Pirate Fever Spreads, from South Park to the Ballpark
Cartman & Co. in South Park's "Fatbeard."
Not since Johnny Depp have pirates been so hot, as the entertainment biz continues to capitalize on the Navy SEALs' rescue of Captain Richard Phillips from a band of high-seas bandits.
On the heels of Spike fast-tracking a docu-series about the Navy's anti-pirate operations, Comedy Central's South Park will offer its special take on the recent headline this Wednesday, when Cartman runs away from home to become a lootin' (and presumably tootin') buccaneer named Fatbeard.
Just moments after Comedy Central fired off that press release, videogame developer Playlogic announced a May 12 street date for Age of Pirates 2, a PC-based role-playing game in which gamers are invited to "sail the high seas as a swashbuckling dread pirate or assume the role of a dashing naval captain."
And speaking of dashing captains, Phillips has been invited by the Boston Red Sox to throw out the first pitch at a day named in his honor. (Fenway Park is where Phillips met his wife.)
"I was so inspired, like everyone else, by your story," Red Sox owner Tom Werner says in a video to Phillips airing Monday on Extra. "I want you to be my personal guest because you ... are a true American hero."
