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"Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!" is the 29th episode of Comedy Central's animated series South Park. It originally aired on December 9, 1998.

Stan asks permission from his parents to go to Cartman's grandmother's house in Nebraska, but is denied. He is sent to his room for refusing to eat dinner. So he runs off to Cartman's house, cursing his parents as he escapes. Along the way to his Grandma's house, Cartman and his mother sing, driving the other boys crazy. They also see a sign for an appearance of Mr. Hankey in a mall near where Cartman's grandmother lives. When they finally make it to the house, Cartman hopes to receive a cool present, instead he gets a shirt (now he decides that it's finally time to put his grandma in a retirement home). Cartman's relatives are there, all of which share Cartman's mannerisms. At dinner, they meet Cartman's Uncle Howard, live via satellite from the state prison. Later that night, the boys hear someone breaking into the house; it is Uncle Howard and another inmate, Charlie Manson.

The boys want to go to the mall to see Mr. Hankey, but no one in the family will take them. Cartman is asked to keep an eye on his cousin Elvin. Looking for action, Charlie offers to take the boys to the mall. At the "Mall of Nebraska" Kenny goes off with Charlie to a secluded part of the mall. Cartman disciplines his cousin Elvin. Meanwhile, Charlie has become obsessed with holiday specials and takes time out to watch The Grinchiepoo. Kyle and Stan meet "Mr. Hankey", whom Kyle exposes as a fake and a riot breaks out. The boys (and Charlie) escape from the mall when the riot police recognize Charlie. Charlie and the boys get into a televised high speed chase with the police.

Charlie gets everyone back to the Cartman house, where he and Uncle Howard hold everyone hostage. Stan's parents arrive and express their disappointment in him. Stan asks to make an escape with Uncle Howard and Charlie. Uncle Howard says he can, but Charlie talks to him about the meaning of family, which makes him change his mind. Charlie and Uncle Howard surrender and sing a holiday-special style song. Stan's parents agree that they don't deserve to punish Stan for running away, as they were unreasonable when denying him a Christmas with his friends, so they tell him to come back home for Christmas.

Kenny is shot dead by trigger-happy police after showing them a white flag, and then Charlie Manson says: "Oh my God! They killed the little orange-coat kid!". Afterwards, the police continue to beat on his corpse.

• Dian Bachar, Trey Parker and Matt Stone's college friend, voices the role of the fake Mr. Hankey at the mall.

• The title is a play on a line in A Charlie Brown Christmas, the famous Peanuts special.
• The Chase sequence parodies the "Escape from the Hospital" scene of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, when the main characters are chased by the T-1000
• The Grinchiepoo and the "Poos in Pooville" is a play on the Christmas classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr Suess featuring "Whos in Whoville".
• Terrance and Phillip are seen on television farting on Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.
• At the end of the episode, Manson's jail cell has books on a shelf created by him, and one was called "Are you there God? It's me, Manson" which is a reference to the book Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret.
• Manson's forehead swastika, after his change of heart, is replaced with a happy face. During the car chase, it also briefly turns into a Visitor.
• When Uncle Howard decides how to escape the police, he says, "We're coming out through the bathroom window," a variation of the title of the Beatles song She Came in Through the Bathroom Window.

• In the scene where Manson says to the boys 'They're gaining on us', during the chase. His tattoo on is forehead is changed into an alien, the same alien that's in Cartman Gets An Anal Probe.
• When Cartman wakes up after his uncle and Charlie Manson break in, he is wearing a 'Beef Cake' t-shirt referring back to the episode Weight Gain 4000.
• When Manson takes the boys back to the Cartman home, there is a news reporter named Robert Pooner, a name that appeared in the beginning of The Spirit of Christmas, the original South Park short made by Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of South Park.
  

  Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:

  Merry Christmas, Charlie Manson!
• The word 'You're' is mispelled your in the advertisement during the chase scene.