South Park Episode 201: Comedy Central Censored Mohammed
April 22, 2010 by Sandy Winterfield · 231 Comments
South Park Studios has caught attention once more after they aired their latest episode, Episode 201. This is the 6th episode of the fourteenth season of South Park, and the 201st overall episode of the series.
Originally, Mohammed, the Islam Prophet is part of the scene. However, producers decided to censor the prophet’s face as well as his name all throughout the episode. In Islam, their Prophet’s name is of high regard and depicting him in anyway is prohibited. Some viewers were disappointed about censoring it. Quoted from a comment in a south park topic forum escapistmagazine.com, “censoring Muhammad for the sake of a satirical poke at the hypocrisy that is freedom of speech, Matt and Trey missed an enormous opportunity to make statement that would have had more meaning and impact on the world then anything that have ever done or will ever do”. He added also in his comment paraphrasing a statement of the episode’s preview “If you don’t show Muhammed, then south park will be gone forever”. A counter reaction to his comment was then given and it says “i believe you are expecting too much from them though. Seriously, they are not trying to be social commentators. They are just there to make light of serious issues. They don’t ever try to make a point, they try to be funny.”
You can watch the preview of Episode 201 in southparkstudious.com. When I clicked Watch the Full Episode button, this statement appeared, WE APOLOGIZE THAT SOUTH PARK STUDIOS CANNOT STREAM EPISODE 201 AT THIS TIME. AFTER WE DELIVERED THE SHOW, AND PRIOR TO BROADCAST, COMEDY CENTRAL PLACED NUMEROUS ADDITIONAL AUDIO BLEEPS THROUGHOUT THE EPISODE. WE DO NOT HAVE NETWORK APPROVAL TO STREAM OUT ORIGINAL VERSION OF THE SHOW. WE WILL BRING YOU A VERSION OF 201 AS SOON AS WE CAN.. It means we need to stay tune.
For those who were able to watch it in Comedy Central, feel free to share your reactions about the episode.
I was highly disappointed in watching the episode on tv and even more disappointed when I went to watch it online this morning and could not. Not only have they not given a potential online date for the episode but they have also pulled all but the 1st episode 14th season from airing online until May. This is not how it has been in the past… in fact I watched episode 200 last Thursday online as it has always been. The “bleeping” that Comedy Central did to the episode made it almost unwatchable and it is a bit ridiculous.
“They don’t ever try to make a point, they try to be funny.”
If that is really what you think, then what are you doing watching the show? Tremendous let down by Comedy Central. Terrorists 2, Freedom of Speech 0. And I say terrorists not in the red neck I hate all Muslims sense, rather in the we will kill the creators of the show if they air this image sense.
If they don’t show Muhammad South Park will be done forever? I don’t think so. They will be around for a while to come. The show is damn funny and just because they didn’t show Muhammad’s face doesn’t mean they are doomed as a show. And sure they are making light of serious issues, but they do often make a point. During most episodes they have that little heart warming speech by one of the characters. They usually express valid moral points that try to suppress the often critical way of viewing things. I really wish I could have heard it in episodes 201, but sadly, I heard the longest bleed in TV history.
Ya so I dont understand why am I being bleeped I want to hear my name damnit…
That’s stupid. If I’m not mistaken, from the 9th season, most of their episodes have had a social message. The continuous bleeping at the end of the episode was so damn annoying. Buddhists haven’t even given a rat’s ass about the fact that Buddha was shown to smoke pot. I, as a Hindu, was actually laughing when Krishna transformed into that actor. I don’t understand why Muslims are such bigots! Stupid whinies!
Comedy Central is a bunch of f***ing cowards.
Way to completely trash a good show.
I pay to watch this stuff and can’t even watch it. I want comcast and comedy central to pay up..
They’ve already showed him so why can’t they do it again?
I thought the beeping ruined the whole episode… I mean come on let’s be realistic. They weren’t showing Muhammed. What is the problem. It is funny. It really is funny.
What a sad day that our constitutional guarantee of free speech takes a back seat to extremist threats. This is a secular country, and our laws are not subject to the constraints of your religion. Get over it.
