In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. Parker and Stone reportedly received death threats in response to the episodes.Ĭomedy Central also censored "201," which at the time prompted Parker and Stone to slam the network: "In the 14 years we've been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind.
Series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone revisited the subject of censorship in episodes "200" and "201," the latter being deemed particularly incendiary and which saw Comedy Central beefing up security around their offices. These episodes were produced following the protests and violence sparked by Danish newspaper cartoon depictions of Muhammad, as well as the assassination of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh by a Muslim man who objected to van Gogh's short film Submission: Part 1.
The episodes explored the themes of censorship, free speech, and fear, but were also censored by Comedy Central to remove any on-screen depictions or mentions of Muhammad.
South Park then explored, in its own very meta way, the furor over depicting the prophet in the two-parter "Cartoon Wars," which chronicled the uproar over a cartoon's (in this case, Family Guy) attempt to broadcast an uncensored version of the Prophet Muhammad. In the episode, titled 'Band in China,' Randy Marsh travels to China to sell marijuana from his farm in the Chinese market. In IGN's "Super Best Friends" review, we said, "While this isn't one of South Park's best episodes of all time, it stands out because of the sheer audacity of incorporating just about all of the world's major religions in one silly joke." A scene from the 'Band in China' episode of 'South Park.' Comedy Central. Even so, the episode aired without much controversy in 2005 and was only censored in later years. Unlike the Cartoon Wars episodes, 200 and 201 feature no speechifying interludethe moment, traditionally, when Parker and Stone risk underestimating our intelligence and lay. Season 14s 200 and 201, season 10s Cartoon Wars Part I and Part II, and season fives Super Best Friends, are not. "Super Best Friends" portrayed a superhero team made up of religious figures such as Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Krishna, and Muhammad, the latter being strictly prohibited from being figuratively depicted in Islam. However, HBO Max will not stream other controversial episodes of South Park.