The character is loosely based on "South Park" co-producer Eric Stough, whom Stone and Trey Parker regard as a "goody-goody" because of his reluctance to offend. The inspiration behind the major development of Butters' was, in the words of Parker and Stone, the geeky behavior that Stough irritated the aforementioned creators with during their production of the 1999 "South Park" TV-to-Film adaptation "" in the studio office of Paramount Pictures. Parker and Stone then decided to parody Stough's antics in the series by transferring it to the character of Butters and proceeding to write the episode "Two Guys Naked in a Hot Tub", which aired three weeks after "Bigger, Longer & Uncut" was released. The nickname "Butters" evolved from Parker and Stone calling Stough "little buddy" for about three years.