South Park Muhammad episode airs

[Flashermac]

Comedy Central's South Park included a representation of the Prophet Mohammed as a character this week despite a radical Muslim group's warning that its producers could be killed.

 

Mohammed appeared on Wednesday night's US episode of the cartoon with his body obscured by a black box, since Muslims consider a physical representation of their prophet to be blasphemous. Last week, the character was believed to be disguised in a bear costume. When that same costume was removed this week, Santa Claus appeared.

 

The bear costume had angered the New York-based group Revolution Muslim, which posted a message on its website saying that producers Trey Parker and Matt Stone had insulted their prophet.

 

The message included a gruesome picture of Theo Van Gogh, a Dutch filmmaker murdered by a Muslim extremist in 2004 after making a movie about a woman who rejected Mohammed's teachings. The message said the South Park producers would "probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh" for airing the show.

 

The posting included Comedy Central's New York address, as well as the address for Parker and Stone's California production studio.

 

Parker and Stone are known for waiting until the last minute before turning in fresh episodes. This week's episode contained no direct reference to the warning, although one inside joke could be interpreted as one.

 

During one scene, a mechanised Barbara Streisand robot is seen stomping through the town on a path of destruction. One voice is heard to say, "they've destroyed La Casa Bonita!"

 

"La Casa Bonita" is the name of Parker and Stone's production facility.

 

Comedy Central also censored 35 seconds worth of a conversation towards the end of the show between the characters Stan, Jesus Christ and Santa Claus. The network wouldn't say on Thursday whether this contained any reference to the events.

 

 

Link

[Steve]

You can expect some crazy cleric to issue a south park fatwa at any time. Not sure if I've seen a religion so devoid of self deprecating humor since scientology.

[LizardKing]

They already did, didn't they? It was censored because of that. Made me lose some respect for the SP guys.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2010/apr/22/south-park-censored-fatwa-muhammad

[Old Hippie]

SP guys may not control what is censored...Comedy Central might.

[LizardKing]

OK, fair enough...

[Flashermac]

'Muhammad' now a dirty word on 'South Park'

 

 

 

Now "South Park" can't even say the words "Prophet Muhammad."

 

After last week's episode of the Comedy Central series sparked a threat (and yes, it was certainly a threat) from a radical Islamic website, the network has cracked-down-for-their-own-good on creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone during last night's continuation of the show's storyline.

 

For those who missed the drama, the show's 200th episode last week mocked the one "celebrity" that the series has been largely unable to depict, the Prophet Muhammad, who was hidden from view in a bear costume.

 

A U.S.-based website RevolutionMuslim.com then warned Parker and Stone they could end up like Theo Van Gogh (the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered by Muslim extremists after depicting Muhammad on his show) and even posted the address of the show's production office. The site has since been shut down.

 

Last night, "South Park" continued the controversial Muhammad storyline, but with a key difference: every instance of the words "Prophet Muhammad" was bleeped out, making the episode practically incomprehensible, especially to anybody who missed the previous week.

 

The character of Muhammad was once again also hidden from view, covered by a large block labeled "censored."

 

[color:red]A Comedy Central spokesperson confirmed it was the network's decision to bleep the words.[/color]

 

The Muhammad content is also not available on the South Park Studios website.

 

A message on the site states: "We do not have network approval to stream our original version of the show. We will bring you a version of [episode] 201 as soon as we can."

 

Ironically, "South Park" apparently shows an image of the Prophet Muhammad briefly in its opening credits that has gone largely unnoticed.

 

 

 

Inshallah

[SpiceMan]

The world would be a better place without that evil brainwashing child mutilating death cult.

 

 

[Flashermac]

I didn't know South Park was a cult.

 

 

[shygye]

... it is a sect.

[USVirgin]

From the link you provided:

 

UPDATE: Parker and Stone comment on "South Park" censorship:

 

In the 14 years we've been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We'll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we'll see what happens to it.