first time in Britain (outside of satellite television) on July 10, 1998 on [[Channel 4]]. A station representative said "It's for the audience coming back from the pub with a curry."<ref>"Cult Cartoon hits Screens", ''[[Birmingham Evening Mail]]'' (July 10, 1998). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref>

"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" initially earned a [[Nielsen ratings|Nielsen rating]] of 1.3, translating to 980,000 viewers, which is considered high for a [[Cable television in the United States|cable program]] in the United States.<ref>Toni Johnson-Woods, ''Blame Canada!: South Park and Popular Culture'' (New York: Continuum International, 2007), 6–8. {{ISBN|0-8264-1730-2}}.</ref> In April 2007, ''[[The New Zealand Herald]]'' called the first episode "a huge success";<ref>Staff, "Controversial cartoon still on top", ''[[The New Zealand Herald]]'' (April 3, 2007). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> however, reviews at the time of the episode's broadcast were generally negative, most focusing on the low, obscene comedy. Bruce Fretts of ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]'' thought poorly of the writing and characters, stating that "If only the kids' jokes were as fresh as their mouths" and "It might help if the South Park kids had personalities, but they're as one-dimensional as the show's cut-and-paste animation".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Fretts |first1=Bruce |title=South Park |url=http://ew.com/article/1997/08/15/south-park-4/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |access-date=February 16, 2022 |date=August 15, 1997}}</ref> Tim Goodman of ''[[The San Francisco Examiner]]'' acknowledged that many viewers will find ''South Park'' "vile, rude, sick, potentially dangerous, childish and mean-spirited". He argued that viewers "have to come into 'South Park' with a bent for irony, sarcasm, anger and an understanding that cardboard cut-out animation of foul-mouthed third-graders is a tragically underused comic premise."<ref>{{cite web |last1=GOODMAN |first1=TIM |title=South Park': Comedy you can swear by |url=https://www.sfgate.com/style/article/South-Park-Comedy-you-can-swear-by-3105145.php |website=San Francisco Examiner |access-date=February 16, 2022 |date=August 11, 1997}}</ref>

Calling the series "sophomoric, gross, and unfunny", Hal Boedeker of the ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]'' believed that this episode "makes such a bad impression that it's hard to get on the show's strange wavelength."<ref>Hal Boedeker, [https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19970813&slug=2554482 "Comedy Central's 'South Park' Series Takes Adult-Aimed Humor A Bit Too Far"], ''[[Orlando Sentinel]]'' (August 13, 1997). Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> Similarly, Miles Beller of ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' called it "a witless offering that wants to score as it seeks to be pointedly outrageous and aggressively offensive but clocks in as merely dumb."<ref>Miles Beller, [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/south-park-first-episode-thrs-816315/ "‘South Park’ First Episode: THR’s 1997 Review"]. ''[[The Hollywood Reporter]]'' (August 19, 2015). Retrieved May 25, 2021.</ref> Ann Hodges of the ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'' considered the show "made by and for childish grown-ups" and for "adults who enjoy kid shows".<ref>Ann Hodges, [http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/archive.mpl?id=1997_1430172 "'South Park' for adults who haven't grown up"], ''[[Houston Chronicle]]'' (August 13, 1997). Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> Seeing the show as the inheritor of ''The Simpsons'' and ''Beavis and Butt-Head'', [[Ginia Bellafante]] of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' noted its failure to cohere and considered the show "devoid of subtext".<ref>Gina Bellafante, [https://web.archive.org/web/20080408122403/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,986869,00.html "The Next Generation"], ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' (August 18, 1997). Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> Caryn James of ''[[The New York Times]]'' commented that the series "succeeds best in small touches" but "seems to have a future".<ref>James Caryn, [https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/13/arts/cartoons-about-children-feature-grown-up-jokes.html "Cartoons About Children Feature Grown-Up Jokes"], ''[[The New York Times]]'' (August 13, 1997). Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> In a generally negative review of the first three episodes of the series, [[Tom Shales]] of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote that "Most of the alleged humor on the premiere is self-conscious and self-congratulatory in its vulgarity: flatulence jokes, repeated use of the word 'dildo' (in the literal as well as pejorative sense) and a general air of malicious unpleasantness."<ref name="'South Park' Falls Flatulent">Tom Shales, "'South Park' Falls Flatulent", ''[[The Washington Post]]'' (August 13, 1997). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref> In one of the few generally positive reviews, Eric Mink of the ''[[New York Daily News|Daily News]]'' praised the ''South Park'' universe and the "distinct, interesting characters" within it. He singled out Cartman, calling him "the most vibrant of the bunch", and describing him as "a bitter old man living in an 8-year-old's body".<ref>Eric Mink, "'Toon's Gross Encounters are Hilarious TV", ''[[Daily News (New York)|Daily News]]'' (August 13, 1997). [[LexisNexis]] {{subscription required}}. Retrieved April 30, 2009.</ref>

