that he is just as much of a cheater himself. Jimmy confesses his drug use to the crowd and returns his medal, asking for his records to be cancelled and that people who use steroids are "pussies" (all the while the camera focuses on McGwire, Giambi, and Bonds during his speech). Jimmy bumps into McGuire, who said to him that he was good for himself for being honest. Cartman then claims to Stan and Kyle that he pretended to be handicapped in order for Jimmy to learn his lesson, but Stan and Kyle don't buy his lies; in anger, Cartman calls them "assholes" and tells them to "grow up." Production There was some controversy surrounding "Up the Down Steroid" and the 2005 film The Ringer, as both feature the same plot: someone pretending to be disabled in order to compete in the Special Olympics. According to the episode's DVD audio commentary, series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone did not think that they ripped off The Ringer, since the idea to them did not seem hard to come up with, and they did not even think it was big enough for a twenty-minute episode let alone a two-hour film. In the opening scene, the boys are playing the same "Investigative Reports with Bill Kurtis" funtime game as they did in the season four episode "Cartman Joins NAMBLA". The episode's title refers to the 1964 young adult novel, Up the Down Staircase, by Bel Kaufman, which was adapted into a film in 1967 starring Sandy Dennis. Trey Parker admitted he had to perform this story in a high school play and hated it. Additionally, Stone admitted in the commentary that he once pretended to be disabled to get into Six Flags Magic Mountain for half price. Home media "Up the Down Steroid", along with the thirteen other episodes from South Parks eighth season, was released on a three-disc DVD set in the United States on August 29, 2006. The set includes brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode. Up the Down Steroid was also released as part of The Cult of Cartman, a 2008 DVD compilation of Cartman-centric episodes. References External links "Up the Down Steroid" Full episode at South Park Studios Barry Bonds Denver in fiction Doping in sport South Park (season 8) episodes Special Olympics Television episodes about drugs Television episodes about disability