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Soul singer Isaac Hayes may have quit his job as the voice of Chef on "South Park" after a disagreement over religion, but his character will live on when the satiric cable TV cartoon returns to Comedy Central this week, the network said on Monday, March 20.
Hayes and his "South Park" alter ego are at the center of an ongoing flap over an episode last November that poked fun at the Church of Scientology and its celebrity adherents, including actor Tom Cruise.
The tenth season of "South Park" will launch on Wednesday with a new episode titled "The Return of Chef!," marking the "triumphant homecoming" of lusty school cafeteria cook James 'Chef' McElroy to the show, the network said in a statement.
Hayes, 63, himself a follower of Scientology, surprised producers a week ago by announcing he was leaving the series because he objected to its "inappropriate ridicule" of religion, though he made no reference to the show's spoof of Scientology last fall.
Two days later, Comedy Central abruptly pulled a scheduled repeat of that episode, titled "Trapped in the Closet." Sources close to the show said the rerun was canceled after Cruise threatened to boycott promotion of his upcoming film, "Mission: Impossible III," for sister studio Paramount Pictures.
Representatives for Cruise and the studio denied this. But "South Park" creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone fed the furor by issuing a statement suggesting the Church of Scientology was behind the decision to scrap the rerun. The network has also noted that various religions including Christianity, Judaism and Islam have been targets of the show's satire since its inception.
The network statement announcing Chef's return for the "South Park" season premiere this Wednesday, March 22 was a clear sign that Parker and Stone planned to use the Hayes imbroglio as further grist for their comedy. Both Comedy Central and Paramount are owned by Viacom Inc.
"Knowing these guys as I do, I can't imagine that they're not going to do just that," Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox told Reuters. He added that the producers routinely "turn around" new episodes in just six days, leaving them ample time to incorporate last week's dust-up into their season debut.
Isaac Hayes and his animated alter ego, Chef
Fox said he assumed someone besides Hayes would supply Chef's voice. Details of the new episode were vague. But a network synopsis said the fictional town of South Park, Colorado, is "jolted out of a case of the doldrums when Chef suddenly reappears," leading to new antics by the group of foul-mouthed fourth graders who are the show's stars.
"While Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman are thrilled to have their old friend back, they notice that something about Chef seems different. When Chef's strange behavior starts getting him in trouble, the boys pull out all the stops to save him."
NEW YORK (AP) -- Banned by Comedy Central from showing an image of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, the creators of "South Park" skewered their own network for hypocrisy in the cartoon's most recent episode.
The comedy - in an episode aired during Holy Week for Christians - instead featured an image of Jesus Christ defecating on President Bush and the American flag.
In an elaborately constructed two-part episode of their Peabody Award-winning cartoon, "South Park" creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker intended to comment on the controversy created by a Danish newspaper's publishing of caricatures of Muhammad. Muslims consider any physical representation of their prophet to be blasphemous.
When the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers worldwide in January and February, it sparked a wave of protests primarily in Islamic countries.
Parker and Stone were angered when told by Comedy Central several weeks ago that they could not run an image of Muhammad, according to a person close to the show who didn't want to be identified because of the issue's sensitivity.
The network's decision was made over concerns for public safety, the person said.
Comedy Central said in a statement issued Thursday: "In light of recent world events, we feel we made the right decision." Its executives would not comment further.
As is often the case with Parker and Stone, they built "South Park" around the incident. In Wednesday's episode, the character Kyle is shown trying to persuade a Fox network executive to air an uncensored "Family Guy" even though it had an image of Muhammad.
Either it's all OK, or none of it is," Kyle said. "Do the right thing."
The executive decides to strike a blow for free speech and agrees to show it. But at the point where Muhammad is to be seen, the screen is filled with the message: "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Muhammad on their network."
It is followed shortly by the images of Christ, Bush and the flag.
A frequent "South Park" critic, William Donohue of the anti-defamation group Catholic League, called on Parker and Stone to resign out of principle for being censored.
"The ultimate hypocrite is not Comedy Central - that's their decision not to show the image of Muhammad or not - it's Parker and Stone," he said. "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."
Parker and Stone did not immediately respond to a request through a spokesman for comment.
It's the second run-in over religion in a few months for the satirists. Comedy Central pulled a March rerun of a "South Park" episode that mocked Scientologists. Isaac Hayes, a Scientologist who voiced the Chef character on the show, resigned in protest over the episode.
"South Park" again got the last word last month with an episode where Chef was seemingly killed and mourned as a jolly guy whose brains were scrambled by the "Super Adventure Club," which turns its members into pedophiles.
Only last week, "South Park" won broadcasting's prestigious Peabody. Awards director Horace Newcomb said at the time that by its offensiveness, the show "reminds us of the need for being tolerant."
