10 Most Controversial South Park Moments
5. Censorship
An ambitious two parter covering the South Park team’s dislike of Family Guy and the Danish cartoon depictions of Muhammad, Cartoon Wars led to one of Parker and Stone’s biggest rifts with their network, Comedy Central.
The story revolves around Family Guy courting controversy by announcing they’ll be airing a depiction of the prophet Muhammad, causing consternation in the Muslim world. Cartman, who loathes Family Guy, intends on using the furore to have the show cancelled, while the rest of the town plan on literally burying their heads in the sand to avoid retribution.
The saga was supposed to build to a conclusion in which Muhammad’s depiction was incredibly benign, the whole thing a fuss over nothing. The writers’ creed against censorship was blunted, however, by Comedy Central’s refusal to air the image.
More annoying still to Parker and Stone was that an earlier episode, Super Best Friends, depicted Muhammad uncensored and continued to do so in reruns. The complaints fell on deaf ears, though, and Cartoon Wars, along with another two parter which revisits the whole affair, remains excluded from some streaming services.