YMMV / South Park S1E4 "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride"

• Base-Breaking Character: Big Gay Al for some, even though this has largely being phased out after Tweek and Craig became the new gay icons of the show. On the one hand, he's praised as one of the few morally good characters in the show, and a good role model for Stan. On the other, his stereotypical design and demeanor can put off some viewers. On the plus side, the fact that most adult characters in the first season (namely Jimbo, Barbrady, and the Mayor) are stereotypes as well can make Big Gay Al's over the top characterization easier to swallow for some.
• Crosses the Line Twice: Jimbo being scared of getting the entire town to bet on Stan for the football match and trying to cheat to ensure he beats the spread is quite a common sitcom plot. Him and Ned strapping a bomb to the opposing team's mascot on the hopes that it will blow them all up to ensure his team's victory isn't. Jimbo quipping "Man, I love football" after the fact like it's all part of the game only makes it better.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • Sparky the gay dog, whose howls and barks are voiced by George Clooney. Many fans wished to see him in a lead role again and got upset when Help, My Teenager Hates Me! implied he was no longer with Stan.
  • John Stamos' fictional brother Richard Stamos is also quite popular, and John Stamos loved his inclusion in the episode.
• Fridge Brilliance:
  • Stan's admiration for Big Gay Al makes more sense when you remember how hard he tried and failed to impress his uncle in the previous episode, meaning that an adult role model (even a complete stranger) being encouraging and telling him that he's proud of him is very meaningful for the boy.
  • The Middle Park Cowboys' hatred for South Park makes sense when we hear Jimbo quip that he and Ned frequently kidnap their mascot (and in this episode, they blow it up) during Homecoming.
• Fair for Its Day: Some of the stereotyping and jokes about rape can make the episode's moral about accepting gay people come across as hypocritical when viewed today. In the 90s, however, the message that homosexuality is perfectly natural and that gay people shouldn't be treated differently because of their orientation was still a badly needed one.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Brian Boitano is inexplicably at Big Gay Al’s sanctuary. The real-life Boitano came out as gay in 2013.
  • Other than Stan ^note who still has some Ho Yay moments with Kyle and was referred to by the creator as the most likely to be gay all of the main characters who had a problem with Sparky being gay in this episode were later implied or revealed to be gay/bisexual themselves: Mr. Garrison came out in Fourth Grade, Cartman had a brief struggle with his sexual identity in both Cartman Sucks and Tweek X Craig, Bill and Fosse were implied to be in a relationship through some dialogue in South Park: The Fractured but Whole ^note  When interacted with, Fosse says to the player that they're not his type, and Bill then adds that Fosse is "taken", as they both laugh, and Jimbo (who, while not explicitly against Sparky's sexuality, gave a Flat "What" at Stan's Gay Aesop) wasn't bleeped out when saying "fag" in It Hits The Fan after Garrison had finished explaining that only gay people were allowed to say the word without being censored.
• Jerkass Woobie:
  • After listening to Garrison's homophobic advice, Stan spends the majority of the episode trying to get his dog to stop being gay. However, he never meant to cause him any harm, and acted out of genuine care for the dog without realizing how much he was driving him away. When Sparky leaves him as a result, he's left dispirited and quits Homecoming to go look for him. Despite his flaws, anyone who's lost a pet can empathise with his predicament.
  • Jimbo spends most of the episode being threatened by the town for affirming that his nephew will surely beat the spread against Middle Park, causing everyone to bet on him. When Stan doesn't show up for reasons outside of Jimbo's control, he gets the short end of the stick. The "Jerkass" part comes from his contingency plan to bomb the opposing team to ensure South Park's victory, which kills the Middle Park mascot Enrique.
• Unintentional Period Piece: Trey Parker noted that doing a Very Special Episode which directly addresses homosexuality was seen as daring in the '90s, but in The New '10s and '20s it seems like something you'd find in a Disney film.
• Values Dissonance: A sympathetic portrayal of Stan's homosexual dog Sparky actually shows him as a rapist who forces himself on straight male dogs. They even whimper and cry as they run away. Given the many stereotypes and fears of homosexual men that view them as insatiable sex monsters who will rape any man or child that gets in their way, this intended Very Special Episode can actually feel like part of the problem now, due to more awareness of the oppression of gay men. If one considers that animals have a different concept of sexuality than humans do and can't really ask for consent, this can sadly be interpreted as Truth in Television.
• The Woobie:
  • Poor Sparky when Stan drives him away with his complaints after failing to make him go straight, leaving him feeling unwanted. He eventually gets a happy ending when Stan has a Heel Realization and reunites with him.
  • Also Rex when he essentially gets raped by Sparky just for following his master to football practice. His owner Clyde could also count, as he's clearly traumatized by the sight.
  • Enrique, the Middle Park Mascot, gets blown up by Jimbo's bomb. Poor horse.
  • Pip reaches a new low when he's forced to play football without a helmet just because Chef doesn't like him. We see his noggin get cracked once onscreen and then he's plowed by several Middle Park Cowboy players. What's worse, Chef was supposed to be the Friend to All Children.
• Woolseyism: The Brazillian Portuguese dub changes Richard Stamos into Enrique Iglesias.

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