South Park’s fall season begins this week with a new gimmick: Tourette’s syndrome.

In the premiere episode, Cartman discovers the joys of having Tourette’s syndrome. Drunk with the power of saying whatever he wants without getting in trouble for it, Cartman lines up national TV coverage to take advantage of his new life with no filters.

Series co-creator Matt Stone says the scenario is so natural, “we wondered why we hadn’t thought of it before.”

Good question, because the scenario was the basis of an entire season of “Big Brother” in the UK last year, in which the winning contestant on the reality show had Tourette’s. Some criticized series organizers for exploiting the young man’s condition — including involuntary use of strong language — to entertain viewers, but others saw Pete Bennett as a role model.

From the Kansas City Star:

It’s called “Tic Talk: Living with Tourette Syndrome, a 9-year-old Boy’s Story in his Own Words,’ and it’s in its second printing. Dylan Peters is ten now, but he’s still a publishing phenomenon. Next week he delivers the keynote at the 2007 National Conference of the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada in Niagara Falls. He says he used to hide his disorder, but no more.