"
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
medicinal 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" was first broadcast when Colorado was considering revising state medicinal marijuana 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 concept of a former KFC restaurant becoming a medicinal marijuana store mirrors that of a real life dispensary in
Palms, Los Angeles, designed to resemble a KFC. "Medicinal Fried Chicken" received generally positive reviews, with many commentators praising the social commentary and
sophomoric testicle jokes alike. According to
Nielsen Media Research, the episode was seen by 2.99 million viewers, making it one of the most successful cable programs of the week.
