page_title: Scott Tenorman Must Die
section_title: Production and broadcast
hierarchical_section_title: Scott Tenorman Must Die / Production and broadcast
caption_attribution_description: Radiohead (left to right): Thom Yorke, Jonny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien and Philip Selway
context_page_description: "Scott Tenorman Must Die" is the fourth episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 69th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on July 11, 2001. In the episode, 9th-grader Scott Tenorman makes Cartman believe that buying pubic hair from him will make Cartman reach puberty. Realizing that he had been tricked, an angry Cartman plots revenge on Scott.
  South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone point to this episode as a milestone in the series. The episode introduced significant changes in the characterization of Cartman, setting the standard for his psychopathic antics in the following seasons; and it also prompted the creators to only focus on one plot within an episode, as opposed to the show's earlier episodes, which involved several loosely related subplots. "Scott Tenorman Must Die" was written by Parker, and directed by animation director Eric Stough. English rock band Radiohead guest star in the episode as themselves.
context_section_description: According to South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, "Scott Tenorman Must Die" represented significant shifts both in the writing of the show, and the characterization of Eric Cartman. Although originally just an annoying, spoiled child, Cartman got somewhat meaner over the course of the show's previous episodes. However, with "Scott Tenorman Must Die," he became "the most evil kid in the world," and got progressively darker throughout the series' run. The creators debated whether it was okay to have Cartman kill Scott's parents and feed them to him, as it was a "crazy [thing] to do with a kid," and would be setting a new bar for the series and the character. Eventually, after having debated the issue at length, the writers decided to go ahead with the idea. However, they found it very important to make sure that Cartman kills Scott's parents indirectly, without having to "pull the trigger himself."
  Parker and Stone had also cited the episode as a milestone in the writing of South Park, as the first episode to only have a single plot, without another subplot (that is, a B story or even a C story) to support the episode. The creators could only come up with the cat and mouse situation between Cartman and Tenorman, which they had described as reminiscent of the relationships in classic cartoons such as Tom and Jerry and Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. The creators feared that not having a subplot would negatively affect the episode, but upon finishing, they realized that a single, strong plot worked well. Since then, many episodes have contained just one plotline, or two strongly related stories.
  "Scott Tenorman Must Die" was written by Trey Parker, and directed by South Park animation director Eric Stough. Whereas most episodes of South Park are created within a single week, writing on this episode began in the middle of May 2001, more than a month before the start of the season on June 20, and the episode was assigned a production code number of 501 (meaning the 1st episode of the 5th season). The early start was because the creators sometimes try to have one episode "in the bank" — meaning that they have "at least half-start[ed]" animating it. This way they can take off a few days during the two-month-long, demanding run, and then go back and finish work on the banked show.
  The episode's first draft was written during the time when Parker and Stone were still finishing editing the last episode of their other TV show, 2001's That's My Bush! In its first draft, the episode's title was "Scott Tenorall Must Die," but Parker decided to change the character's name afterwards, as he thought that Tenorman sounded funnier. By the end of May, several drafts of the episode had been completed, and animation production had started. By early June, writing on episode 502 (which became "It Hits the Fan") had started, and the creators decided to make that the season premiere. Before the season started, "Scott Tenorman Must Die" was pushed back as the fourth episode of the run.
  The episode eventually aired on July 11, 2001 on Comedy Central in the United States, after "It Hits the Fan," "Cripple Fight" and "Super Best Friends." The original broadcast of the show did not have a visible ghost of Kenny, when he laughed himself to death. This was added by the episode's rerun on the following Saturday. Minor modifications like this occasionally happen on South Park, given the rush the creators are in when delivering the show on the day of its broadcast.
  The script of the episode reveals some minor differences from the finished episode. After the long "mad scientist" scene of Cartman designing the plans for his revenge, it was supposed to be revealed that whatever he was drawing so intently was "only a stupid crayon drawing of a pony." In the finished episode, Cartman's drawing is not revealed; however, the pony drawing is featured earlier in the episode, during Cartman's briefing to the children. In the scene where Scott Tenorman burns the money in front of Cartman, the script direction said that Cartman should look like William Walla
caption: Members of the English rock band Radiohead appear in the episode, and provide the voiceovers for their characters.
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