Those of you who came to see the unedited South Park episode 201, I must regretfully inform you that we have been forced by the pussies that be to take it down. We originally posted this video because, unlike them, we are not afraid of terrorists, Al Qaeda, Talaban or suicide bombers. We felt very strongly that when you censor art because somebody has an issue with it, whether it be terrorists or a Sunday school preacher, we devolve back to an era where burning books and destroying rock and roll records were the norm. We recently received an email which was appropriately resting in our junk mail folder. Here is an excerpt from it:
I hereby request that you immediately remove or block access to the infringing material and ensure the user refrains from using or sharing with pirromount the Rights Owners’ materials in the future. Additionally I request that the removed link be replaced with the following language:“This video has been removed because of infringement.” I urge you to take immediate action to stop this infringing activity and inform me of the results of your actions. Please respond indicating the actions you have taken to resolve this matter. For email correspondence, please reference the above Notice ID in the subject line.Nothing in this letter shall serve as a waiver of any rights or remedies of the Rights Owners with respect to the alleged infringement, all of which are expressly reserved. In addition, this notice is without prejudice to the positions that you have an affirmative obligation to prevent or limit infringement of the Rights Owners’ exclusive rights without regard to receiving a specific takedown notice. In complying with this notice, pirromount should not destroy or spoliate any evidence which may be relevant in a lawsuit relating to the infringement alleged herein, including the infringing videos and all associated electronic documents and data relating to their presence on pirromount.com, which shall be preserved while disabling public access, irrespective of any document retention or corporate policy to the contrary. Should you need to contact me, I may be reached at the following address:Warren SolowViacom1515 BroadwayNew York, NY 10036v: (408) 217-5000[email protected]end of email.
Naturally, we admit that they are completely within their rights to demand the video be taken down, as it is indeed derived from their property. And although we are never ones to buckle under the threat of religious zealots (as you know if you’re familiar with our Submissive Jesus Toy, or God Complex movie), which is why we restored the video in the first place, we must buckle under the threat of a company whose lawyers have much bigger dicks than our lawyers. And we understand that legally they have the right to do so (unlike terrorists, of course, who just use the threat of violence to get their way). Maybe one day the cowards who restricted this video in the first place and continually restrict this video will ultimately come to their senses and release the uncensored episode. Maybe some brave soul at Viacom will research history and learn that the very foundation of this country was founded on people fighting for their freedom of expression. Maybe they will learn that there was once a time when actual people died defending that freedom. I was a huge fan of the South Park show. It was edgy and strong willed, and I had nothing but admiration for the show and its creators, Matt and Trey. As a satirist and comedy filmmaker, my appreciation for the edginess of the show had no bounds. I bought every DVD of every season and cherished the cleverness of each episode as if I had created them myself. I think that’s why I got personally offended when the episode got censored. Maybe I was vicariously fighting Matt and Trey’s battle by restoring the episode. In fact, before I restored the episode(and before I knew that the episode would NEVER be available, which I always thought would be restored when it came out on DVD), I had created a”Mohammad Speaks” video, in defense of South Park. This led to another, then another, then another, and so on. That was my catharsis on dealing with this travesty. However, when the DVD came out and I saw it too was censored, that’s when I got furious and made my now also banned video. Anyway, I have lost all respect for the show. I no longer buy season DVDs. I no longer watch it or even care that much about it. I have since moved my allegiance over to “Family Guy,” a show I once resented because I considered it a show that was jumping on the bandwagon of South Park’sedginess and success. And because to my knowledge there are no episodes of Family Guy that have been banned for life. If Family Guy ever creates an episode that gets pulled because of any lame threat, you can be assured that I will try to restore it…at least until I get a cease and desist letter from Fox. Once again, my deepest regrets to our most recent loss against terrorism. That’s all I have to say. The rest of this page has the bask story of how this whole thing started, if you weren’t originally aware.
Here is the back story of this episode, for those of you not aware of its history.
For those of you not familiar with this story: back in 2010, South Park aired a two part episode for their 200th show. The episode featured the Muslim prophet Mohammad in a comical way. Episode 200 aired in its usual fashion. It was uncensored (and can be found in tact on the DVD). In the week between episode 200 and 201, there was a death threat on the show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, which prompted the network to censor the upcoming episode 201. When the show aired, any mention of the name Mohammad was mercilessly bleeped out, as well as an ending speech that lasted about 30 seconds. It was a distraction to the episode and an embarrassment to the concept of free speech. You can read more about it here.
