World Wide Recorder Concert

Template:Infobox South Park episode "The Brown Noise", which is also sometimes titled "World Wide Recorder Concert" in videos and other sources (including iTunes), is episode 317 of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired January 12, 2000.

Plot synopsis

Four million children, including those from Mr. Garrison's class, are to play My Country 'Tis of Thee at the televised Worldwide Recorder Concert in Oklahoma City, but a flood caused the concert to be relocated in Little Rock, Mr. Garrison's home town. This causes him considerable anxiety (as he confesses to Mr. Mackey) for he had "sexual molestation issues" with his father in the past.

In Arkansas, the boys encounter a hostile group of kids from New York, also there for the concert, who call them "queefs". The boys want to find a way to get back at them, and when Cartman discovers the legendary "Brown Noise", a sound made with the recorder that causes the listener to lose control of their bowels and "crap their pants", the boys plan to trick the New York kids into playing it. However, by accident, all sheet music for the concert is photocopied to include the Brown Noise.

Meanwhile, Mr. Garrison has confronted his father about the issues of sexual molestation, however, the issue was not that his dad had molested him, but rather that he felt neglected because his father never had. When Mr. Mackey finds out about this, he fears Mr. Garrison Jr. is so distraught about the issue that he could actually die if Mr. Garrison Sr. doesn't molest him.

When the boys discover that the Brown Noise is set to be played, they race to stop the concert; alas, they are too late, the note is played, and with the worldwide broadcasting, everybody in the world winds up crapping their pants. The New York kids are actually impressed by this, and Mr. Mackey winds up telling the boys what a queef is. Mr. Garrison is assaulted in the middle of the night by a mysterious stranger he believes is his dad; however it is actually Kenny G, and thus his life was saved without any incest on his father's part. A happy ending for all.

Kenny's Death?

After the Brown Noise is played, Kenny defecates uncontrollably until he dies. His death is not actually seen, a reporter mentions that some died and the camera cuts to Kenny; but he later appears alive and well in the episode.

Trivia

• In the end, when Mr. Garrison is asked where the bus should drive to, he answers "Second star to the right and straight on 'til morning", a reference to Peter Pan. This line is also at the end of Star Trek VI, in keeping with South Park's frequent Star Trek references.
• Mr. Mackey explains that the concert has been moved from Oklahoma to Arkansas but shouldn't take much longer, however Arkansas is further away from Colorado than Oklahoma, so the trip would in fact take longer.
• This episode is rated more heavily than most episodes in certain places. For example, in the United Kingdom, it received an 18 rating, rather than 15, which the majority of other episodes have. The Season 3 DVD in Canada was Rated 18A while all the other Seasons were Rated 14A in Canada. Season 3 was probably rated 18A because of this episode. This is in part because it features scenes of defecation after the part where Cartman finds "the brown noise" and during the part near the end with the recorder concert.
• The brown note is an urban legend, investigated by the Discovery Channel's show "Mythbusters".
• According to the dictionary Cartman is reading, the brown noise is "92 cents below the lowest octave of E flat." This makes it approximately equal to the lowest D on an 88-keyed piano.
• According to Matt Stone and Trey Parker in their commentary, this episode was Danny DeVito's favorite, mainly because of the relationship between Garrison and his father. He claimed, "It was so fucked up, it was good."

Goofs

• Kenny was shown dead when everyone crapped their pants. But when they all go in the bus, Kenny is seen sitting with his friends.
• There was a continuity error toward the end of the episode when the announcer said the recorder contest was going to take place in Oklahoma City (after it had already been switched to Arkansas).
• Scores look differently on the board in the classroom.