"Medicinal Fried Chicken" is the third episode of the fourteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 198th episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on March 31, 2010. In the episode, the South Park KFC is replaced by a medical marijuana dispensary, and Cartman gets involved in black market selling the KFC chicken. Meanwhile, Randy Marsh gets a medical referral for marijuana by giving himself testicular cancer, which makes his testicles grow to grotesquely huge proportions.
| "Medicinal Fried Chicken" | |
|---|---|
| South Park episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 14 Episode 3 |
| Directed by | Trey Parker |
| Written by | Trey Parker |
| Featured music |
|
| Production code | 1403 |
| Original air date | March 31, 2010 |
The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. "Medicinal Fried Chicken" was first broadcast when Detroit was considering revising state cannabis laws and restricting fast food eateries. The episode provided social commentary against both types of laws, and suggested legislating lifestyle choices is ineffective and inevitably leads to black markets.
The illegal fast food market subplot was heavily influenced by the 1983 film Scarface, with Cartman resembling fictional drug lord Tony Montana and KFC founder Colonel Sanders as antagonist Alejandro Sosa. The episode also included several jokes about Pope Benedict XVI and the child sexual abuse scandals that had been surrounding the Catholic Church at the time. The concept of a former KFC restaurant becoming a marijuana dispensary came from a news story about a real marijuana dispensary in Palms, Los Angeles, built at a site formerly housing a Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise.
"Medicinal Fried Chicken" received generally positive reviews, with many commentators praising the social commentary and sophomoric testicle jokes alike. According to Media Research, the episode was seen by 2.99 million viewers, making it one of the most successful cable programs of the week. Although a KFC spokesman had a lukewarm response to "Medicinal Fried Chicken", officials from the KFC hometown of Corbin, Kentucky were pleased the city was featured in the episode.