«South Park» сериалының бастау тарихы және «Weight Gain 4000» эпизоды

In writing the script, the duo sought to give Comedy Central executives an idea of what the series would be like and how each show could differ from the others. Parker and Stone also said they would not write another script until the network signed off on the full show with a season of at least six episodes. Comedy Central liked the script and agreed to commit to a series. While "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" was created almost entirely with construction paper, "Weight Gain 4000" was the first South Park episode made completely using computers. It was created in little over a month in a studio in Westwood, California, by about 15 animators using PowerAnimator, the Alias Systems Corporation animation program most commonly known as "Alias", which would be used in subsequent episodes. In the future, South Park shows would be created within a week of their broadcast dates and require about 40 animators. "Weight Gain 4000" was animated in chronological order from beginning to end. Although Parker and Stone sought to improve the details and textures of the characters and overall animation, they also specifically chose Alias because it would allow the animation to maintain the deliberately crude visual style they first created with construction paper in The Spirit of Christmas and "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe".

Describing the general tone of the show, Teri Fitsell of The New Zealand Herald explains that "South Park is a vicious social satire that works by spotlighting not the immorality of these kids but their amorality, and contrasting it with the conniving hypocrisy of the adults who surround them." The humor of the show comes from the disparity between the cute appearance of the characters and their crude behavior. However, Parker and Stone said in an early interview that the show's language is realistic. "There are so many shows where little kids are good and sweet, and it's just not real  Don't people remember what they were like in third grade? We were little bastards." Although these elements were established in "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe" and the Spirit of Christmas precursor cartoons, "Weight Gain 4000" further pushed the conventions of television, and especially of animated television entertainment. In addition to a continued stream of profanities and the promiscuous activities of Chef, an elementary school employee, the episode presents the character of Mr. Garrison as more and more unhinged. Although entrusted with the care of an elementary school class, Mr. Garrison demonstrates a questionable gender identity, poor teaching and unusual relationship with his Mr. Hat hand puppet. This blind faith is also illustrated by the complete disregard Cartman demonstrates for warnings that Weight Gain 4000 carries a risk of permanent damage to the liver and kidneys. The tremendous amount of product Cartman buys is further indicative of American purchasing habits. "Weight Gain 4000" also satirizes the obsession with celebrity prevalent among most Americans, particularly through the town's overly enthusiastic reaction to Kathie Lee Gifford's appearance.

"Weight Gain 4000" introduced several characters who would maintain important recurring roles throughout the rest of the series. Among them were Jimbo Kern, Mayor McDaniels, and the neglect with which Jimbo sells a gun to an obviously unstable Mr. Garrison serves as a satire of gun control. Kathie Lee Gifford, then a television hostess on the morning talk show Live with Regis and Kathie Lee, was the first of many celebrities to be spoofed in a South Park episode. The South Park creators said they chose Gifford completely at random, not based on any particular reason or distaste for her. Shortly after "Weight Gain 4000" aired, the tabloid The Globe hired Suzen Johnson to film herself seducing Frank Gifford, Kathie Lee's husband, for a newspaper story. The incident was the first of what Parker and Stone called the "South Park Curse", in which something tragic or embarrassing supposedly happens to a celebrity shortly before or after they were featured in South Park. Gifford appears at a parade hidden inside a bulletproof glass bubble. The bubble was inspired by an appearance Pope John Paul II made in the Popemobile during a trip to Denver, which was attended by Parker and Stone. They thought the design of the Popemobile, which has a bulletproof booth built into the back of a modified truck, was "hilarious". The line "Beefcake", which Eric Cartman enthusiastically screams after hearing it on a Weight Gain 4000 commercial, became a well known catchphrase following the episode's broadcast, and clothing items with Cartman shouting the line became very popular. One of the earliest and largest South Park fan sites was called www. beef cake. com. Matt Stone and site creator Taison Tan decided to shut the site down in April 2001 when the official site South Park Studios launched. South Park: Chef's Luv Shack, a 1999 video game from developer Acclaim, included a mini game called "Beefcake", in which players control a Cartman character who moves back and forth between the screen eating cans of Weight Gain 4000 that are thrown down at him. The salesmen from "Weight Gain 4000" are featured as antagonists in the mini game. The "beefcake" commercial featured in the episode is also briefly seen in the third season episode "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", when Stan is quickly flipping through channels on his television.

When "Weight Gain 4000" premiered, many writers in the mainstream media were still debating the longevity and overall quality of South Park. With the series still in its earliest stages, the episode continued to shock many with its frequent use of profanities by children and the apparent instability of school teacher Mr. Garrison. Audiences were especially shocked by the violence depicted among children during a South Park history play, which included the use of guns and portrayed the bloody slaughter of Native Americans at the hands of white settlers. Audiences were also shocked and offended by Chef's sexually suggestive song about Gifford. The Daily Record in Scotland listed the episode's ending, and the "Beefcake!" line, as one of the six most memorable moments in the series. "Weight Gain 4000" was released, alongside five other episodes, in a three VHS set on May 5, 1998, marking the first time South Park was made available on video. It was released on the "Volume II" video, along with "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride"; other featured episodes included "Cartman Gets an Anal Probe", "Volcano", "An Elephant Makes Love to a Pig" and "Death". "Weight Gain 4000", along with the other 12 episodes from the first season, was also included in the DVD release "South Park: The Complete First Season", which was released on November 12, 2002. Parker and Stone recorded commentary tracks for each episode, but they were not included with the DVDs due to "standards" issues with some of the statements. They refused to allow the tracks to be edited and censored, so they were released in a CD separately from the DVDs. In 2008, the duo made "Weight Gain 4000" and all other South Park episodes available to watch for free on the show's official website, South Park Studios.