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

[CoolBreeze]

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."

A Comedy Central spokesperson confirmed it was the network's decision to bleep the words.

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.

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.

http://livefeed.hollywoodreporter.com/2 ... ship-.html

Another article:
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id ... _article=1

[lastone]

Isn't this called "Terroristic Threatening", Illegal in this country, investigated by the FBI with arrests made and people brought to court? Or is this Iran?
Oh, wait....the Deme-Nazis are in control now! Never mind.

[Lee]

I watched the episode and figured it was Trey and Matt's way of poking fun at the recent "threats", because if you look up the episode on southparkstudios.com, it's not viewable due to "network censorship" or something.

[AmpedNow]

I think people really are scared of these Islamo-nuts because they have proven themselves crazy enough to actually kill people who offend them.

We need to offend them in sheer numbers. It's easy to threaten sporadic offenders... But if people offend them by the millions, they are powerless.

Hell, they already hate us anyway. What's an extra Muhammad in a bear costume?

[Lester]

Seriously... After 8 years of Bush administration and the libs constantly declaring "<if 'x' happens> the terrorists win"... now it's really happened. A cable television broadcast, where "shit", "asshole", "blowjob" and "God damn it" are now the norm just edited a broadcast because terrorists threatened them.

Hey Libs, where's the outrage?

[Bob Campbell]

Seriously... After 8 years of Bush administration and the libs constantly declaring "<if 'x' happens> the terrorists win"... now it's really happened. A cable television broadcast, where "shit", "asshole", "blowjob" and "God damn it" are now the norm just edited a broadcast because terrorists threatened them.

Hey Libs, where's the outrage?

Totally with you on this Lester. I am outraged ( if it's not all just a stunt, in which case, cool!).

[Lester]

Anyone see the opening of The Simpson's last night?

"Dear South Park. We'd stand with you if we weren't so scared."

[Bob Campbell]

Sweet.

[CoolBreeze]

Christians and Jews (and the other misc) are an easy mark around the world, and especially this country. It appears that The Comedy Network sees nothing wrong with denigrating most folks religion and goes out of their way to do so. They fear little from the general public... even thumbing their noses at them.

Except apparently for one portion of the public.... The Muslims.

The Comedy Network obviously doesn't have the balls to stand up against them. The Comedy Network is as flaccid as an old man now. Total weenies instead of the cutting edge programming that they'd like you to believe. I'm not real crazy about Comedy Central making the kinds of fun they have about religious icons. But unless everyone's included, it actually pisses me off.

As far as Muhammad: There are thousands of images of him on the internet. According to this page:

While some Muslims hold beliefs that it is against Islam to make images of the Prophet, others have more relaxed attitudes, and among Shia Muslims, such pictures are common, and much liked.


http://www.hf.uib.no/i/religion/popular ... hib02.html

So screw Comedy Central and their hypocrites.... backwards.

[Jay Nunley]

Hey Libs, where's the outrage?

Outrage over a cable network choosing not to air something? The only outrage related to this subject from this Lib was the government limiting free speech because religious folk wanted them to.

I saw this episode, by the way. I swear I thought the whole thing was a joke. When Tom Cruise gained Muhammed's power to not be made fun of, his image became a black "censored" rectangle too. This told me it was part of the joke as the did the elongated beeping out of the speech at the end.

Apparently, this is not the case.

I think the network douchebags who made this call are cowards, but I'm not sure why you are looking for outrage. Please explain.

[The People's DJ]

If they really wanted to piss off the towel heads (yeah, I went there), they should have dressed him up as:



I wonder if the unedited version will be in the PlayStation store come Thursday?

[AmpedNow]

Damn. Looks like everyone is getting cold feet... Even the ones who originally came up with "Draw Muhammad Day".


http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washing ... rsial.html

On Friday, Norris told a radio talk show host in Seattle that she came up with the idea because "as a cartoonist, I just felt so much passion about what had happened..." noting that "it's a cartoonist's job to be non-PC."
That passion, it appears, has lessened. And fast.

Her stark website today reads: ""I am NOT involved in "Everybody Draw Mohammd [sic] Day!"

"I made a cartoon that went viral and I am not going with it. Many other folks have used my cartoon to start sites, etc. Please go to them as I am a private person who draws stuff," she writes.

It went viral, however, because she was the one who passed it around. Sending it to people like Dan Savage, a popular Seattle-based blogger and nationally syndicated sex advice columnist.

Once it became a national story she reeled back, asking Savage -- in an email he provided to The Ticket -- if he would "be kind enough to switch out my poster" with another one -- a much tamer version which has no images attributed to Muhammad.

"I am sort of freaked out about my name/image being all over the place," her e-mail reads.

He didn't change it, nor did he post the tamer version. Besides, after Savage posted it, many other sites picked it up including The Atlantic and Reason.
When asked about her change of heart, Norris told The Ticket that she didn't intend for the cartoon "to go viral."

Then why did she send the cartoon to the media in the first place? "Because I'm an idiot," Norris replied.

"This particular cartoon of a 'poster' seems to have struck a gigantic nerve, something I was totally unprepared for," she said.

She doesn't appear to be alone. The creator of a Facebook page dedicated to the day has bowed out as well. Jon Wellington told the Washington Post (before abandoning ship) that he created the page because he "loved [Norris's] creative approach to the whole thing -- whimsical and nonjudgmental."

This continuing saga has to be worth at least one more SP episode...

[Lester]

So the abortion clinic bombers had it right, just not enough numbers?

[fearpeddler]

who's takin part in "everyone draw muhammed day"?.....

http://www.mynorthwest.com/?nid=11&sid=313170#

[Lester]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/opini ... ef=general