South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone care deeply about emotion in their shows, Bill Hader told the crowd during the induction speech for the duo at the Television Academy Hall of Fame. They care so deeply that for South Park’s 2009 “Fishsticks” episode, “They want you to feel how badly Kanye West wanted to fuck that fish,” Hader said.
At the Thursday event, Hader recalled how the notorious “Fishsticks” episode, which, after its release, West angrily rapped about, came together, and it all began with watching salmon trying to get it on. Stream the whole speech below.
Hader recollected back to 2008 when he was invited by Parker and Stone to Seattle for a South Park writers’ retreat. While there, Parker really wanted to go to a viewing area where people can see various species of salmon swimming upstream to mate. Watching the salmon swim by gave Stone an idea.
Related Video
“’Imagine if one of these fish was on a motorcycle and just Evel Knievel-ed all the other fish,’” Hader remembered Stone saying, with Parker adding, “’And he has a big fish dick.’”
“’Are you saying fish stick like those sticks of fish you bake and eat, or are you saying fish dick like a fish’s penis,’” Stone asked, and Parker responded “a fish’s penis, dude,” according to Hader.
Eureka.
The South Park writers contrived an episode where Eric Cartman would tell a joke about whether someone likes fishsticks, and if they do, “Then you’re a gay fish,” with the juvenile bit becoming massive. The twist would be that someone without a sense of humor takes the joke seriously. Hader, Parker, and Stone thought for a moment about who doesn’t have a sense of humor.
“And in unison we all said ‘Kanye West,’” Hader recalled.
If you haven’t seen the episode, West can’t take the joke, goes on a publicity tour exclaiming he’s “not a gay fish,” but can no longer deny how he feels before jumping into the ocean, singing a ballad and having sex with a fish. Classic South Park absurdity and irreverence with a heavy dose of celebrity mocking.
West, in real life, apparently did not appreciate the episode, rapping in his 2010 song “Gorgeous” about choking “A South Park writer with a fish stick” and bringing the subject back up in 2021 on “Life of the Party,” 12 years after the episode was released, with the lyrics “South Park had jokes about fish sticks/ ‘Til this day the whole team can kiss this dick.”
Hader went on to say that he could have never run his own show, which he did in HBO’s Barry, without the influence of Parker and Stone, and he’ll always be grateful for the “‘fish sticks’” and “‘fish dicks’” confusion.
Jimmy Fallon seemingly lifted the South Park fish sticks joke recently in his own bit about stealing jokes, which has a whole other layer because the animated series’ episode begins with Cartman stealing the joke from another character.
South Park has been nominated for three Emmys this year with Parker earning a nod for outstanding character voice-over with his work as Satan, President Donald Trump’s lover, in the show. South Park’s 29th season starts September 16th.
