Focused around four friends (for the most part) in central Colorado, the show started by being a little zany and very crude (both in humor and design - the show was originally created using construction paper and stop-motion animation) and ended up serving as an important commentary on the world today. That’s not to mention the show’s various jokes on the likes of Scientology, Catholicism, and various religious figures that have aired without censorship.When South Park debuted in 1997, it’s doubtful that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone would know that they’d be creating episodes for over twenty years. The 2001 episode “Super Best Friends” which episodes 200 and 201 directly reference, features a fully drawn and animated Muhammad fighting alongside his fellow religious figures against an evil cult led by David Blaine. What’s really surprising is that the show has actually featured the prophet uncensored in previous episodes without nearly as much outrage. Another two-parter from 2006 entitled “Cartoon Wars” was similarly censored by Comedy Central, likewise covering up an image of the prophet Muhammad. Indeed, the 200th and 201st episodes were not South Park’s first encounter with censorship. “We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central, and they made a determination to alter the episode.” “In the 14 years we’ve been doing ‘South Park’ we’ve never done a show we couldn’t stand behind,” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker wrote in a statement regarding their near-banned episodes. Several versions of the original uncensored episode have since leaked online, but no official mention of the episode has since appeared from the network or from the show’s creators. Though not officially banned, it’s still nearly impossible to watch through any official channels. Not only that but South Park Studios, the show’s website which allows fans to watch nearly every episode, has so far not made it available to stream. Since it was first broadcast, Comedy Central has not once re-aired either episode. With criticism in the air and tensions still high, it’s no surprise that Episode 201, while publicly broadcast, was heavily censored with audio bleeps and black boxes. In previous controversies, depictions of the prophet Muhammad had led to censorship and even violence by severely radical Islamic groups. References to former controversies surrounding the depiction of the prophet in media were once again brought to the public’s attention. Why It Was Almost Bannedįollowing the release of the 200th episode, New York-based Islamic group “Revolution Muslim” harshly criticized the show in a post on their website saying it had “outright insulted” the prophet. To do this, the boys are forced to escort Muhammad, disguised in a bear costume, to the group of outraged celebrities.īefore the prophet is handed over, the other Super Best Friends arrive to save the day and a fight to save the town ensues, ending with the celebrities’ defeat and the prophet rescued. In episode 201, the trouble really begins when the celebrities demand that the prophet Muhammad transfer his superpowers to them. Partway through the episode, the town receives help from “The Super Best Friends,” a collective of religious figures from around the world which includes Jesus, the Buddha, and the prophet Muhammad among others.
![south park episode 201 uncensored stream south park episode 201 uncensored stream](https://decider.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/controversial-south-park.jpg)
Part one sets things in motion by unleashing nearly every celebrity the show had even poked fun at closing in on the town to take their revenge. In April of 2010, South Park was celebrating its 200th episode milestone with a two-parter that nearly ended everything. A South Park attraction at Comic-Con International | Daniel Knighton/FilmMagic