George Clooney's Hilarious South Park Cameo You Might Have Missed

In the fourth episode of Season 1 — "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride" — George Clooney appeared as Stan's (Trey Parker) pet dog, Sparky, who, after constantly humping other male dogs, runs away to find a home that accepts him. While it seems unthinkable now, open discussion on homosexuality was a rare thing on television, making it understandably a subject Parker and Matt Stone happily tackled head-on, earning them immense praise. Phil Dyess-Nugent of The A.V. Club said, "If the first season of 'South Park' produced a masterpiece, it's 'Big Gay Al.'" What didn't get much credit, however, was Clooney as Sparky, mainly because his contribution to the show went only as far as barking.

A gag unto itself, Clooney's lines — consisting of a single onomatopoeia — still played a part in Stan helping the town embrace homosexuality and, in turn, its most iconic openly gay local, Big Gay Al (Matt Stone). The added star power was even pushed in anticipation of the episode airing, with Clooney's name being thrown around in commercials and even getting mentioned in the show's opening. From there, he voiced a role closer to his past credits when he starred as Dr. Gouache in the first feature film, "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut." By being so game for a laugh, it made sense that Parker and Stone mocked the actor in their other well-known feature film sometime later, which he took on his perfectly chiseled chin.