The constant bleeping added a level of humor, but the fact that comedy central did it and not Matt and Trey takes that away. My friend thinks that the reason they bleeped the whole lesson is that it was talking about CC doing that and not being man enough to show the episodes uncensored.
judging on the history of south park, i think the whole beeping thing was intentional.
its what they’ve always done. no one could surely believe that there was anything being said at the last speeches anyway (the way each character agreed with each other, its just so obvious its all a joke).
watch some old episodes.
Try to do the same with Hindu gods and see them taking Comedy Central to the courts.
Why intentionally bring out what people across the world may not like to be telecasted..
If thats the case then make south park Jesus Series n poke satirical fun at Jesus and Mother Mary Et Al..
Screwed sense of humour u guys have..
Matt Stone and Trey Parker ARE social commentators, and frequently make strong satirical comments. however, they really can’t do anything if their hands are tied by Comedy Central. They have made this point already in the Cartoon Wars episode. I am most impressed with the juxtaposition they made by showing Buddha sniffing cocaine. Buddhists don’t find that offensive, because their convictions aren’t so weak as to be shaken by a cartoon. If Islam was the true religion, it wouldn’t have anything to hide- instead its members kill people that point out flaws in their religion.
I’m pretty sure the giant bleeping out of ‘what they learnt that day’ and then Stan going ‘yeeah’ was a joke, at least i found it funny.. Also i think it’s easier to sit behind your computer screen and get angry about them pulling out, but the reality is if you were in their position you wouldn’t want to risk getting killed just to make a point about free speech either, it’s really not worth dying over.
Yah they showed him already on the 2 parter called “cartoon wars”. Season 10 episodes 3 and 4. Wtf? CC? The whole episode was about what wud happen to family guy if they didn’t show mohmmed! What dumb asses!
I was so dissapointed when they censored muhammed out. I really didnt expect this from south park..
“If they don’t show Muhammad South Park will be done forever?”
Is in reference to an episode they did awhile ago. Family Guy is going to show an image of Muhammad, and they are refusing to be sensored. Cartman is trying to get them sensored because every show in the past that has allowed themselves to be sensored has shortly there after been canceled.
Perhaps it is a serious comment but I am sure it is a referance to the past episode.
IT IS TIME TO TAKE A STAND!!!
Post pictures of Muhammad EVERYWHERE in your cities, Use your freedom of protest and protest against this dangerous radical thinking! It is time to take a stand and take down terrorism at home. TAKE A STAND FOR FREE SPEECH!!!!
Jesus looking at internet porn.. thats Ok.
Bhudda doing lines of coke. Thats Ok.
Saying mohammed = bleeped? Fucking cowards.
I found the bleeping an effective way to emphasize the difference between reality of my view of the “typical” United States citizen and the reality of radical Islam. What we infidels take for granted as free speech and comedy, radical Islam says is equal to shooting a baby in the face, and other heinous crimes. The solid 30 seconds of beeping illustrates, to me, that Radical Islam does not want you to think, simply to do as they say.
Frightening thought of the day: Islam .com claims 25% of the population is Muslim. If that is true that means around 1.6billion people are Muslim. If ½ percent of these Muslims are radical that means that there are 8 million people that may believe that drawing “censored for my safety” is a crime worthy of death. (That is more than the individual population of 39 of the 50 states).
Sobering.
Put another win up on the boards for terrorist! As long as we bury our heads in the sand and not stand up for our Firt Amendment right we will eventually loose it. Give in to the demands of one terrorist group and we will find ourselves giving into the demands of others…..and I thought our nation doesn’t negotiate with terrorist?
I think critics are missing the larger picture. There were no bleeps of Jesus Christ or the other religious deities (Krishna) or the phrase “Jesus Christ” or variations of it. From this lack of bleeps is a lesson to the Muslims, especially terrorists, that making fun of the prophet Muhammad opens the religion, and some of its finer details, to open debate. Christians may dislike the usage of Jesus Christ in South Park but it allows people to learn about Christianity in an unbiased angle (say from going to Church). I think the creators may have been going for this lesson or trying to focus more on how celebrities should loosen up.
As far as Comedy Central and the censor-shipping goes, is it worth it? Terrorists are so unbalanced that I think it’s worth the potentially saved lives to have censored the episode.
“They don’t ever try to make a point, they try to be funny.”
