South Park (TV Series) Tonsil Trouble (2008) User Reviews

Better then the Fancy New Vagina, at least

[KingMFreak · 8/10 · 12 March 2008]

All of the advertisements for the newest season opener promised that tonight's episode would change everything. And did it? Not really, at the end of the day Cartman and Kyle are still fine. The show didn't significantly change like it did when Kenny died or Mr. Garrison had a sex change three years back.

The premise of Tonsil Trouble is one of South Park's more ludicrous ideas, that Cartman, while having a tonsillectomy, accidentally receives a blood transfusion that contains AIDS. Kyle finds this all too ironic, and when Cartman finally blows a fuse, he infects Kyle with his AIDS. Then the two discover that basketball player Magic Johnson has AIDS but hasn't died, the secret being he sleeps with his cash in his room. Apparently waving cash at AIDS will kill it.

As far as South Park goes, this was a good episode. It had some funny moments (Cartman and Kyle arguing over the HIV positive line), and had the same loony ideas that I find so amusing on South Park. However, it didn't stand up above any other average South Park episode.

Of course, this being the premiere episode a lot of pressure is always on to offend to the highest level (such as the 42 utterances of the N-word on last season's opener). If you look back at some episodes, you'll find that they aren't as bad as you thought, they were just brought down by the expectations set. Hopefully this season will get better, because if the rest of the season is like this, then South Park is finally losing it's jazz.

Also, tonight's episode introduced a brand new opening. I actually look forward to the montage of clips for the previous seven episodes, and this one kind of meshed everything together from the past eleven seasons. Still, it always keeps those opening titles interesting.

"I'm never getting my tonsils out again"

[RainDogJr · 9/10 · 9 December 2009]

*Dec/08/09*

"Here I begin my attempt to once and for all write my IMDb comment for each and every episode of probably my favourite TV show of all-time. I had already submitted some (Seasons 9, 10 and 11 are done) but from now on I will write in order (with the exception of course of the up-coming 7 episodes of Season 13)". I wrote that some months ago but for time issues and stuff I only wrote my comment for about 4 episodes of Season 1. Yesterday I finally got the DVD set of Season 12 so I'm going to make another exception and write my comment for the episodes of this season that I'm seeing through the DVD for the very first time. Yesterday I saw for the first time the first two episodes of the season and boy, what a tremendous difference. This one, Tonsil Trouble, is the one that is great.

It's another chapter in the never-ending story of the rivalry between Cartman and Kyle. It's pretty much the ultimate episode to show how much Kyle hates Cartman and vice versa, it's really extreme, I mean I don't think there's another show in which one of the characters laughs uncontrollably of the fact that one of his suppose friends got the AIDS virus and the character with AIDS intentionally infects his suppose friend with the AIDS virus. But of course all makes sense when you get to know that Cartman is the character with AIDS and Kyle the character that laughs of that fact, of course when you think in the bastard that Cartman is you can understand Kyle and of course is not a big surprise when you see Cartman ruining Kyle's life!

Tonsil Trouble had me laughing hard. It's a hilarious must-see episode because we have: a) an introduction with simple yet totally hilarious jokes ("I think I owe you some ice cream"); b) Cartman with AIDS. I mean, is Cartman like "of all the times to get AIDS I get it right when everyone stops giving a crap"(also get for instance the part in which Butters is about to help Cartman in order to infect Kyle with the AIDS virus, is Butters being like "I'm not sure I should be helping you" but Cartman is like "Butters, helping people who have AIDS is one of the most important you can do"); c) a fair and direct message: the episode works in two levels, I mean Cartman with AIDS delivers hilarious stuff based totally in the known attitude of the character. Yes and like I said, is hilarious Cartman being like "of all the times to get AIDS I get it right when everyone stops giving a crap" but at the time same is sad because Cartman represents the reality of many and the whole situation of the disease, being the message that AIDS still is the same mortal disease; d) Cartman vs. Kyle at the most extreme, like I said (nevertheless they end being lovers!); d) a clever conclusion; e) Jimmy Buffett!

A good debut for the new season

[ssbmboss · 9/10 · 13 March 2008]

The new season's opened with Cartman getting his tonsils out... and being HIV positive because of a blood transfusion. When the school's staff tell to Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Butters that Cartman is ill, Kyle couldn't stop laughing. When Cartman saw it, he decided to give HIV to Kyle. He injected a bit of his blood into Kyle's mouth when he was sleeping. (the funny thing is that when Kyle tried to say that Cartman gave him HIV, people think they're gay) When he learned that he was HIV positive he got angry and decided to break all Cartman's toys, but as Cartman didn't want him to break his Xbox 360 he swore to find a solution to AIDS... A pretty funny debut, cheers.

South Park still dominates the competition.

[munroe1991 · 10/10 · 5 October 2008]

Anyone who says South Park has been poor for the past 2 years is obviously stupid. Each season it has gotten better and better, they haven't run out of ideas & in fact, this is the first time I've ever seen Cartman get AIDs. So, "LostBoyPete'', why don't you get a sense of humour and shut up. Anyway, I think the Family Guy writers need to start coming up with some seriously funny stuff because right now, they are miles behind South Park. This episode is pure genius and is an excellent way to open the curtains on a new series. The animations are still improving, the characters are getting funnier & so to are the little quotes which each and every main character bring to the table.

