When it comes to American television, network censors often rule on certain plot points to ensure that the American public isn’t traumatized by anything that might be distasteful.
Although these standards have been relaxed over the years (you can now see toilets on TV!) “, but some episodes were omitted by censors but were banned soon after airing.
It should come as no surprise that a show like South Park had to pull an episode or two, seeing as the show is all about pushing the envelope. Still, the vast majority of offensive content has aired and re-aired on Cartoon Network without any problems. That can’t be said of the two-part episodes titled “200” and “201.”
Incidentally, the whole point of the episodes was to confront the boundaries of censorship, which was done by depicting just about every religious figure the show could animate. Unfortunately, this included the Prophet Muhammad, who, according to Islamic doctrine, cannot be depicted in any way.
The episodes garnered a ton of threats from Islamic groups, including Revolution Muslim, which is known for advocating an end of Western imperialism. Many of these threats came before the episode even aired, but they didn’t push the show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, to alter their work in any way.
While the show’s creators weren’t willing to back down, that cannot be said of the network. Cartoon Network decided to heavily edit the episodes and remove them from further broadcast to protect its employees. “200” can be found on DVD in its original form, but “201” is heavily edited.
