South Park Scientology Episode nominated for an emmy...
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Lefty Wilbury
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- Nov 4, 2003
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http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,19480,00.html
Airwaves Again Safe for "South Park" Scientology Spoof
by Gina Serpe
Jul 12, 2006, 6:55 AM PT
Comedy Central is finally respecting Cartman's authoritay.
One week after South Park's controversial "Trapped in the Closet" episode garnered an Emmy nomination, and nearly four months after it was abruptly pulled from rotation on the cable net, Comedy Central has finally acquiesced and will allow the Scientology-skewering episode back on the air.
And clearly not a moment too soon.
"If they hadn't put this episode back on the air, we'd have had serious issues, and we wouldn't be doing anything else with them," cocreator Matt Stone tells Variety.
The episode reportedly ruffled some high-powered feathers upon its first airing. In addition to an accurate, if cartoon-depicted, primer on Scientology, the show featured a literally closeted Tom Cruise who refuses to come out, only to be joined in his hiding by fellow Scientologist John Travolta and R&B man R. Kelly, whose operatic ballad provided the show's title.
While Comedy Central failed to publicly disclose its reasons for yanking the program (which is also credited for leading Scientologist Isaac Hayes to jump ship as the longtime voice of Chef), creators Stone and Trey Parker didn't shy away from broadcasting what they claimed was the network-sanctioned reason.
As the conspiracy theory goes, the Cruise's camp had a hand in deep-sixing the episode, with the litigious actor reportedly threatening threatened to pull out of promotional duties for Mission: Impossible III. (Viacom is the parent company for both Comedy Central and Paramount, the studio that was releasing Cruise's film.)
Cruise's reps vehemently denied such allegations, but the South Park brain trust stuck by its guns.
"I only know what we were told, that people involved with M:I:III wanted the episode off the air and that is why Comedy Central had to do it," Stone says in Variety. "I don't know why else it would have been pulled."
Now, Cruise's saturation-level publicity tour is over (and proved fairly ineffective, with the sequel grossing a disappointing $133 million domestically) and he is apparently in hiding with his new baby.
As it is, Comedy Central's decision to reintroduce the episode to its rerun schedule seems as arbitrary an action as yanking it in the first place. But the move is putting the network back into the good graces of Stone and Parker, who have said that their relationship with the network has been tenuous since the spring.
"It's true we are not as big as Tom Cruise, but we've done two movies for Viacom and 10 years of South Park episodes, and this has been our home," Stone tells Variety.
Stone explains that the episode's removal was nearly the final straw for the duo, who had been censored by the network on three separate occasions.
"We've been through a trifecta of annoyances," Stone says. "The 'Bloody Mary' episode angered Catholics. And we had a big fight when we wanted to show Muhammad."
Last year, the network declined to rerun the "Bloody Mary" episode after the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights attacked Parker and Stone and protested the program that featured a menstruating statue of the Virgin Mary.
In April, Comedy Central intervened on another episode before another religious group could take umbrage.
"Cartoon Wars," an episode dealing with the worldwide violence ensuing from a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet, was broadcast with a title card reading "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network."
At the time, the network defended the decision to censor the show to ward off the possibility of violent reactions.
"The mantra has always been everything is fair game," Stone tells Variety. "I love [network president] Doug Herzog, but I think he's dead wrong and made a totally cowardly decision."
South Park's "Trapped in the Closet" returns to Comedy Central's airwaves July 19.
Airwaves Again Safe for "South Park" Scientology Spoof
by Gina Serpe
Jul 12, 2006, 6:55 AM PT
Comedy Central is finally respecting Cartman's authoritay.
One week after South Park's controversial "Trapped in the Closet" episode garnered an Emmy nomination, and nearly four months after it was abruptly pulled from rotation on the cable net, Comedy Central has finally acquiesced and will allow the Scientology-skewering episode back on the air.
And clearly not a moment too soon.
"If they hadn't put this episode back on the air, we'd have had serious issues, and we wouldn't be doing anything else with them," cocreator Matt Stone tells Variety.
The episode reportedly ruffled some high-powered feathers upon its first airing. In addition to an accurate, if cartoon-depicted, primer on Scientology, the show featured a literally closeted Tom Cruise who refuses to come out, only to be joined in his hiding by fellow Scientologist John Travolta and R&B man R. Kelly, whose operatic ballad provided the show's title.
While Comedy Central failed to publicly disclose its reasons for yanking the program (which is also credited for leading Scientologist Isaac Hayes to jump ship as the longtime voice of Chef), creators Stone and Trey Parker didn't shy away from broadcasting what they claimed was the network-sanctioned reason.
