"Towelie" is the eighth episode of the fifth season of the American adult animated sitcom South Park, and the 73rd episode of the series overall. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 8, 2001. In the episode, the boys attempt to recover their stolen video game console from the middle of a feud between a paramilitary group and extraterrestrials. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker and is rated TV-MA in the United States, except on syndicated broadcasts, where the episode is instead rated TV-14. It features the first appearance of recurring character Towelie (voiced by producer Vernon Chatman), created to satirize the degree to which South Park was being merchandised. Plot While at Stan Marsh's house, Eric Cartman discovers a used tampon in the garbage which he mistakes for an aborted fetus. In an effort to get the kids never to mention the tampon again, Stan's mother, Sharon buys the kids a video game system, the Okama Gamesphere. The boys are completely fascinated by the Okama Gamesphere and intend to play with it for the entire weekend, without sleeping. During their playing, a talking towel named "Towelie" comes in whenever they mention any subject involving water and advises them to keep a towel handy before asking if they want to get high; however, the boys largely ignore him and tell him to go away. Returning to school on Monday, the boys wait the bus stop, where a man asks them if they have seen Towelie. When they indicate that they have, the man yells into a walkie-talkie and drives off. Returning to Stan's house after school, the boys find the Okama Gamesphere is gone. In its place is a ransom note, saying that if the boys want the console, they will have to take Towelie to a secluded gas station during the night. The boys locate Towelie and take him to the gas station. An elderly man that works for the company that made Towelie is there, and he thanks the boys for bringing Towelie to him. When the boys ask for their Okama Gamesphere, the old man realizes that it is a trap, and the United States Military ambushes them. During the fight, Towelie and the boys escape. For the rest of the episode, the boys and Towelie go back and forth between a military base and the company