(NOTE CONTENT) The entertainment community has shown its support for the people of Ukraine in the wake of Russia's invasion of the country. Now South Park -- never a show to shy away from poking fun at current events -- has joined the fray.
In Wednesday night's episode of the Comedy Central show, "Back to the Cold War," Stan, Cartman, and the other kids don't mention the Ukraine invasion, but poke fun at 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin, partially putting the blame on his current state of mind on, well, a sexual condition many older men face.
In one scene, two of Putin's generals lament in Russian that the former KGB spy seems "sadly nostalgic lately," and open the door to his office only to find him shirtless, and suggestively dancing to 1984's anti-nuke song "Two Tribes" from Frankie Goes To Hollywood.
The episode was also replete with Cold War-era action movie references. One segment shows school counselor Mr. Mackey hacking NORAD, a la 1984's War Games. Meanwhile, he's also seen preparing his school with nuclear bomb drills, and by ordering 20 VHS copies of 1984's Red Dawn, the film about a group of high schoolers who band together to repel a Russkie invasion in the American heartland.
Now in its 25th season on Comedy Central, South Park's six-day turnaround time allows it to be both cutting and cutting edge when it comes to headlines. By comparison, it takes up to nine months for a Simpsons episode to go from script to screen.