South Park

***South Park*** is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone and developed by Brian Graden for Comedy Central. The series revolves around four boys—Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick—and their exploits in and around the titular Colorado town. *South Park* became infamous for its profanity and dark, surreal humor that satirizes a wide range of topics toward an adult audience.

Parker and Stone developed *South Park* from two animated short films both titled *The Spirit of Christmas*. The second short became one of the first Internet viral videos, leading to *South Park*'s production. The pilot episode was produced using cutout animation; subsequent episodes have since used computer animation recalling the cutout technique. *South Park* features a large ensemble cast of recurring characters.

Since its debut on August 13, 1997, 318 episodes (including television films) of *South Park* have been broadcast. It debuted with great success, consistently earning the highest ratings of any basic cable program. Subsequent ratings have varied, but it remains one of Comedy Central's highest-rated programs. In August 2021, the series was renewed through 2027, and a series of films was announced for the streaming service Paramount+, the first two of which were released later that year.

*South Park* has received critical acclaim, and is included in various publications' lists of greatest television shows. It has received numerous accolades, including five Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. A theatrical film, *South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut*, was released in June 1999 to commercial and critical success, garnering an Academy Award nomination. In 2013, *TV Guide* ranked *South Park* the tenth Greatest TV Cartoon of All Time.

## Censorship

### Australia

* Season 9 episode "Bloody Mary" was skipped in SBS and Nine Network due to its controversial religious offensive content, however the episode was aired in SBS Viceland in 2016.

### China

* The show was banned in China after the season 23 episode "Band in China" for its sensitive political jokes.

### India

* The show was banned in India in 2010, owing to contents that are deemed "offensive". However, the show (from Season 15 onwards) would later be made available via Netflix ten years later.

### Israel

* One of the Israeli channels which formerly airs the show, Channel 2, has refused to air season 1 episode "Pinkeye" because of Cartman's Hitler costume and his admiration of the Fuhrer during a film that's supposed to dissuade people from thinking Hitler was great, which would offend the country's Jewish population. Also, according to the Hebrew Wikipedia, another episode, "Big Gay Al's Big Gay Boat Ride", was not aired in Channel 2 due to a joke about the Holocaust, which is offensive for Jewish viewers.

### Italy

* The Season 3 episode "World Wide Recorder Concert", the Season 4 episodes "Cartman Joins NAMBLA", "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" and "Probably", and the Season 23 episode "Christmas Snow" were banned in Italy. "Cartman Joins NAMBLA" was banned because of the excessive references to homosexual pedophilia, and infanticide (the subplot of Kenny killing his mom's unborn baby). The "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell? / Probably" two-parter was banned for its irreverent take on the Catholic Church (and religion in general). "Christmas Snow" was banned due to some controversial scenes featuring Santa Claus and Jesus using cocaine. The ban for "World Wide Recorder Concert" was lifted on April 28, 2006. The ban for "Cartman Joins NAMBLA" was lifted on May 1, 2006. The ban for "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell?" was lifted on May 3, 2006. The ban for "Probably" was lifted on May 4, 2006. The ban for "Christmas Snow" was lifted on January 21, 2021.

### Japan

* Season 3 episode "Chinpokomon" was banned in Japan. It came under fire from both Nintendo of Japan as well as several right-wing groups in the country, in particular because of the references to Hirohito and the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Other episodes that were banned in Japan were the Season 4 two-parter episodes "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell? / Probably" (due to heavy references to Christianly, an religion not well-known in Japan), the Season 6 episode "A Ladder to Heaven" (similarily for the reasons "Chinpokomon" and "Do the Handicapped Go to Hell? / Probably" two-parter combined), the Season 7 episode "Krazy Kripples" (due to Christopher Reeve's death, as he's portrayed as an villain character in the episode), the Season 8 episode "Woodland Critter Christmas", and the Season 9 episode "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow".

### Latin America

* The Season 3 episode "Rainforest Schmainforest" was banned in 2011, after complaints about its stereotypes of Costa Rica. The ban was later lifted and a redubbed version (by Studio Center) aired in 2012, but with some censorship.
* The Season 9 episode "Free Willzyx" was banned due to derogatory jokes about Mexicans, although this ban was supposedly lifted in 2012. The Season 15 episode "The Last of the Meheecans" was banned for the same reasons, but was later included on the DVD releases.
* The Season 13 episode "Pinewood Derby" was set to air in February 2010 on MTV, but was pulled due to the portrayal of Felipe Calderón.

### Russia

* Russian broadcaster 2x2 cut a segment in "Pinewood Derby" depicting Vladimir Putin as a "greedy and desperate leader" along with the other world leaders.

### South Korea

* The show was banned in South Korea after only airing the first 6 episodes, as the government was flooded with complaints about its content. The ban was lifted sometime before 2019, when the show became available in Korean subtitles on Netflix.

### Sri Lanka

* The show was banned in Sri Lanka due to "200" depicts the Buddha and Jesus in an unflattering parodic manner, showing the double standards of mocking religious figures, which is the reason of the ban.

### United Kingdom

* The Season 4 episode "Cartman Joins NAMBLA" was banned from airing on the British satellite channel Sky One as it contained many references to the actions of the real life group "NAMBLA".
* The Season 5 episode "Proper Condom Use" was banned in the United Kingdom due to a frequent amount of sexual refrences used in this episode.

### Worldwide

* Two-parter episode "200" and "201", from season 14, have been banned from being dubbed in Germany, Turkiye, Latin America and France (and pretty much all other countries) due to an religious controversy which outraged many angry religious extremists. An interview with William Coryn (who provides Kyle's voice in the French dub), the director for the French dub had stated that the episodes would have had to have double the censorship if they were translated over. These episodes are also excluded from overseas DVD releases and streaming services (including the official South Park website.)

## References

1. ↑ https://tvtonight.com.au/2010/05/south-park-bloody-mary-to-air-on-go.html
2. ↑ https://www.bandt.com.au/sbs-finally-airs-banned-south-park-episode-10-years/
3. ↑ https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/russian-tv-censors-south-park-51858/
4. ↑ https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2482177/south-park-the-9-most-controversial-episodes-ever