I’m a huge South Park fan, and I’ve seen every episode and listened to the commentary on DVD on about every episode (no, I don’t have a life.) These guys start out making political points and then try to be funny afterwards. In fact, while they were making Team America, they kept having to re-edit it to make it funnier because it was too political. That’s why they’re always poking fun at themselves for being too preachy and up their own asses. I’ve also read that they’ve made enough money and they have dreams of doing other things and that they don’t really care if the show goes on. In fact, I just saw that they have a live show opening on broadway. Maybe South Park will be done. I’d quit if I were them.
OK, we have intelligent, forward-thinking people with a sense of humor and compassion on one side……and the angry, narrow-minded, fear-mongering extremists on the other…….and me, being of the former COMPLETELY resent Comedy Central or anyone else acquiescing to the latter……..its not about religion, its about FEAR………this is a deep issue predicated by violent attacks between governments driven by certain ideologies…..I need everyone to GET OVER IT!!!
Its bullshit that you cant even say “muhammed”. I understand the thinking behind not showing him, but not being able to say his name? terrible. Can i even write his name without being censored? where does it end?
I think Cumaran got the point. When religious symbols are ridiculed e.g. Joseph Smith, Moses etc.., secular society doesn’t bat an eye. I think that’s one of the points the South Park creators were trying to make. They can show other religous figures doing outrageous things and nobody cares, but even mentioning Mohammed elicits death threats. Like it or not, some Islamic groups rule by fear. Do secular westerners respect Islam enough to not show Mohammed on TV?….I doubt it. Are they afraid of getting themseleves or others killed?..absolutely!
Why the hell can’t they even say Muhammad? That is so stupid. It’s the most common name in the world, litterally!! Why the hell is Comedy Central so afraid to air this episode uncensored? Do they actually believe they will be bombed by Muslims? If Muslims don’t like it they can watch something else damnit! I want to know what the damn punchline of the two-part episode was, not hear a full minute and a half of censorship beeping. You know, maybe I’ll start bombing people if I don’t get my way then everyone will be too scared to make fun of me too. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
I’m just pissed off by the fact I can’t watch the episode I waited a week and couldn’t see the episode on comedy central because I don’t receive it. I hate this f***ing bullshit about muhammed I don’t think that muslims would be offended when they would show him only they are not allowed to show him! I hate this f***in Terrorist bulls**t
I hate comedy central. If they are going to censor Muhammad, they better censor Jesus Christ as well. To depict Jesus is to depict God and it is strictly forbidden in the Bible. Yes, you see depictions in church, but it is accepted because it is in conjunction with worship…not explotation. I would rather not see comedy central censor anything, but if they are going to censor one they better censor all of it because there is just as good a reason for it.
http://www.stuartpattico.com/imagesofjesus.htm
If the intetnion of Southpark creators was to p*ss me off than it’s worked.
That is p*ss me off about Comedy Central and anyone else who advocates this censorship.
I’m not Muslim, Comedy Central aren’t Muslim so why can’t they show Mohammid.
Because they are scared of terrorists!? – then the terrorists have won haven’t they. I’m not going to rest in making images of Mohammid and putting them wherever I can until the full episode is shown.
Southpark must have known beforehand that those bleeps would be put in – good on them.
They are genius in comedy but the moral points are just as genius – this one is particularly important – showing an image of Mohammid is crucial to the extreme.
Southpark has the balls and Comedy Central don’t – if Comedy Cetral change their minds about censoring this episode I would respect them forever.
ps – not putting my real name cus I don’t want to get bombed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pussies
I hate seeing muslims as terrorists. People always comment on things without knowing real side of the issues. Yes, there is many terrorists in middleeast and many of them are muslims, but that doesn’t mean muslims are terrorist. It is about the problems of middle-east, not of the islamic world. If there would be people from other religions in middle-east, would they be terrorists? No. Cmon people, dont be such sleepy, notice how this works. (this is not about the episode, but this is about the topic of episode)
It was a joke. People just need to grow the hell up.
this is just another attack on the freedom of speech stupid fuckers use terrorism against us and we are stupid enough to fall for it we allow terrorism to work i waited 7 fucking days for this shit after the first 2 bleeps i closed the video this really was the perfect moment to show everyone on the plannet that everybody is equel no matter whats the religion cartoonwars part 2 either it’s all oke or nothing is. if i where in charge there wouldn’t be a middle east cause i would nuke it time for world war 3 but this time kill all moslims?!