I'm not just sure this is a great episode...I'm HIV Positive.

[Filmmaker 13 · 10/10 · 27 December 2008]

Brilliant, inventive, cutting edge, but most importantly HILARIOUS--South Park continues to impress year in and year out. The season opener for season 12 was no different. After Cartman mistakenly gets infected with AIDS and purposefully infects Kyle, the two set out to find Magic Johnson to find the cure or else Kyle will destroy Cartman's X-Box (a far graver consequence for Cartman than the life threatening illness). Highlights include Cartman's wardrobe modeled after Tom Hanks in Philadelphia, Cartman's "staying HIV positive" outlook and the eventual cure--the look on the faces of the indigent third worlder's is at once heart breaking and hilariously evil.

Compare even the worst episode of South Park (and judging from the ratings on this site, it's A Million Little Fibers) and compare it to the best show that any other series has to offer--chances are very good SP will not only hold it's own, but still have more laughs.

hilarious

[i_am_notsure · 9/10 · 15 March 2008]

this is a really funny episode nearly as good as some of the amazing episodes of season 12.

Cartman has a bad blood transfusion and gets aids. annoyed at kyle for laughing he give the disease to kyle and then they both on an unforgettable journey to find the cure to HIV.

this a truly funny episode and i'm not just sure i'm HIV positive ( you wont get that unless you watch the episode

Definitely a good watch. not the best episode of south park but only one episode can be the best and this is very good.

i hope all the episode in this season is as great as this.

all in all its a good episode and you should watch it if you get a chance

Comedy

[saaber-zangie · 10/10 · 27 November 2020]

Amazing show, amazing script writing, amazing dark humour 😂😂

Season 12 is off to a HIV positive start

[SLionsCricketreviews · 7/10 · 5 January 2018]

Despite concerns I had that the eleventh season would spell the inevitable decline of South Park's quality, I was proven wrong by strong early entries and a fantastic second half of the season. The eleventh season finale, "The List", may have been my favourite of all episodes of the season as ridiculous as that may sound, and so naturally, I went onto the twelfth season with great excitement. "Tonsil Trouble" does not disappoint.

This is still an incredibly South Park piece of television and it sees Cartman accidentally contracting the HIV virus as a result of a mishap during a blood transfusion. Furious that Kyle would laugh at the irony of Cartman of all people getting AIDS, he gives Kyle a little taste of his own disease.

Where the two final episodes of the eleventh season were a Kyle and Stan episode followed by a Kyle episode, this is a Kyle and Cartman episode, arguably the show's strongest and funniest dynamic. Kyle is finally given the chance to laugh *at* Cartman, but more accurately, laugh at the irony of an asshole piece of filth like Cartman getting a terrible disease that had anyone else being infected with, he would be ridiculing the person for.

Unfortunately, Cartman cuts off Kyle's avenue of pleasure by giving Kyle the virus and soon afterwards, they must find a possible cure. This probably is not one of the show's funnier episodes but it is very entertaining nonetheless and the twist in the episode that the cure for AIDS being injecting oneself with a dosage of money was quite amusing.

The best thing to say about "Tonsil Trouble" is that South Park is still going strong. There's plenty of great lines and more importantly, character interactions and overall writing that feels organic within the context of the series, which is an encouraging sign going forward.

Strange Season 12 Opening

[gangstahippie · 8/10 · 14 December 2008]

Tonsil Trouble is the first episode of Season 12 of South Park.It isn't the best episode, but it's fairly decent.It's pretty messed up too.After a mix up with the removing of Cartman's tonsils, he gets infected with HIV.Kyle keeps laughing at his disease so Cartman decides to teach him a lesson.He injects Kyle with his blood and gives him HIV.Kyle is extremely angry with Cartman and after breaking some of his things Cartman tells Kyle that Magic Johnson may have the cure for it.They travel to LA to find him and they then realize that the cure is...money! There are some very funny moments in this episode and it is pretty good.Not the best of Season 12 or the worst.

South Park is over...

[borkoboardo · 4/10 · 18 March 2008]

Incredible, when this show started in 1997 I couldn't wait for each episode to air! I loved the humor, the accurate metaphors, the intelligent social critics, the character interaction/development... Everything was pure, fresh, progressive and very entertaining! Let's fast forward to 2008 and the beginning of Season 12:

To be honest, I don't know what to say, really! Over the last two seasons I thought "Come on, be patient, it's a transition period, it'll get better". Instead, it got more mindless, more brutal, less funny, less intelligent, more recycled (from old topics) and most of all -> more pointless. But this episode tops it all. It's not just pointless, it's kind of nothing... at all! This episode flew by, at some points it felt VERY hard to even pay attention. Although South Park is a show that usually requires a lot of attention this episode had no content whatsoever . Not even the "problem" is cool. Aids is a fragile topic and Magic Johnson is certainly not the answer and money definitely not the cure!

I don't know what they were thinking. I'm getting more and more disgusted by South Park than entertained/inspired. I suppose this was the last episode that i let direct my evening schedule. (Or maybe I'm getting old...)