"Awesom-O" is the fifth episode in the eighth season of the American animated television series South Park. The 116th episode overall, the 2nd in production order of Season 8 instead of the 5th, it originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on April 14, 2004. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. In the episode, Cartman masquerades as a robot, named AWESOM-O, in an attempt to gain Butters's trust, hoping he can convince Butters to tell him secrets he can use to embarrass Butters. While Butters is thrilled to have found a new best friend, Hollywood is after the phony robot to develop their next big blockbuster and the U.S. Army believes AWESOM-O is a new secret weapon. Plot Cartman plays a prank on Butters by disguising himself in a crude cardboard suit as a robot named "A.W.E.S.O.M.-O 4000" and by putting himself in a crate "from Japan" on Butters's doorstep. Cartman is planning to befriend Butters so that he can discover his most embarrassing secrets, which will allow him to blackmail him and/or embarrass him in school. Butters falls for the trick and reveals highly embarrassing personal secrets. However, just as Cartman is about to reveal his identity, Butters mentions that he himself knows one of Cartman's secrets: Butters has a videotape of Cartman doing a Britney Spears dance routine to a life-sized cutout of Justin Timberlake while dressed as her and making out with the cutout, which he plans to show to his classmates the next time Cartman plays a prank on him. Cartman, terrified of Butters' revenge plan, searches desperately for the tape (while having the robot suit on, or Butters will know AWESOM-O was another prank), but to no avail. Cartman soon begins to starve because Butters believes that he does not need to eat since he is a robot. Butters also forces the robot to do all his chores for him, including some of the more unpleasant tasks. With the agreement of Ms. Cartman, who is willing to temporarily let her son off punishment for trying to exterminate the Jews two weeks prior, Butters' parents (knowing who AWESOM-O really is, but thinking it is an elaborate game that Butters is in on) decide to let Cartman come along with Butters on a trip to Los Angeles to see his aunt. Cartman realizes that he will have to accompany Butters