In light of the recent ”South Park” episode on April 12 regarding the censoring of Mohammed in a parody of “Family Guy,” National Review Online’s Media Blog had this to say:

I’m not sure if it’s been reported yet, but for what it’s worth, I just got off the phone with a Comedy Central spokesman. I asked him about last night’s episode of South Park in which, at a moment right before the prophet Mohammed was supposed to make a cameo, the words, “Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network” appeared on the screen.

I asked him whether this truly was Comedy Central’s decision or whether this was just another gag (with South Park, you never know). He said:

“They reflected it accurately. That was a Comedy Central decision.”

Just in case there was any confusion, that settles it. Comedy Central censored the image.

Captain’s Quarters reports briefly what the episode was about:

The final episode of the Cartoon Wars satire aired tonight, and it started off by faking the audience briefly into thinking that Matt Stone and Trey Parker had satirized Comedy Channel by announcing that Part II had been pre-empted by a Terrence & Phillip episode. When the flatulent duo encountered a censored Mohammed on horseback, we knew that the game was most certainly on.

This was a worthy follow-up to last week’s hilarious and provocative episode. South Park brought in Bart Simpson as a foil for both Kyle and Cartman and continued using George Bush to score points on the media. Check out the show’s dead-on rendition of a White House press conference, complete with the gaggle accusing Bush of sneaking a previously unknown right to free speech on them.

Does Cartman succeed in stopping Family Guy from airing its Mohammed episode? You can bet that in the end, Kyle will argue for freedom and common sense, but the results will surprise you. And wait until you see what Osama and Ayman have in mind for retaliation against the US if Fox actually airs the image of Mohammed.

Further, Michelle Malkin says:

Me, I was just happy to see someone, anyone, in the pop culture world confront some of the fundamental issues raised by the Cartoon Jihad for a mainstream American audience.

The Associated Press’ David Bauder wrote about the controversy surrounding this episode of South Park in ‘South Park’ Creators Skewer Own Network:

NEW YORK — Banned by Comedy Central from showing an image of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the creators of “South Park” skewered their own network for hypocrisy in the cartoon’s most recent episode.

The comedy - in an episode aired during Holy Week for Christians - instead featured an image of Jesus Christ defecating on President Bush and the American flag.

“South Park” creators Trey Parker, left, and Matt Stone pose at their offices in Los Angeles on Oct. 14, 2005. Banned by Comedy Central from showing an image of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the creators of “South Park” skewered their own network for hypocrisy in the cartoon’s most recent episode.

In an elaborately constructed two-part episode of their Peabody Award-winning cartoon, “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker intended to comment on the controversy created by a Danish newspaper’s publishing of caricatures of Muhammad. Muslims consider any physical representation of their prophet to be blasphemous.

When the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers worldwide in January and February, it sparked a wave of protests primarily in Islamic countries.

Parker and Stone were angered when told by Comedy Central several weeks ago that they could not run an image of Muhammad, according to a person close to the show who didn’t want to be identified because of the issue’s sensitivity.

The network’s decision was made over concerns for public safety, the person said.

Comedy Central said in a statement issued Thursday: “In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision.” Its executives would not comment further.

South Park

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