As the conspiracy theory goes, the Cruise's camp had a hand in deep-sixing the episode, with the litigious actor reportedly threatening threatened to pull out of promotional duties for Mission: Impossible III. (Viacom is the parent company for both Comedy Central and Paramount, the studio that was releasing Cruise's film.)
Cruise's reps vehemently denied such allegations, but the South Park brain trust stuck by its guns.
"I only know what we were told, that people involved with M:I:III wanted the episode off the air and that is why Comedy Central had to do it," Stone says in Variety. "I don't know why else it would have been pulled."
Now, Cruise's saturation-level publicity tour is over (and proved fairly ineffective, with the sequel grossing a disappointing $133 million domestically) and he is apparently in hiding with his new baby.
As it is, Comedy Central's decision to reintroduce the episode to its rerun schedule seems as arbitrary an action as yanking it in the first place. But the move is putting the network back into the good graces of Stone and Parker, who have said that their relationship with the network has been tenuous since the spring.
"It's true we are not as big as Tom Cruise, but we've done two movies for Viacom and 10 years of South Park episodes, and this has been our home," Stone tells Variety.
Stone explains that the episode's removal was nearly the final straw for the duo, who had been censored by the network on three separate occasions.
"We've been through a trifecta of annoyances," Stone says. "The 'Bloody Mary' episode angered Catholics. And we had a big fight when we wanted to show Muhammad."
Last year, the network declined to rerun the "Bloody Mary" episode after the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights attacked Parker and Stone and protested the program that featured a menstruating statue of the Virgin Mary.
In April, Comedy Central intervened on another episode before another religious group could take umbrage.
"Cartoon Wars," an episode dealing with the worldwide violence ensuing from a Danish newspaper's publication of cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet, was broadcast with a title card reading "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Mohammed on their network."
At the time, the network defended the decision to censor the show to ward off the possibility of violent reactions.
"The mantra has always been everything is fair game," Stone tells Variety. "I love [network president] Doug Herzog, but I think he's dead wrong and made a totally cowardly decision."
South Park's "Trapped in the Closet" returns to Comedy Central's airwaves July 19.
We won't know for a while, I guess, the DVDs are about three seasons behind what's airing, so this DVD won't come out for a while. I honestly hope they keep the episode the way it aired, just to show how true to its time the show was, that Comedy Central wouldn't show it.
Hobbit
Senior Member
I saw the Scientology episode for the first time. Holy crap, I thought I would piss myself laughing. I especially like the part at the end where they say they'll sue Stan, seeing as how that's what they did.
Ah, crap, I missed it!
Oh, well, it's great, isn't it, Hobbit?
It's funny, thinking back about that episode, the heads of Scientology are depicted as not even believing in their religion, knowing its a scam, etc. And nobody has said the first thing about that. All they worry about is the fact that they explained the idea behind Scientology, and made it look ridiculous (which it is). Apparently, these Scientologists are more worried about their own image, moreso than their religion actually being attacked.
I still think Cartoon Wars should've won, though. Specifically the second episode managed to be topical about more than one issue all while telling a good story and tearing apart Family Guy (and sort of making an homage to The Simpsons).
Oh, well, it's great, isn't it, Hobbit?
It's funny, thinking back about that episode, the heads of Scientology are depicted as not even believing in their religion, knowing its a scam, etc. And nobody has said the first thing about that. All they worry about is the fact that they explained the idea behind Scientology, and made it look ridiculous (which it is). Apparently, these Scientologists are more worried about their own image, moreso than their religion actually being attacked.
I still think Cartoon Wars should've won, though. Specifically the second episode managed to be topical about more than one issue all while telling a good story and tearing apart Family Guy (and sort of making an homage to The Simpsons).
Lefty Wilbury
Active Member
- Nov 4, 2003
- 1,109
- 36
- 36
it might be on dvd sooner rather then later
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6110
South Park - Creators Stone & Parker Pick The Eps On A New 10th Anniversary DVD Coming This Fall
Posted by David Lambert
7/23/2006
Comedy Central's press release about how South Park plans to celebrate it's 10-year anniversary explains that one of the featured items as part of the event is the release of a special DVD:
Collector's DVD
COMEDY CENTRAL will release "South Park The Hits: Volume 1" on Tuesday, October 3. The DVD features ten episodes chosen by Stone and Parker as their "top ten" to date. The DVD also features four bonus episodes and audio commentary by Stone and Parker.
Thanks to reader Patrick Hickey for the heads-up. Stay tuned and we'll have more info, and cover art, just as soon as the info's available.
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=6110
South Park - Creators Stone & Parker Pick The Eps On A New 10th Anniversary DVD Coming This Fall
Posted by David Lambert
7/23/2006
Comedy Central's press release about how South Park plans to celebrate it's 10-year anniversary explains that one of the featured items as part of the event is the release of a special DVD:
Collector's DVD
COMEDY CENTRAL will release "South Park The Hits: Volume 1" on Tuesday, October 3. The DVD features ten episodes chosen by Stone and Parker as their "top ten" to date. The DVD also features four bonus episodes and audio commentary by Stone and Parker.
