South Park Censored by Comedy Central

The offbeat creators of the hit Comedy Central show South Park have struck again, this time taking aim at their own network for not allowing them to use the image of the Prophet Muhammad in their most recent episode.

After caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad appeared in a Danish newspaper, causing massive protests and violent religious reactions around the world, Trey Parker and Matt Stone intended to use the image of Muhammad as fuel for more South Park related fodder. Comedy Central quickly sidestepped the issue by refusing to allow Parker and Stone to use the image on their network and instead the South Park creators took aim at two more influential figures, mixing the church and state with animated fun, as the BBC reports, "Instead, Wednesday's episode showed an image of Jesus Christ defecating on President George Bush and the US flag."

In a statement regarding the move, Comedy Central is standing by the South Park decision while creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have not issued a public response on the matter. According to E Online, "Wednesday's South Park, 'Cartoon Wars, Part 2,' was the concluding half of a story arc in which Family Guy, yes, the Fox animated series, causes international consternation when, in a familiar-sounding turn of events, it depicts Mohammed."

It appears that Trey Parker and Matt Stone can’t win with South Park no matter what moves are made, be it poking fun at Muhammad or Jesus Christ, as the duo have angered the religious anti-defamation organization, the Catholic League. According to the Associated Press, Catholic League spokesman, William Donohue took aim at South Park and creators Parker and Stone, "The ultimate hypocrite is not Comedy Central - that's their decision not to show the image of Muhammad or not - it's Parker and Stone,' he said. 'Like little whores, they'll sit there and grab the bucks. They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus. That's their stock in trade.'"

In recent weeks, Trey Parker and Matt Stone have had their fair share of battles regarding cast changes, Scientology, religion, and Tom Cruise.

First it was the departure of longstanding cast member Isaac Hayes. Isaac Hayes, renowned soul singer best known for singing the title theme to the popular cult classic Shaft, recently asked Comedy Central to release him from his contract on South Park. Hayes, who played the school’s cafeteria chef and local ladies’ man, Chef, had cited South Park’s inappropriate ridicule of religion as his reason for wishing to part ways from the successful Comedy Central show. As widely reported, Hayes is a devout Scientologist.

Scientology was one of the many religions, which South Park has lampooned, with religious groups such as Jews, Christians, Mormons, Muslims and others, being the target of crude criticisms from South Park’s creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. In the episode “Trapped in the Closet”, the children of South Park take a Scientology aptitude test. One of the four youngsters starring in the show, Stan Marsh, scores so highly on the test, Scientologists believe he is the re-incarnation of the religions founder, the late L. Ron Hubbard. Stan rejects the title, and when met by an animation of Tom Cruise, who like other Scientologists in the episode hail Stan to be their leader, Stan tells Tom Cruise that his acting sucks. The animated Cruise proceeds to run into a closet and hide, prompting calls from fans and friends for Tom Cruise to “come out of the closet.” At one point, fellow Scientologist John Travolta’s animated version enters the closet with Tom.

South Park, which hit the airwaves in 1997, is now in its tenth season. The first seven seasons have been released on DVD. The movie, South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, was a success at the box office, grossing $52 million on a $21 million budget, and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Song. Famous names appearing in the movie were George Clooney, Brent Spiner, Dave Foley, Eric Idle, and Minnie Driver. The series has had such guest voices as Michael Buffer, Jennifer Aniston, Cheech Marin and George Clooney.

[Additional Sources: BBC, E Online, Associated Press]

- Steve Taylor