Traditionally an animated series takes eight to 12 months to be completed, making it almost impossible to address current event. In the case of "South Park", computer-animating the show has afforded the creators lee-way to put certain episodes together quickly (such as -"Cartman's Mom is Still a Dirty Slut" - 22 April 1998) and identifiable changes between the episodes and that episode's own promo. Most notable have been what are known as the "11th hour episodes", episodes put together mere days - and sometimes hours - before airtime. These include, but are not limited to: - "Quintuplets 2000" a.k.a "Janet Reno in a Bunny Suit" (airdate: 26 April 2000). This episode mirrored the removal, by the U.S. government, of Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives; an event which occurred three days prior. - "Trapper Keeper" (airdate: 15 November 2000), which parodied the scandal of the 2000 presidential election, which happened a week earlier. - "It Hits the Fan" (airdate: 20 April 2001). Numerous story changes kept the episode in production all the way up to the airing. Upon its original airing, the show was notably lacking in numerous completed sound effects. Most obvious was the lack of sound during Kenny's death. - "Osama bin Laden has Farty Pants" (airdate: 7 November 2001). Airing weeks after the terrorist attacks on the USA of 11 September 2001, it became one of the first fictional series to address the matter. - "It's Christmas in Canada" (airdate: 17 December 2003) which acknowledged the capture of Saddam Hussein a mere four days after it took place. - "Best Friends Forever" (airdate: 30 March 2005) which parodied the media coverage of the Terry Schiavo case. - "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" (airdate: 19 October 2005) This episode was inspired by the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, first being that people blamed the government what happened, and also that it took so long for aid to arrive.
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