When it comes to the zany cast ofSouth Parkcharacters, Randy Marsh stands out as one of the most delightfully goofy and hilarious adult figures in the show. Naïve, impressionable, and over-the-top, Randy often finds himself fully-immersed in the crazy happenings befalling the humble town of South Park.
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In fact, much of the comedy stems from hisownoff-the-wall endeavors and antics. With such a distinctly silly character, it makes sense that episodes in which he plays a major role tend to be some of the funniest and most memorable. Let's explore 15 of the best episodes for fans of this resident goofy father figure ofSouth Park.
Updated September 23rd, 2020 by Ian Goodwillie:Having gonefrom being a background player to a main character, containing the ridiculousness of Randy Marsh has proven to be impossible. There is always more to say about thisderanged man who is, by far, his own worst enemy, and might accidentally burn South Park to the ground one day.
Spontaneous Combustion
This adventure goes way back into the old days of South Parkas it's the second episode of Season 3. Still considered a legitimate geologist at that time and not the town lunatic, Randy was tasked with figuring out why people in the town were spontaneously combusting.
Even if he was competent at his job, this wasn't an issue that a geologist had any business looking into. He declared the cause was people holding in farts so everyone just started letting them rip. Randy won a Nobel Prize for his work, but lost it when a better scientist realized his solution was overclocking Global Warming.
More Crap
Regardless of what other people think of how he lives his life, including his wife Sharon, Randy is always proud of even his most dubious accomplishments. This included taking an impressively massive crap, one that he felt was a world record.
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He ended up facing off against the man who held the record at that point, Bono. As it turned out, Bono didn't take the world's biggest crap, he was the world's biggest crap and had gained sentience somehow. Still, Randy took one even bigger than Bono and became the champion.
Make Love, Not Warcraft
South Park is well known for blending salient cultural points in amongst the gross and offensive humor. In this episode, the target of their commentary was not Warcraft but the stereotypical people who obsessed over the game when it was still the biggest thing around.
As the boys tried to fight off a griefer, Randy got involved. He liked the game but was terrible at it, as one would expect. He did manage to help the boys win the final fight by sacrificing himself to get the weapon needed to defeat the griefer to them.
Two Days Before The Day After Tomorrow
Randy Marsh says a lot of dumb things. And because he is technically a scientist, some people actually listen to him. When Stan and Cartman took a nearby damn down, Randy claimed that Global Warming was the cause and that an ice age was waiting for them outside.
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Naturally, Randy led a team out into what he assumed was a frozen wasteland but was actually a beautiful summer day. Eventually, they collapsed from severe dehydration and heat stroke, but they assumed they had hypothermia. Why? Becauseof Randy Marsh.
Pandemic
This two-part episode might be Randy Marsh at his absolute worst and best. To be clear, worst for his family and best for viewers. Randy had started obsessively videotaping every mundane event around his house, much to the annoyance of his family.
Then, an end of the world level even happened, causing giant guinea pigs in costumes to attack the town. Instead of being useful in a crisis, Randy filmed the chaos Cloverfield-style,upsetting his family even more. They should have fed him to the guinea pigs.
Tegridy Farms
Randy is at his funniest when he's embarking on insane hijinx. One of the best examples of this is the running gag beginning of season 22 ofSouth Parkwhich sees him move his family to the countryside and start a marijuana farm. This extends to the most recent season,culminating with the memorable and topical "Season Finale."
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But, the episode "Tegrity Farms," which begets this odd career tangent, really shows Stan's dad at his goofy best, especially when it comes to the back-and-forth banter between him and Towelie.
Something You Can Do With Your Finger
Back in season four, Stan's dad tended to be a bit more subdued and less of a full-on wacky cartoon. Still, he has quite a few funny moments in this episode, which features the main four kids attempting to assemble a boy band suggestively named "Fingerbang."
Yet, the episode takes an amusing turn when it's revealed just why Randy is so upset with this idea. In fact, he was in a boy bandhimself, until quickly getting tossed aside by the label for being "too old" despite being just 19. One standout moment includes Randy losing it and smashing glass furnishingswith his head when Stan asks why he can't pursue his dream. But, this one'sreallycapped off with the boys' performance at the end, which sees Randy joining in after Kenny iscrushed by an elevator.
