South Park, "Taming Strange"

So, the most stinging barb against the glitchy Obamacare website comes not from any politician, pundit, reporter, or even the general public, but South Park. And it’s by far the funniest piece of comedy on the topic since the site’s bungled launch (besting even fellow Comedy Central stalwarts Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, whose jokes about it have been as tired as the non-comedy media covering it ad nauseam).

Putting the allegorical stand-in program in the hands of guidance counselor Mr. Mackey, the show’s mumbling pinnacle of educational ineptitude, made for a funny gag from the get-go. It almost seemed like just a throwaway joke at first, a little timely touch they squeezed in to date the episode in the now. But it keeps up alongside the main plot—that being Kyle’s adopted Canadian brother Ike hitting early puberty—and instead of getting repeated to the point that the joke is killed, it’s written into the main story. And it comes together superbly.

So does the rest of the episode, taking on Miley Cyrus’ overexposure by way of a certain kids show (though both are more caught in the crossfire while HealthCare.gov is the primary target), while also continuing the show's strange, humorous running depiction of Canadians. Other episodes have likewise combined so many elements, and have been funny if a bit nebulous as a whole. But the way this one connects all the elements into a flawlessly cohesive narrative is brilliant. This is probably the best written episode, as well as the most culturally aware and sharp one, since “Best Friends Forever,” the 2005 Emmy-winner that substituted Kenny for Terri Schiavo.

Even if the Obamacare website snafu similarly turns out to be only a minor political footnote, this episode could have more staying power than “Best Friends Forever” because it might be even funnier. The points about digital bureaucracy are made in typical unsubtle South Park fashion, depicting people of importance and power as fast-talking, hysterically incompetent fools. But the bread and butter is the toilet humor, which is equally rich (I forgot to mention a great takedown of Tom Brady that’s randomly thrown into the fray; not as mean as what they had him drink last year, but still disgustingly hilarious). Yet in spite of a reputation for grossing us out by depicting dirty things directly, the show surprisingly decides to hold back in this one, and lets its plot points involving a cuddly children’s character doing naughty things happen offscreen. And it actually benefits the joke that way.