They didn't grab the brass ring, but they certainly reached.īeyond that, Comedy Central's decision boosts the episode's thematic impact. Parker and Stone's punishment is that they get to stand out in a wasteland of imitators. Their willingness to show a depiction of Muhammad would be the apex of the show's chutzpah, but by censoring the images, Comedy Central gets to appear to be the socially responsible organization while allowing Parker and Stone to maintain their bad-boy image-an image that is burnished, not dulled, by the rap on the knuckles. Now that South Park has raised the "outrageousness" bar, they have to top themselves again and again. It's not enough today to lob insults at barely fictionalized characters as in a roman à clef the more-is-more satire of today demands the mauling of celebrities and even religious figures, specifically and by name. Now, thanks in part to the show's success, no-holds-barred satire has become the rule rather than the exception. What better way to solidify South Park's image as the ultimate counterculture cartoon than to give it an oppressive force to work against? When South Park debuted, there was nothing on the air like it. It was, for Comedy Central, a brilliant decision in 2006, and equally brilliant now. In response to an Internet threat directed at the South Park duo this week, history repeated itself in the episode "201," as South Park made references to Muhammad that were censored or bleeped before air, and the original, uncensored version has been withheld from online streaming sites. Despite the violence and threats that followed those cartoons, Parker and Stone were determined to show an illustration of Muhammad, but were ultimately censored by Comedy Central. That was certainly the case in the 2006 episode "Cartoon Wars," based on the violent aftermath of the illustrations of Muhammad published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. There are no subjects, no public figures, no cows so sacred that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone won't lampoon them, and it seems as though they take pleasure in satirizing subjects for no other reason than that other people don't dare go near them. From episode one, South Park has staked its reputation on being the show that goes there, consistently and thoroughly.