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Although Parker and Stone credit " Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride " as helping elevate the series, they felt " Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo " elevated South Park to a new level of popularity and relevance.

Parker said of it, " This was the episode that just vaulted everything.

" Following the success of " Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo ", a large number of celebrities started contacting Comedy Central with the hopes of making guest appearances in South Park episodes.

This allowed Parker and Stone to practically take their pick of guest stars, and led to appearances by Natasha Henstridge in " Tom's Rhinoplasty " and Robert Smith in " Mecha-Streisand ".

Stone said although " Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo " has become less shocking with time, viewers at the time of the episode's original broadcast were shocked, and some were horrified, at the idea of a living and speaking Christmas stool.

" Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo " was the fourth-highest overall basic cable entertainment program of 1997.

In its original American broadcast, the episode received a Nielsen Rating of 5. 4, meaning the episode was seen by about 4. 5 million households.

The rating was the highest yet for South Park, and was more than seven times the Comedy Central prime-time average.

The episode also earned a 51 share of the male demographic aged between 18 and 24 ; a share represents the percentage of households using a television at the time the program is airing.