Thanks to reader Patrick Hickey for the heads-up. Stay tuned and we'll have more info, and cover art, just as soon as the info's available.
dilloduck
Diamond Member
Lefty Wilbury said:
I hope the global warming episode is included. I'm still laughing after watching that one. It was perfect !!
Lefty Wilbury
Active Member
- Nov 4, 2003
- 1,109
- 36
- 36
http://www.southparkstudios.com/
From today's Comedy Central Press Release:
Comedy Central Home Entertainment Celebrates 10 Years of "South Park" with the DVD release of "South Park the Hits: Volume 1" featuring Matt and Trey's 10 favorite episodes and, for the first time ever, "The Spirit of Christmas" animated short
Includes Emmy Award-Winning "Best Friends Forever," Emmy-Nominated "Trapped In The Closet,"
Four Bonus Episodes And New Audio Commentary From Parker And Stone
"People always ask us, 'What's your favorite episode?' And I say, 'It's so hard. It's like choosing between your children.' But then I would have no problem choosing between my children. It would be the tall, smart one," say Matt Stone and Trey Parker. "South Park The Hits: Volume 1" DVD arrives in stores nationwide on Tuesday, October 3, released via COMEDY CENTRAL Home Entertainment and will also be available at >http://shop.comedycentral.com. "South Park," now in its 10th season, will feature seven all-new episodes beginning on October 4 at 10:00 p.m., coinciding with Comedy Central's celebration of the series' 10th season.
For the first time ever, the infamous animated short "The Spirit of Christmas" will be available. "The Spirit of Christmas" was created as a video Christmas card commissioned by current MTV executive Brian Graden to send to friends and colleagues and centered on four foul-mouthed third graders forced to intervene in a fight between Santa and Jesus.
"South Park The Hits: Volume 1" DVD also features 10 episodes (with new audio commentary) chosen by Parker and Stone as their favorite "top ten" to date. The DVD also includes four fan favorite bonus episodes: "Fatt Butt & Pancake Head" (a.k.a. J. Lo and Ben Affleck), "It Hits the Fan," "Timmy 2000" and "The Death Camp of Intolerance" (the introduction of Lemmiwinks).
The following episodes appear on "South Park The Hits: Volume 1" DVD with audio commentary from Parker and Stone:
"AWESOM-O" - Stone: "This episode has one of my favorite scenes of any 'South Park' ever...which is when Cartman gets off the plane. He gets to Los Angeles and he has to eat the toothpaste 'cause he's so f*cking hungry. That just totally makes sense that you'd be that hungry where you'd just eat toothpaste."
"Best Friends Forever" - - Parker: "We went out to the animation staff and we're like, 'Okay, good news. We've come up with a show idea for this week. It's going to be a final battle between heaven and hell.' And they were just like, 'Oh, sh*t.'"
"Casa Bonita" - Stone: "This episode perfectly explains Cartman's character. It's not really about the experience, he doesn't want friends there." Parker: "Yeah. He would rather be the only person on the planet." Stone: "To me, that perfectly encapsulates what's wrong with Cartman....he sucks so bad."
"Good Times with Weapons" - Parker: "The thing I'm most proud of in this episode is the song. I think we hit the song perfectly. I think we got the anime pretty good, but that song..."
"Red Hot Catholic Love" - Parker: "For some reason we thought the imagery of someone crapping out their mouth would work ultimately in a show. And then luckily a bunch of priests got caught molesting kids. And we're like, 'Bingo.'"
"The Return of the Fellowship of the Rings to the Two Towers" - Parker: "This episode is just a perfect example, to us, about how much fun the show can be when it's just kids being kids."
"Scott Tenorman Must Die" - Parker: "This is a very important episode in the 'South Park' library because it did definitely change Cartman. I mean, it took from kind of a little sh*t head to probably the most evil kid in the world."
"Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" - Stone: "Most of the time when people ask us about, you know, ripping on celebrities and featuring celebrities in the show, I always say, 'Well, you know, it's not personal. It's just ripping on the idea of celebrity itself. You know, it's just kind of this absurdist thing that we do.' But then you look at this episode and it really isn't that. We have to stop little girls from looking up to Paris Hilton."
"Towelie" - Parker: "We rented a houseboat on Lake Mead with a bunch of our friends who are also writers on 'South Park' and we were getting into a boat, and everyone was like, 'Yeah, did you bring a towel? Everyone bring a towel? You - you got a towel?' And then people just started going, 'Don't forget to bring a towel.' And that, for some reason that caught on and then it became, 'Towelie says, don't forget to bring a towel.' And then that became 'Towelie.'"