==Home media==
"Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" was first released on video on May 5, 1998, as part of the three-volume [[VHS]] set, which included humorous introductions to each show by Parker and Stone.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Comedy Central's South Park – Three Collectible Videos Available For The First Time With Made-For-Video Footage Featuring Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone|work=[[Business Wire]]|date=March 26, 1998|location=[[Burbank, California]]}}</ref> The episode, along with the other twelve from the first season, was also included in the [[DVD-Video|DVD]] release ''South Park: The Complete First Season'', which was released on November 12, 2002.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lawson |first=Terry |title=4-disc "Rings" could take up a whole weekend |work=[[Detroit Free Press]] |date=November 12, 2002 |location=[[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]]}}</ref> Parker and Stone recorded commentary tracks for each episode, but they were not included with the DVDs due to "standards" issues with some of the statements; Parker and Stone refused to allow the tracks to be edited and censored, so they were released in a CD completely separate from the DVDs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Owen |first=Rob |title="South Park" warped and worthy |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=November 22, 2002 |location=[[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] |page=39}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Pratt |first=Doug |title= Doug Pratt's DVD: Movies, Television, Music, Art, Adult, and More! |year=2005 |publisher=UNET 2 Corporation |isbn= 1-932916-01-6 |page=1123}}</ref> Like some episodes of ''South Park'', "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" is available to watch for free on the show's website, SouthParkStudios.com.<ref name="watch">{{Cite web|url=http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s01e01-cartman-gets-an-anal-probe |publisher=South Park Studios |title=Full Episode Player: Cartman Gets an Anal Probe |access-date=February 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120211152047/http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s01e01-cartman-gets-an-anal-probe |archive-date=February 11, 2012 }}</ref> The HD print of this episode retains the original 4:3 aspect ratio instead of "re-rendering" it in 16:9 widescreen.

The original, unaired version of the pilot had seen only limited release. It was released on a DVD in 2003, which was made available by pre-ordering "South Park: The Complete Second Season" through [[Best Buy]] in the United States. The back cover of this release features a description of the unaired pilot by ''South Park'' animation director [[Eric Stough]].<ref name="unaired_dvd_info">{{Cite web |url=http://tomsdvds.com/south-park-the-original-unaired-pilot/ |title=South Park: The Original Unaired Pilot |publisher=tomsdvds.com |access-date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171007222130/http://tomsdvds.com/south-park-the-original-unaired-pilot/ |archive-date=October 7, 2017 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref> In 2009, the unaired pilot was made available for free online viewing for a limited time of 30 days at the show's official website. During this time, the site also featured a version of the pilot with [[audio commentary]] by Eric Stough and South Park Studios creative director Chris Brion.<ref name="sps_unaired_cc">{{Cite web |url=http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/2009/08/13/south-park-studios-unveils-unaired-south-park-pilot/ |title=South Park Studios Unveils Unaired South Park Pilot |publisher=Comedy Central Insider |date=August 13, 2009 |first=Matt |last=Tobey |access-date=February 3, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311012211/http://ccinsider.comedycentral.com/2009/08/13/south-park-studios-unveils-unaired-south-park-pilot/ |archive-date=March 11, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The unaired pilot has also been shown publicly at certain venues, such as The US Comedy Arts Festival (now called [[The Comedy Festival]]) in [[Aspen, Colorado]], in 1998,<ref name="comedyarts">{{Cite conference |url=http://www.comedycentral.com/aspen/chat_southpark.shtml |title=''South Park'' Comes Home |date=March 7, 1998 |conference=[[The Comedy Festival|The US Comedy Arts Festival]] |location=Aspen, Colorado |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010429065549/http://www.comedycentral.com/aspen/chat_southpark.shtml|archive-date=April 29, 2001 |access-date=February 3, 2012}}</ref> and at [[San Diego Comic-Con|Comic-Con]] in San Diego in 2011 as part of the "Year of the Fan" 15th-anniversary promotion of ''South Park''.<ref name="comiccon_showing">{{Cite web|url=http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/yotf/#post_392878 |title=Year of the Fan: Last Day for The Ultimate Fan Experience! |date=July 23, 2011 |publisher=South Park Studios |access-date=February 3, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120125090207/http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/yotf |archive-date=January 25, 2012 |df=mdy }}</ref>

== See also ==
* "[[Cancelled (South Park)|Cancelled]]", an episode in the seventh season relating back to this episode

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{wikiquote|South Park#Cartman Gets an Anal Probe|Cartman Gets an Anal Probe}}
* [https://www.southparkstudios.com/episodes/940f8z/south-park-cartman-gets-an-anal-probe-season-1-ep-1 "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe"] Full episode at South Park Studios
* {{IMDb episode|0394893}}

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