By Robert Scucci
| Published
South Park has always been able to stay culturally relevant because of how quickly an entire episode is put together, as documented extensively in the 6 Days to Air documentary. While this “get everything done at the last minute” method has served Trey Parker and Matt Stone quite well over the years because the pressure forces them to execute against a seemingly impossible deadline week after week during an active run, one episode in particular, “I’m a Little Bit Country,” was almost ruined because its entire premise hinged on being able to secure the rights to the song that the episode’s title is referencing, Marty Cooper’s “A Little Bit Country, A Little Bit Rock and Roll,” which was made famous by Donny and Marie Osmond.
And I’m not talking about a situation where they could have swapped out the tune with something else and gotten away with it, because a significant amount of the plot for “I’m a Little Bit Country” actually relied on the citizens of South Park singing the iconic song throughout the entire episode.
Country, Rock And Roll, And The War In Iraq
Airing just three weeks after the US invaded Iraq in 2003, it’s no surprise that “I’m a Little Bit Country” would unpack how the town of South Park reacted to the war by pitting the redneck, pro-war citizens led by Skeeter against the more liberal, anti-war protesters led by Randy Marsh. According to Parker and Stone, they both noticed how most pro-war songs happen to be country, while most protest songs fall into the rock and roll genre, leading them to believe that the Osmond’s song would be instrumental in playfully ripping on both sides – allowing Skeeter and Randy Marsh to bust into blistering jam sessions in the town square when they weren’t beating the hell out of each other in the typical South Park fashion.
Given the tight timeline in which South Park episodes are produced – typically starting production on a Thursday night and being handed into the network the following Wednesday morning shortly before it goes on the air – “I’m a Little Bit Country” almost had to be significantly rewritten or scrapped entirely if they couldn’t get the song cleared on time.
Racing Against The Clock
Other series don’t run into the same problems that South Park faces when they need to secure rights for musical numbers because an episode of The Simpsons, for example, takes about six months to produce. According to Parker, going through the proper channels on any other show is basically a non-issue because it takes anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months to get a song cleared while the producers figure out the licensing and negotiate payment with the owner of the song. In the case of South Park’s “I’m a Little Bit Country,” or any other episode for that matter, the luxury of time doesn’t exist, which results in conversations starting with “Hey, we wanna use your song on the show, it’s going to be on in four days, you in?”
Fortunately, the Sunday night before “I’m a Little Bit Country” was slated to air as South Park’s 100th episode, they got the green light to finish the episode as written, which is nothing short of a miracle because it means they were able to secure the rights in a matter of days, not months, without legal repercussion.
Everything Came Together At The Last Minute
Though you’d think that episodes like “I’m a Little Bit Country” would make Trey Parker and Matt Stone rethink how they produce South Park because of the amount of stress it could have potentially put on their crew, you’ve got to give them credit for sticking to what they refer to as their “Saturday Night Live production schedule.” It’s this level of recklessness that allows them to stay on top of current events without episodes seeming dated upon release in a world where a 24/7 news cycle means that most of our attention spans can only be measured in nano-seconds (had to drop a BASEketball reference here… rest in peace, Denslow!).
So, the next time you fire up “I’m a Little Bit Country,” you better thank your lucky stars that the Osmond estate was cool enough to allow their song to be prominently featured in an episode of South Park with little to no prior notice.