Five episodes of South Park are missing from HBO Max’s streaming library. These include Season 5’s “Super Best Friends,” Season 10’s “Cartoon Wars Part 1” and “Cartoon Wars Part 2,” and Season 14 episodes “200” and “201.” As first highlighted by The Hollywood Reporter, the common thread between these episodes is that all five include depictions of religious figures, including the Prophet Muhammad.
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Former Comedy Central head Doug Herzog previously commented on the censorship put in place for episodes “200” and “201” back in 2016. He explained how the episodes were censored as a point of safety after they received threats: “We were protecting everyone who works here. That was the decision we needed to make. That was the hardest we’ve ever pushed back.”
This decision didn’t sit well with co-creator Trey Parker, who admitted he was “pissed” as he felt the quality of both “200” and “201” were “really good.” This willingness to challenge censorship and boundaries has always been a key component to South Park’s narrative and humor and extends beyond the show itself, with Matt Stone and Trey Parker lending their sense of humor and creative vision to video games such as South Park: The Fractured But Whole and mobile game South Park: Phone Destroyer. In the end, however, the death threats, need to increase studio security, and the entire censorship process became so exhausting at the time that South Park’s creative team decided to stop fighting the censoring and move onto the next episode.
South Park is available to watch now on HBO Max.
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