The Jeffersons (South Park)

"The Jeffersons" is the sixth episode in the eighth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 117th episode of the series overall, it was originally broadcast on Comedy Central in the United States on April 21, 2004.

Plot

Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny notice that someone new has moved into the Donovans' former residence. A little boy named Blanket tells them they moved to South Park to escape city life. They then realize the house is filled with toys and games, and the backyard is a funfair. They meet Blanket's father Mr. Jefferson, a wealthy, eccentric, effeminate, pale-skinned man-child (obviously Michael Jackson wearing a fake moustache, though everyone remains oblivious and it's never explicitly mentioned).

Kyle begins to notice Mr. Jefferson is neglecting his own son. Stan tells his parents about the Jeffersons and Sharon decides to invite them over to a dinner party they are having. The adults try to talk with Mr. Jefferson later that night at the dinner but he is more shy around adults than children. Cartman becomes jealous that they are having Mr. Jefferson over without him.

Later that night at Stan's house, Stan 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. 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. Meanwhile at the Park County Police Station, Harrison Yates gets a report about the Jeffersons 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, pubic hair, and blood in Mr. Jefferson's home and wait for him to come home. When Mr. Jefferson returns with Blanket from Stan's house, the officers see he isn't really black and they abort the operation, sick with themselves that they had almost put an innocent white man in jail.

Mr. Jefferson refuses to let Blanket outside anymore because he thinks everyone is against them. Stan and Kyle start to fear for the safety of Blanket after seeing Mr. Jefferson dangle him from the balcony of his house. They decide to rescue him from the house by replacing him with Kenny (who is uncharacteristically shown speaking clearly, without his hooded parka) in Blanket's bed.

Harrison Yates returns home planning on quitting the force, but his wife tells him that "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.

Meanwhile, Mr. Jefferson, desperately trying to stop his face from falling apart from years of plastic surgery, calls his plastic surgeon in California to see if he can fly out and put his face back together. At the same time, Harrison Yate is calling the Santa Barbara Police Department, Mr. Jefferson's former place of residence. They 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. Stan and Kyle try to smuggle Blanket out of the house but are confronted by a horribly disfigured Mr. Jefferson who wants them to play. They run to Blanket's room and Mr. Jefferson, upon seeing Kenny dressed up like Blanket, throws him in the air playfully. However, Kenny is thrown too high and is killed when his head smashes through the ceiling. Stan and Kyle scream out their usual lines, which alerts Mr. Jefferson to their presence. 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 proper childhood of his own, which was why he associated more with children. However, Kyle then yells at Cartman that even if all of the accusations about Mr. Jefferson aren't true and the police really do go around framing rich black men, 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".

Reception

Maxim magazine states Mr. Jefferson is "a Michael Jackson-like freak",^[1] and The National Board of Review's John Gallagher calls this episode "a howlingly funny assault on Michael Jackson".^[2]

References

External links

• The Jeffersons Full episode at South Park Studios
• The Jeffersons Episode guide at South Park Studios