"Trapped in the Closet" - Parker: "We're pretty sure it's going be one of our most infamous ever, I think, just because of all the hubbub it caused. I don't think we've ever had a single episode that has stirred up this much unwanted and wanted attention."
From today's Comedy Central Press Release:
Comedy Central Home Entertainment Celebrates 10 Years of "South Park" with the DVD release of "South Park the Hits: Volume 1" featuring Matt and Trey's 10 favorite episodes and, for the first time ever, "The Spirit of Christmas" animated short
Includes Emmy Award-Winning "Best Friends Forever," Emmy-Nominated "Trapped In The Closet,"
Four Bonus Episodes And New Audio Commentary From Parker And Stone
"People always ask us, 'What's your favorite episode?' And I say, 'It's so hard. It's like choosing between your children.' But then I would have no problem choosing between my children. It would be the tall, smart one," say Matt Stone and Trey Parker. "South Park The Hits: Volume 1" DVD arrives in stores nationwide on Tuesday, October 3, released via COMEDY CENTRAL Home Entertainment and will also be available at >http://shop.comedycentral.com. "South Park," now in its 10th season, will feature seven all-new episodes beginning on October 4 at 10:00 p.m., coinciding with Comedy Central's celebration of the series' 10th season.
For the first time ever, the infamous animated short "The Spirit of Christmas" will be available. "The Spirit of Christmas" was created as a video Christmas card commissioned by current MTV executive Brian Graden to send to friends and colleagues and centered on four foul-mouthed third graders forced to intervene in a fight between Santa and Jesus.
"South Park The Hits: Volume 1" DVD also features 10 episodes (with new audio commentary) chosen by Parker and Stone as their favorite "top ten" to date. The DVD also includes four fan favorite bonus episodes: "Fatt Butt & Pancake Head" (a.k.a. J. Lo and Ben Affleck), "It Hits the Fan," "Timmy 2000" and "The Death Camp of Intolerance" (the introduction of Lemmiwinks).
The following episodes appear on "South Park The Hits: Volume 1" DVD with audio commentary from Parker and Stone:
"AWESOM-O" - Stone: "This episode has one of my favorite scenes of any 'South Park' ever...which is when Cartman gets off the plane. He gets to Los Angeles and he has to eat the toothpaste 'cause he's so f*cking hungry. That just totally makes sense that you'd be that hungry where you'd just eat toothpaste."
"Best Friends Forever" - - Parker: "We went out to the animation staff and we're like, 'Okay, good news. We've come up with a show idea for this week. It's going to be a final battle between heaven and hell.' And they were just like, 'Oh, sh*t.'"
"Casa Bonita" - Stone: "This episode perfectly explains Cartman's character. It's not really about the experience, he doesn't want friends there." Parker: "Yeah. He would rather be the only person on the planet." Stone: "To me, that perfectly encapsulates what's wrong with Cartman....he sucks so bad."
"Good Times with Weapons" - Parker: "The thing I'm most proud of in this episode is the song. I think we hit the song perfectly. I think we got the anime pretty good, but that song..."
"Red Hot Catholic Love" - Parker: "For some reason we thought the imagery of someone crapping out their mouth would work ultimately in a show. And then luckily a bunch of priests got caught molesting kids. And we're like, 'Bingo.'"
"The Return of the Fellowship of the Rings to the Two Towers" - Parker: "This episode is just a perfect example, to us, about how much fun the show can be when it's just kids being kids."
"Scott Tenorman Must Die" - Parker: "This is a very important episode in the 'South Park' library because it did definitely change Cartman. I mean, it took from kind of a little sh*t head to probably the most evil kid in the world."
"Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset" - Stone: "Most of the time when people ask us about, you know, ripping on celebrities and featuring celebrities in the show, I always say, 'Well, you know, it's not personal. It's just ripping on the idea of celebrity itself. You know, it's just kind of this absurdist thing that we do.' But then you look at this episode and it really isn't that. We have to stop little girls from looking up to Paris Hilton."
"Towelie" - Parker: "We rented a houseboat on Lake Mead with a bunch of our friends who are also writers on 'South Park' and we were getting into a boat, and everyone was like, 'Yeah, did you bring a towel? Everyone bring a towel? You - you got a towel?' And then people just started going, 'Don't forget to bring a towel.' And that, for some reason that caught on and then it became, 'Towelie says, don't forget to bring a towel.' And then that became 'Towelie.'"
"Trapped in the Closet" - Parker: "We're pretty sure it's going be one of our most infamous ever, I think, just because of all the hubbub it caused. I don't think we've ever had a single episode that has stirred up this much unwanted and wanted attention."
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