Bloody Mary
It's no secret that Stan's father likes to toss back the booze, but he perhaps takes it a bit too far in the episode "Bloody Mary." After he gets pulled over for drunk driving, Randy is convinced that he is suffering a full-blown, incurable disease. He even manages to look the part by restricting himself to a wheelchair, shaving his head, and acting weak. As he tends to be impressionable, he gets this notion from a required AA meeting, which he takes to heart.
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The episode only gets more insane as he seeks to visit a Virgin Mary statue that supposedly performs miracles by shooting blood from its rear. There are plenty of moments of drunken, over-the-top hilarity for Randy in this boundary-pushing romp.
Margaritaville
Along with being easily-influenced and silly, Randy also tends to succumb to naive hypocrisy at times. Case in point? "Margaritaville," which has him investing in a bulky and elaborate margarita-making machine. This causes Stan to embark on a wild goose chase to return the item and deduce the source, eventually leading him to the US Treasury.
The best part? After this purchase, Randy spends the episode in a robe fear-mongering and lecturing people about the dangers of frivolous spending in a rough economy. The irony is further lost on him when he claims that finger-pointing "gets them nowhere" before pointing an accusatory finger at one person and yells"Steve!"
A Nightmare On FaceTime
It's always amusing to watch Randy go bonkers, especially when this madness is akin to that of Jack Torrance fromThe Shining. Randy invests in an old Blockbuster Video which has long become deserted thanks to the rising popularity of streaming. In a hilariously-clever plot, the eerie abandoned Blockbuster is meant to parallel the vast, vacant hotel that Torrance looks after.
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Randy's wackiness and crazy faces make for a truly entertaining and funny watch, especially his creepy Jack Nicholson expression while watching the film,Ted.
With Apologies To Jesse Jackson
It simply wouldn't be a Randy-centric episode if he didn't take part in hijinx that either go too far or spiral intoinsanity. The classic and controversial episode, "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson," definitely reinforces this notion.
Randy makes an appearance onWheel of Fortune,but an ill-advised wrong answer leads him to utter an awful racial slur, making him a target and forcing him to cope with this new stigma. It's pretty funny to watch Randy squirm and desperately attempt to come clean, literally kissing the rear-end of Jesse Jackson for a newspaper photo. It's classic Randy silliness, coupled with a creative, irony-laden plot that makes this one a top pick.
Overlogging
It seems that alcohol isn't Randy's only addiction. As it happens, he's also hooked to the internet—specifically as a means to view p*rnography.He decides tohis family on an expedition, California Gold Rush-style, after the internet has mysteriously gone out, desperately seeking to gain access to even alittleonline use.
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There are plenty of moments of hilarity, including him playing a bluesy song in which he somberly sings about his missing internet. But, the coup de grâce has to be near the end, which features a rather grotesque "explosion" after he finally gets to view his p*rn at the settlement.
The Losing Edge
South Parkis known for its spoofs, and "The Losing Edge" marks a particularly funny one, poking fun at the tropes of cheesy inspirational sports films. But, while the main plot partly revolves around Stan's baseball team, it'sRandywho takes center stage, making a sporting event out of various squabbles with the dads of opposing teams.
This leads to the intense climax which sees him exchange blows with the heavy-weight "Bat Dad."Seeing Stan's dad invested in these skirmishes is amusing enough, but his constantly being apprehended by police after proclaiming"I thought this was America!"really tops it off.
Broadway Bro Down
Coinciding with showrunners Matt Stone and Trey Parker'sownmusical endeavors, Randy decides to create a particularly ludeBroadway show in "Broadway Bro Down." The primary motivation? He discovers that subliminal messages are inserted into these shows to make women sexually aroused...Yes,South Parkscarcely manages to disappoint when it comes to pushing envelopes.
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Randy really outdoes himself when it comes to humorous antics - with his blatantly sexual show and his parking lot "bro-down" with rival Broadway bro Stephen Sondheim.
Crème Fraîche
Yes, the impressionable Mr. Marsh is at it again, this time seeking to be a famous chef after getting aroused from watching Food Network programs.
His "passion" soon spirals into an all-out obsession, as he spends his days fixing elaborate meals for his family. He even decides to become the school chef, facing off against Bobby Flay. His "signature ingredient," which ties into the hilariously suggestive nature of the episode, is crème fraîche. We eventually see that he perhaps enjoys putting this on his food a bittoomuch. This one is chock-full of qualities that make Stan's dad such a delightfully funny character.
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