Fishsticks (South Park)

"Fishsticks" is the fifth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park. It serves as the 186th overall episode of the series, and was originally broadcast on Comedy Central in the United States on April 8, 2009. In the episode, Jimmy Valmer writes a joke that becomes a national sensation, and Eric Cartman tries to steal the credit while rapper Kanye West, believing himself to be a "genius", becomes frustrated due to his failure to understand the joke.

"Fishsticks" was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. The episode was conceived from a joke among Parker and fellow co-creator Matt Stone about a fish dressed as motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel, which eventually turned into a joke about Kanye West not understanding a joke about why liking fishsticks made him a gay fish. The way Cartman tries to steal credit for the joke was inspired by real people Parker and Stone have worked with in the television business.

Parker provided the voice of West in the episode and during the song "Gay Fish", a parody of West's song "Heartless". "Fishsticks" received largely positive reviews, and generated a great deal of media attention when West wrote in a blog that the episode hurt his feelings, although he said it was funny and admitted that he needed to work on his ego problem. The episode also spoofed comedian Carlos Mencia, who praised the episode after it was broadcast.

According to Nielsen Media Research, "Fishsticks" was watched by more than 3.1 million households in its original broadcast, making it the most-watched Comedy Central production of the week. The episode received even further attention after West famously interrupted Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech at the September 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, after which Comedy Central reaired the episode four times back-to-back. "Fishsticks" was released on DVD and Blu-ray along with the rest of the thirteenth season on March 16, 2010.