Archive for Comedy Central
‘South Park’ Season 14 Episode 6 ’201′ Recap
Posted by: | CommentsThis episode was a continuation of the 200th episode and definitely a treat for those who have been following ‘South Park’ for the past 14 years. There were a myriad of references to several famous episodes and while the ending could have been better (I would have tried to incorporate Imaginationland), the two-parter was satisfying overall.
In fact, thinking more about it, certain aspects of the show’s history were conspicuously absent. But like Tom Cruise avoiding the press, they only had less than an hour to cram in as much as they could.
There is the question of the censorship of both the image and name of Muhammad and whether or not the extremely censored ending was intentional on the part of the creators or yet another case of network interference.
The censorship got worse. Not only did they not show the image of Muhammad … they couldn’t even say his name! It had to be bleeped out. They even bleeped out the entire final “lesson” of the episode. WTF? Were Trey Parker and Matt Stone trying to make a point or was it just a case of screwing with the minds of everyone? Will the DVD have the uncensored version? It’s one of those controversial ‘Sopranos’-style endings that will keep people talking.
The lesson of the episode, had it not been completely censored, was that nothing should be free from criticism. It’s unfortunate that Comedy Central could not apply that lesson. I’m assuming it was network interference that was responsible for all the bleeping. I hope I’m wrong.
Do you think the Christian community will be up in arms about Jesus being shown surfing for Internet porn?
It was nice to see a lot of old faces. Pip became irrelevant after his role was pretty much usurped by Butters, so his death is long overdue. Plus, to have some impact in this anniversary two-parter, someone had to die.
The more I think about it, the more the revelation of Cartman’s father seemed irrelevant. It was unnecessary to pursue that mystery as the audience really didn’t need an answer (although the answer did somewhat go along with Cartman’s dream sequence from ‘The City on the Edge of Forever’). However, as an excuse for the return of Scott Tenorman (taking on the persona of The Joker), it was brilliant. Whomever planned that sequence must have read the graphic novel ‘The Killing Joke.’ And points to me for being enough of a comics nerd to get the reference.
The Super Best Friends Power Cycles were Segways. Pure genius.
Some highlights of great quotes are: “Sorry is just another four-letter word with a ‘y’ on the end.” “Tom Cruise has Seaman on his back.” “Swallow, come.”
The 200th and 201st episodes were a great celebration of the history and cultural impact of ‘South Park.’ It was nice to see Mephisto and Kevin again. And Raisins. And the Country Kitchen Buffet. And Tweek’s Coffee. And the Casa Bonita. And Raisins. And Willzyx. And Santa. And Mr. Hankey. Still, they missed a lot of history: Wendy Testaburger, Imaginationland, Satan.
Watch ’201′ Episode Online
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Matt and Trey Respond to Censored ‘South Park’
Posted by: | CommentsComedy Central is not taking a risk of them getting killed by a radical Muslim group so they censored the “South Park” bit which was deemed an insult to the religion’s Prophet Muhammad. Two recent episodes of the satirical animation featured the holy figure in bear costume which Revolution Muslim took as an insult. The group quickly responded with a message on their official website.
The post, written by Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee, said, “We have to warn [creators] Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker] that what they are doing is stupid, and they will probably wind up like Theo van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.” van Gogh is a Dutch film maker who was killed by an Islamic extremist in 2004.
Matt and Trey’s defense was, “It wasn’t some meta-joke on our part.” The duo who is known for working last minutes to gather an episode, wanted to celebrate the show’s 200th episode with every significant characters including Tom Cruise, Barbra Streisand, Jesus, Buddha and Moses. But they had difficulty in bringing the character of Islamic leader so they put him in a bear costume.
Although a member of Revolution Muslim said their posting was a prediction rather than a threat, Comedy Central preferred to play it safe. About 35 seconds of dialog between the cartoon characters of Kyle, Jesus Christ and Santa Claus was bleeped out in the Wednesday, April 21 episode.
Matt and Trey have commented on the censorship, writing on their official site, “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.”
