Editing Kenny McCormick (section)

==Cultural impact==
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[File:KennyInHospital.jpg|thumb|left|Kenny, in a [[vegetative state]] in the season nine episode "[[Best Friends Forever (South Park)|Best Friends Forever]]", which addressed the [[Terri Schiavo]] controversy.]] -->
Kenny's deaths are well-known in popular culture,<ref name=nypost/> and was one of the things viewers most commonly associated with ''South Park'' during its earlier seasons.<ref name=wired>{{cite web|title=Word, Charged Find a Savior|website=Wired.com|date=April 27, 1998|url=https://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1998/04/11925|access-date=May 14, 2009|archive-date=June 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629044955/http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/news/1998/04/11925|url-status=live}}</ref> ''[[IGN]]'' ranked Kenny at #6 on their "The Top 25 South Park Characters" list.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Top 25 South Park Characters|work=[[IGN]]|date=October 21, 2018|url=https://uk.ign.com/articles/2014/03/01/top-25-south-park-characters?page=4|archive-date=March 30, 2023|access-date=October 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230330220046/https://www.ign.com/articles/2014/03/01/top-25-south-park-characters?page=4|url-status=live}}</ref> The exclamation of "Oh my God! They killed Kenny!" quickly became a popular [[catchphrase]],<ref name=buzzle/><ref name=time>{{cite magazine|author=Jeffrey Ressner and James Collins|title=Gross And Grosser|magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=March 23, 1998|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988028,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090821033347/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,988028,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 21, 2009|access-date=April 28, 2009}}</ref> while both Kenny and the phrase have appeared on some of the more popular pieces of ''South Park'' merchandise,<ref name=nypost/> including shirts, bumper stickers, calendars and baseball caps,<ref name=sfrubin/> and inspired the rap song "Kenny's Dead" by [[Master P]], which was featured on ''[[Chef Aid: The South Park Album]]''.<ref name=nypost/>

The running gag of Kenny's deaths in earlier seasons was incorporated into the [[South Park season 9|season 9]] (2005) episode "[[Best Friends Forever (South Park)|Best Friends Forever]]" when Kenny, in a [[vegetative state]], is kept alive by a [[feeding tube]] while a media circus erupted over whether the tube should be removed and allow Kenny to die. The episode received much attention as it served to provide commentary on the [[Terri Schiavo case]],<ref name="nytimessatire">{{cite news|author=Wyatt Mason|title=My Satirical Self|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 17, 2006|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/magazine/17satire.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all|access-date=May 5, 2009|archive-date=August 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190810190817/https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/magazine/17satire.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=mcfarland2>{{cite news|author=Melanie McFarland|title=Social satire keeps 'South Park' fans coming back for a gasp, and a laugh|work=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=October 2, 2006|url=http://www.seattlepi.com/tv/287050_tv02.html|access-date=May 12, 2009|archive-date=September 15, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120915113720/http://www.seattlepi.com/tv/287050_tv02.html|url-status=live}}</ref> originally airing just one day before Schiavo died.<ref name=nytimesarts>{{cite news|author=Kate Aurthur|title='South Park' Echoes the Schiavo Case|work=The New York Times|date=April 2, 2005|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501EFDA113FF931A35757C0A9639C8B63|access-date=May 5, 2009|archive-date=May 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511120419/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9501EFDA113FF931A35757C0A9639C8B63|url-status=live}}</ref> The episode earned ''South Park'' its first [[Emmy Award]] for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour)|Outstanding Animated Program]].<ref name=nashua>{{cite news|author=Terry Morrow|title='South Park' outlives creators' expectations|publisher=[[Scripps Howard News Service]]|date=October 23, 2005|url=http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051023/ENTERTAINMENT/110230107/-1/news|access-date=May 5, 2009}}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

Kenny's deaths have been subject to much critical analysis in the media and literary world. In the book ''[[South Park and Philosophy: Bigger, Longer, and More Penetrating]]'', an essay by [[Southern Illinois University]] philosophy professor [[Randall Auxier]], entitled "Killing Kenny: Our Daily Dose of Death", suggests that the fashion of the recurring gag serves to help the viewer become more comfortable with the inevitability of their own death.<ref name=green>{{cite news|last=Staff|title=Philosophy Speaker Presents "Killing Kenny: Our Daily Dose of Death"|work=GMC Journal|publisher=[[Green Mountain College]]|date=February 5, 2007|url=http://www.greenmtn.edu/gmcjournal/journal020507.asp|access-date=February 8, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219061104/http://www.greenmtn.edu/gmcjournal/journal020507.asp|archive-date=February 19, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/life-style/books/just-killing-kenny-or-ontological-boredom/ |title=Just killing Kenny or ontological boredom? |access-date=March 5, 2009 |last=Marchetto |first=Sean |date=December 6, 2007 |work=Fast Forward Weekly |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119082531/http://www.ffwdweekly.com/article/life-style/books/just-killing-kenny-or-ontological-boredom |archive-date=November 19, 2008 }}</ref> In the book ''South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today'', [[University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point]] professor Karin Fry wrote an essay concerning the parallels between Kenny's role in the show and the different concepts of [[existentialism]].<ref name=philo4>{{cite book|editor-last=Arp|editor-first=Robert |author=Fry, Karin |title=South Park and Philosophy: You Know, I Learned Something Today|url=https://archive.org/details/southparkphiloso00arpr_339|url-access=limited|publisher=Blackwell Publishing (The Blackwell Philosophy & Pop Culture Series)|date=December 1, 2006|pages=[https://archive.org/details/southparkphiloso00arpr_339/page/n88 77]–86|isbn=978-1-4051-6160-2}}</ref>

When Sophie Rutschmann of the [[University of Strasbourg]] discovered a mutated gene that causes an adult [[Drosophila melanogaster|fruit fly]] to die within two days after it is infected with certain bacteria, she named the gene "Kenny" in honor of the character.<ref name=fruitfly>{{cite news|author=Thomas H. Maugh II|title=Playing the Name Game|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=August 5, 2002|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-05-sci-genes5-story.html|access-date=May 5, 2009|archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221180551/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-aug-05-sci-genes5-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref>