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Cartman Joins NAMBLA

5th episode of the fourth season of South Park

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 5, 2026
Entity authorityQ858733 ↗
Source-derived summary

"Cartman Joins NAMBLA" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the animated television series South Park, and the 53rd episode of the series overall. It originally aired in the United States on June 21, 2000, on Comedy Central.

In the episode, Eric Cartman, in search of more mature friends, accidentally joins the "North American Man/Boy Love Association" (NAMBLA), and puts all the boys of South Park in jeopardy as a result. Meanwhile, Kenny tries to stop his mother and father from having another baby.

Plot

After deciding he is too mature to hang out with Stan, Kyle, and Kenny, Cartman looks for older male friends. Cartman joins an online chat room full of eager men who he believes want to be friends with him; they are actually Internet predators who prey on young boys. Cartman meets one predator at Mel's Buffet, who is quickly arrested by federal agents for soliciting sex from a minor. The next day, Cartman meets another predator who turns out to be Mr. Garrison, who is also arrested. Both men are held by the South Park police under the watch of Officer Barbrady.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Cartman Joins NAMBLA” is 5th episode of the fourth season of South Park. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Cartman, Joins and NAMBLA, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA valuable geographic starting point for tracing changing names, boundaries, uses and administrative responsibility. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2000—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2000-06-21. For this dossier, Cartman, Joins and NAMBLA is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “5th episode of the fourth season of South Park” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 5, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q858733. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000.

Critical limits

Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Cartman Joins NAMBLA”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Cartman Joins NAMBLA primary sources, Cartman Joins NAMBLA archive and Cartman research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Cartman Joins NAMBLA”?
  2. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
  3. Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Cartman Joins NAMBLA” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.