popular thinking

WHAT HAPPENED TO CHEF?

The mystery continues to spur online debate. Let me say a couple of things right off: First, I did point out the sudden flip-flop by Isaac Hayes about the "Trapped in the Closet" episode of South Park. Quoted his Onion interview in my original story on March 14, before FOX News started floating rumors. Last week, I noted that Matt and Trey would quickly respond to the mess by skewering Hayes and his Chef character. My first two paragraphs: “South Park” is responding to Chef’s departure the only way the show knows how - by mocking it. The 10th season of Comedy Central’s highest-rated series premieres tomorrow night with, of all things, “The Return of Chef.” Coincidentally(?), CNN Headline News that morning had its entertainment reporter, Adrianna Costa, talk about South Park's intentions with these lines of dialogue: "South Park is responding to Chef's departure the only way the show knows how - by mocking it! The 10th season of Comedy Central's hit series premieres tomorrow night with, of all things, 'The Return of Chef.'" Yeah, I know. Pretty gosh darn familiar. I tend to catch part of Headline News in the mornings before I head out the door. Last Tuesday, I did a double-take and rewinded (thank you, Comcast DVR) to make sure I wasn't dreaming it. Yes, she did read my lines. Plagiarism? Or flattery? Since it's Costa, I'm going to go with flattery. It's nice to know that the folks down there in Atlanta read my witty prose. That said, this past week has seen some buzzing about whether or not Hayes actually quit the show -- or whether his Scientologist minders did it for him. Why would this even be up for debate? Because Hayes suffered a mild stroke in January. Before stroke? Hayes was upset but OK with Matt and Trey. After stroke? Hayes quits the show. Or did he even have a stroke? A Google search turns up an E! story that says no stroke, but a Philadelphia Inquirer report from January says yes stroke. Somebody is telling the whole truth, and somebody is spreading lies. Care to guess which is which?

For my part, I thought the South Park episode last week was hilarious.