South Park: 12 Most Paused Moments

South Park producers will target any public figure, no matter what their status is. And in the season thirteen episode “Dead Celebrities”, they took it one step further by depicting several deceased famous people, most of whom died the very same year (2009).

After Ike finds himself haunted by ghosts of recently deceased celebrities, a frame of the episode shifts to purgatory (resembling a seating area on a plane) and it displays a group of dead celebrities. Given how quick this gag is and the shocking nature of it all, it needs to be paused to take in all the information. The celebrities include Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Patrick Swayze, Bea Arthur, Natasha Richardson and Ted Kennedy. In short, it’s another instance where Parker and Stone weren’t afraid to take on so many targets.

For what it’s worth, this episode was received surprisingly well. The reality series Ghost Hunters and its presenters, Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson, loved being parodied in this episode and encouraged their own fans to view it. Meanwhile, Billy Mays’ son, Billy Mays III, is a self-proclaimed South Park fan who actually loved “Dead Celebrities” and found the depiction of his late father to be in good taste.