This week's South Park is a continuation of last week's 200th episode. We were left hanging at the end of last week without word as to whether or not they were going to finish the story, but thankfully they are.
201
The identity of Cartman's dad is on everyone's mind despite threats from the ginger kids about Muhammad and enraged celebrities who have harnessed the power of Mecha Streisand.
The continuation of the epic 200th episode was actually pretty good. It continued the idea of bringing back old characters and other aspects of previous episodes, but did so without making it a normal clip show, which I thought was genius. I thought everything about the episode was good, but I still have a question... Did Comedy Central bow to the threats from the Muslim community and make Matt and Trey bleep out the use of the word Muhammad, or did they choose to do that? I know at the end of the episode that used the bleeps to continue a running joke by basically bleeping out what everyone learned during the 2 episodes, but I'm still not sure as to whether the word Muhammad was originally supposed to be bleeped. It just doesn't seem like Matt and Trey to bleep something, but I wouldn't put it past Comedy Central.
A few things before I'm done here. I loved how they turned Tom Cruise into a big "censored" bar after he stole Muhammad's goo, showing that he was now immune to being made fun of. And then as soon as Seaman jumped on his back and the kids made mention of it he turned back into Tom Cruise, since he thought he was being made fun of. Good stuff. I also loved the reveal of who Cartman's dad really was. The Scott Tenorman episode is probably my favorite episode of South Park ever, and to bring him back as the king Ginger and then have Cartman's dad turn out to be his dad was incredible. Cartman crying at the very end because he's 1/2 ginger was also good, but kind of predictable.
Overall I've enjoyed the 200-201 episodes that the guys put together and can only hope that we get to see 200 more episodes before the show's run is over.
Update: Just read a couple places that it was indeed Comedy Central's decision, not Matt and Trey, to add the bleeps to this week's South Park. I'm still not sure whether they added just the bleeps when the name Muhammad was mentioned or if they were also responsible for the very long bleeps at the end of the episode... either way, stop being pussies Comedy Central... seriously, what the fuck. South Park has been making fun of all religions since the inception of the show and you now decide that it's not OK to talk about Muhammad. I get that you refused to show his actual cartoon image after 9/11, but you had already showed him in human form in a previous episode in 2001. Ohh, but 9/11 happened and the world was a different place after that... Ok, do you not think that people have protested and made empty threats based on the depictions of other religious figures in South Park's history? For fuck sake, Buddha was snorting coke while Jesus was looking at internet porn last night... Do you really think that those images didn't offend anyone?
I understand it's your network and you have the right to pick and choose what makes it to air, but if you start giving into these empty threats from all these different groups, in regards to South Park, the show is going to turn to shit and Matt and Trey would be smart to take it to another network that will give them the freedom you used to give them. Hell, at this point they could probably be very successful if they just launched the show on the internet where they can have complete freedom over what they choose to show. I understand that the image of Muhammad was censored last night as it was in last week's episode and a previous episode before that, and the fact that Tom Cruise turned into a big "censored" bar was part of the joke, but the bleeping of the word "Muhammad" and the bleeping of almost the entire conclusion of the show was absolutely ridiculous and un-necessary. The threats were made against Trey and Matt, not the network, it should be up to those guys if they feel threatened to the point where they must give in to these demands, and you and I both know they would never give in.
So at least let them run the unedited version on their website so that those of us that are fans of the show can see, and hear, exactly what they intended us to see/hear. And I pray to God (Jesus, Moses, Buddha and the Seaman on Tom Cruise's back, along with the Kiken, Mecha Streisand) that you don't continue to edit these shows to the point that they are almost completely ruined.
Ugh, sorry for the rant, it just really annoyed me when I found out that it was Comedy Central that edited the bleeps into the episode and that they weren't intentional. I knew the "censored" bar was part of the gag, but the bleeps were absolutely unnecessary. Seriously, fuck, it wasn't even Muhammad in the bear costume, it was Santa Claus!
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