There's a New Dirty Word You Can't Say On TV

Even on cable where just about anything goes - "Prophet Muhammad":

Now "South Park" can't even say the words "Prophet Muhammad."

After last week's episode of the Comedy Central series sparked a threat (and yes, it was certainly a threat) from a radical Islamic website, the network has cracked-down-for-their-own-good on creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone during last night's continuation of the show's storyline.

For those who missed the drama, the show's 200th episode mocked the one "celebrity" that the show has been largely unable to depict, the Prophet Muhammad, who was hidden from view in a bear costume. A website then warned Parker and Stone they could end up like Theo Van Gogh (the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered by Muslim extremists after depicting Muhammad on his show) and even posted the address of the show's production office.

Last night's episode continued the controversial Muhammad storyline, but with a key difference: every instance of the words "Prophet Muhammad" were bleeped out, making the episode practically incomprehensible, especially to anybody who missed the previous week.

A Comedy Central spokesperson confirmed it was the network's decision to censor the words.

The character of Muhammad was once again hidden from view, covered by a large block labeled "censored."

The Muhammad content is also not available on the South Park Studios website.

Ironically, "South Park" apparently has an image of the Prophet Muhammad that's shown briefly in the show's opening credits that has gone largely unnoticed.

When my son got home from class last night he tuned in to see the episode and was ticked that what was being shown was not the episode that had been promised. It appears they may have pulled episode 201 off the air altogether on the second feed which he was watching.

Given how South Park goes after every politically incorrect subject you can imagine I guess it's a good thing for them that radical Islam seems to be the only victim of their humor that's threatened to cut their heads off.  Otherwise they'd have trouble coming up with anything for their shows each week.