There was something missing in Wednesday night's South Park, as a title card explained: "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network."
It was not a joke.
The scene depicting the Islamic prophet handing a football helmet to a character from Family Guy (at least that's how another of the show's title cards put it) really was nixed by Comedy Central.
A source close to the show said safety concerns were behind the move. Earlier this year, Danish newspapers published cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, sparking deadly riots throughout many Muslim nations. Any rendering of the prophet, even a positive one, is considered blasphemous by Muslims.
"In light of recent events, we feel we made the right decision," Comedy Central said in a statement Thursday.
There was no public response from series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Wednesday's South Park, "Cartoon Wars, Part 2," was the concluding half of a story arc in which Family Guy, yes, the Fox animated series, causes international consternation when, in a familiar-sounding turn of events, it depicts Mohammed. The story line is better understood if one accepts that, as The South Park Scriptorium explained, "Family Guy=South Park.")
In the South Park version of things, Family Guy makes it to air with the controversial scene, prompting an animated response (literally) from al Qaeda involving Jesus, President Bush, the U.S. flag and bowel movements.
In an interview with the Associated Press, William Donohue of the conservative Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights attacked Parker and Stone, but not Comedy Central, for the Jesus bit making air. Of the show's creators, Donohue said, "[They're] like little whores...They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus."
South Park has been winning friends of late with its religious-themed episodes. Last year, Comedy Central ran, but later declined to rerun the episode "Bloody Mary" after Donohue's group took umbrage with a menstruating statue of the Virgin Mary. Last month, Isaac Hayes turned in his Chef's hat, saying the show's satire had gone too far. His departure was seen as a belated response to "Trapped in the Closet," a 2005 episode that focused on Scientology, Hayes' religion. Comedy Central pulled a rerun of that episode, too.
An avowed equal opportunity offender, South Park previously depicted Mohammed to little public outcry. In that case, timing might have been everything. The episode, "Super Best Friends," debuted in July 2001, or two months before the arrival of the post-9-11 world.
exactly. I guess they wanted to show what and what is not important for comedy central to censor .. . . . it was great.
but, even though comedy central did censor that, and pull those couple episodes from re-airing, you still gotta respect that they will let their own shows make fun of them.
remember the end of last weeks ep, when it was too be continued, and it ended with. 'Or will Comedy Central Puss Out'
exactly. I guess they wanted to show what and what is not important for comedy central to censor .. . . . it was great.
but, even though comedy central did censor that, and pull those couple episodes from re-airing, you still gotta respect that they will let their own shows make fun of them.
remember the end of last weeks ep, when it was too be continued, and it ended with. 'Or will Comedy Central Puss Out'
great stuff
Yeah, but then again all Comedy Central looks at are the dollar signs. Same thing with Fox when they brought back Family Guy - they saw an opportunity to make mucho dinero, and against their own judgement brought it back.
I love Towlie, but I must admit that I was a little disappointed in not see any of the regulars. The epsiode was still quite funny. I was just waiting for somebody to same how lame Towlie was. You wanna get high?
Its not very often where we get an episode where its totally about someone else (Pip episode, butters episode to name a couple). I need Cartman
At the end of the Ep, Towlie said its not a good idea to get high and come up with ideas. This is where I thought they were making fun of themsleves again. Then towlie said reward yourself after and get high . .. . LMAO
That episode was friggin brilliant. I don't think it was a coincidence that it aired on 4/20's eve. I love Mingy and Gary's voices, and how they just kept a shot on Oprah's crotch for the longest time. "There's the Ifel Tower, RIGHT IN FRONT OF US." This weeks was kinda lame, I thought. Do they really think that Al Gore is just trying to get attention with the whole global warming thing? The difference between global warming and manbearpig is one is real with scientific evidence to back it up, the other is pure nonsense. Just thought it was a bad metophor. I liked it when Cartman found the treasure though, and when he was hovering over Kyle taunting him in his sleep, very nice.
Post by HoodooOperator on Mar 6, 2007 18:14:24 GMT -5
i am super-excited about the new episodes, i freakin love south park. earlier, i was trying to find a picture of the otters to post on the Jesus thread with the caption "Hail Science!!".....but i got lazy, and i figured no one would get it, so oh well, it is what it is...
Post by HoodooOperator on Mar 6, 2007 18:19:24 GMT -5
"They are not a logical race Wise One, they go around chopping down trees for tables, when they have perfectly good tummy's to eat on!......How logical is that?"
This weeks was kinda lame, I thought. Do they really think that Al Gore is just trying to get attention with the whole global warming thing? The difference between global warming and manbearpig is one is real with scientific evidence to back it up, the other is pure nonsense. Just thought it was a bad metophor. I liked it when Cartman found the treasure though, and when he was hovering over Kyle taunting him in his sleep, very nice. 
