During their "commentary-minis" on the DVD collections, Trey Parker and Matt Stone often talk about running into a mental barrier in the writers room, and they explain that this is where ideas like "Crab People" and "Oprah Winfrey's Talking Vagina" came from. Although these ideas are pretty funny (to me), they're easily forgotten as soon as the episode ends and we're left thinking, "THAT'S what they came up with? It's...passable...I suppose." Don't get me wrong: I love every bit of this show, even the very base episodes like "Sarcastaball," which was chock-full of 'mock' humor and reminiscent of episodes like "More Crap" and "Faith Hilling." My only problem with this episode is that it lacks Trey Parker's signature touch of storyline progression, where 'A' leads logically to 'B' strictly because happens which MAKES IT go there (if you listen to his commentaries or watch interviews addressing his writing process, his hits on this point A LOT.) "Sarcastaball," as a full episode, is a continuous repetition of the first few minutes with very few laughs and nothing new to say. I would recommend the episode "Crack Baby Athletic Association" (15x5) over "Sarcastaball," mostly because the former is grounded (mostly) in reality and makes us think of a current topic while enjoying a few good laughs (again, a Trey Parker and Matt Stone signature), while the latter addresses a small topic in a completely unrealistic manner where even the characters we've come to love for all their goofiness don't act like themselves AT ALL. Not a mid-season opener, but I have faith the South Park Studios crew will deliver some mind-blowing episodes before Season 16 closes.