Row over Mohammed character

South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have taken a potshot at the Comedy Central network, after it banned them from showing an image of Mohammed.

The duo wanted to comment on the furore stirred up by the Danish newspaper which caricatured Mohammed, even though any representation of the prophet is considered blasphemous by Muslims.

But the network refused to let them show Mohammed, fearing for public safety, saying in a statement: ‘In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision.’

Parker and Stone instead chose to show an image that Christians, particularly Middle American ones, would consider far more blasphemous: Jesus Christ defecating on President Bush and the American flag.

And they made a thinly-veiled snipe at their own network.

The plot of Wednesday's episode paralleled the duo’s own experience by having  Kyle trying to persuade an executive from Fox network to air an episode of Family Guy that contained an image of Mohammed.

‘Either it's all OK, or none of it is,’ Kyle said.  ‘Do the right thing.’

The executive agrees to show it, but when Mohammed is due to be seen, the screen is filled with the message: ‘Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network.’ Then the images of Jesus appear on screen.

William Donohue of the Catholic League told CNN. ‘The ultimate hypocrite is not Comedy Central - that's their decision not to show the image of Mohammed or not -it's Parker and Stone.

‘Like little whores, they'll sit there and grab the bucks. They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus. That's their stock in trade.’

South Park most recently offended Catholics with an episode about a bleeding statue of the Virgin Mary, and took swipes at Scientology, causing Isaac Hayes to quit his role as Chef – sparking another anti-Scientologist episode.

South Park has previously depicted Mohammed – in the episode Super Best Friends, in which all the world’s religious figureheads united to defeat a cult headed by David Blaine. However, that episode –aired in July 2001 before 9/11 and America’s attacks on Iraq and Afghanistan - attracted little public outcry.

Published: 14 Apr 2006