Are you all idiots? Mohammed was censored for a reason.. to make the episode more funny. The beeping at the end was intentional, there never was an “original” version without the beeping. The ending would have been lame if there has been some “we learnt something today…” lesson, the beeping made it hilarious.
Okay theyve Show The Muslim Phofit Befor in the Super Best Friends ( Season Five ) So Why Can They not be Pussy And Show The Fucking Guy Its Just Him Wereing a Turbin
Why the hypocrisy? It’s ok to ridicule and offend every other faith besides Islam? Seriously? Why does comedy central think it’s ok to offend Christians, Mormans, Buddhists, and Seamans, but not muslims? That’s bigotry, and highly offensive! Shame on them. I guess if you are willing to get violent to defend your faith, then people will have respect for you. Is that the message that Comedy Central is trying to get across? They’ve succumbed to intimidation. What cowards.
Pulling an episode because someone is offended starts a chain reaction. You’ll have to pull more and more episodes until the show goes off the air completely. It’s what happened to Laverne & Shirley.
Seriously, you can still see Muhammed in the Super Best Friends episode on the Comedy Network video player. They still show him in it uncensored but now it is a big deal to show him in a new one! Buhda was doing coke in the show and there is no backlash about it. F@#$ extremists.
I dont get home in time to watch south park at 10 i got to catch it at 12 the replay show for 2 years i have always done this. last nite i get home and it is the scrottie mcbooger balls episode. i was pissed i got online and found out everybody was all stupid over the episode, this show has helped build comedy central into what it is, piss on the station for this and piss on who ever got upset about it and im tired of people blowing up other people in the name of invisible people. grow up and stop beliving in fairytales and just watch the F’n show.
Very disappointed. Comedy central kowtowed to terrorists. Slice it any way you like, but that is what happened.
Everyone needs to take stock of what happened the evening Episode 201 was aired; Comedy Central censored two men’s freedom of speech in the name of fear and intimidation.
I realize the network did not pick this fight, but how it reacts is no small matter in a nation that is supposed to cherish its freedoms of expression.
@ abx um maybe it was because super best friends was aired before 9/11
and there wasnt much hate twords muslims before that… he was a friging super hero in that episode but im sorry i forgot that there are to many ignorant people in this world..
The bleeping was done on purpose.
This is such bullshat! I’m so effing pissssed! I waited all week for this episode and i woke up this morining,looked on my tivo and it wasn’t there! I couldn’t even watch it online! Those fucking terrorists,man! Seriously,they don’t have anything else better to do,do they? What? They just sit around all day channel surfing to see if anyone’s offending them? Comedy Central fucking trashed South Park! Dude,it’s just mega fucked and Comedy Central and those wussy ass terrorists can go fuck themselves. Really.
What the hell? ABX you are so right! They already did show him. If this is some kind of joke! I am not laughing! I know muslims take their religion very seriously, but so do Christians! You did not hear us griping when South Park called Christians retards and made fun of Jesus’s miracles! Muslims are such bigots! Tell me if you can find Christian, jewish, hindu, or daoist terrorists!
An episode with prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in it? thats so stupid! i really liked south park but what was the need for this? its clear that depicting images of prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is prohibited in Islam so why try to do it? They should respect people’s beliefs and views and should not have put him on the show in the first place.
Wait… The Escapist doesn’t have a south park topic forum, it’s a gaming website….
Is this not just another way of South Park itself in cooperation with Comedy Central to draw attention?
Just like the last time that they wanted to reveal Eric’s real dad…
They pulled another episode instead of the second one where they revealed that his mom was actually his dad.
This time it was this bleeping censored show to get everybody their attention.
I really wonder what the new version will be like :p
slim.jim, you obviously haven’t used southparkstudios.com for the previous seasons, otherwise you would know that they HAVE taken the episode from the week before down for at least a month for the past couple seasons.. And I don’t blame Matt and Trey because their lives were threatened by the only people who I would actually take seriously on something like that. So quit bitching and making yourself look like an idiot