The irony is that it was an episode dealing with censorship (the black censorship bars hiding Mohammad were deliberate and part of the joke, but that joke got lost in translation when Cowardly Central put all the audio bleeps at any mention of the name Mohammad). The message became convoluted and lost because of their censorship on top of the ‘joke’ censorship depicted in the episode. The viewer didn’t know what was real censoring and what was part of the show. It ruined a potentially brilliant statement about free speech in America.
A SOUTH PARK EPISODE YEARS AGO WHEN IT WAS OK TO SHOW MOHAMMAD (on right)
When the ‘uncensored’ season 14 DVD came out, that episode was censored, just like it was when it aired. The episode has NEVER been available anywhere uncensored – not on television, not online, not on the DVD. This infuriated me (probably more than the creators of the show), as well as many devoted fans of the show, not to mention strong advocates of free speech, which prompted me to take the censored version of the episode, and utilizing the ‘Mohammad’s from previous episodes, carefully restore it to the way it should have originally aired. The only thing I couldn’t completely restore was the closing speech. For that I added in subtitles of what was originally said based on a transcript of the show. Once I made the restored video, every time we posted in on Youtube, it would immediately get pulled. Then we uploaded it to a site called Megavideo, until the site got closed down by the feds.
As you know, we abhor censorship in any form, especially irrational censorship based on fear or cowardice. And since this episode was brutally butchered by the powers that be at Cowardly Central, I found myself compelled to ‘fix’ this miscarriage of free expression. That’s why I went to the trouble and effort to restore the episode as closely as we could get it to Matt Stone and Trey Parker’s original vision. I had a strong feeling that Matt and Trey would support me on this one. They were seriously muzzled by their bosses (they couldn’t even say ‘Mohammad’ on the DVD commentary for that episode, which you can listen to here. They would only refer to him as the ‘prophet of the Muslim faith’) for fear of getting censored. We make no copyright claims to this, and we get no financial compensation for this. We do this for the South Park fans (of which we are a part of) who were sorely disappointed at the censorship and unavailability of this episode. And by restoring it to what it should have been in the first place, maybe send a message to the wimps at Cowardly Central, that free expression should be bigger than fear.
GOOD NEWS SOUTH PARK FANS. WE’VE BEEN INFORMED THAT A LEAKED VERSION OF THE VIDEO IS NOW AVAILABLE ON A BIT TORRENT SITE:
http://thepiratebay.se/torrent/9547850/South.Park.Season.14.Episode.6.201
THIS VIDEO IS COMPLETE, IT IS NOT THE ONE I MADE, IT IS BETTER. IT HAS ALL THE ‘MOHAMMADS” and IT ALSO HAS THE COMPLETE ENDING MONOLOGUES (instead of the one we made with the subtitles).
UPDATE 2-5-18
Unfortunately the above link is no longer valid. Looks like that episode was taken down once again. However, you can at least still see the uncensored speech from the end of the episode here (at least until IT gets taken down): https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=452803128180744
PRAISE BE TO ALLAH. FREEDOM REIGNS. LET THE WIMPS CENSOR. THE INTERNET TRUMPS ALL FEAR AND INTIMIDATION. THIS IS INDEED A GREAT DAY FOR FREEDOM.
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Jump to navigationJump to search'Super Best Friends' | |||
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South Park episode | |||
Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 3 | ||
Directed by | Trey Parker | ||
Written by | Trey Parker | ||
Production code | 504 | ||
Original air date | July 4, 2001 | ||
Episode chronology | |||
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South Park (season 5) | |||
List of South Park episodes |
'Super Best Friends' is the third episode of the fifth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 68th episode of the series overall. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on July 4, 2001. In the episode, Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny discover the magician David Blaine performing in South Park and decide to join his cult, the Blaintologists. Stan quickly finds out that the Blaintologists are not as nice as everyone thinks and tries to convince the other boys they've been brainwashed, and have forsaken their friends and families. Teaming up with Jesus, Stan calls upon the Super Best Friends, a parody of the Super Friends, to destroy Blaine and thwart the mass suicide pact he has launched.
The episode was written by series co-creator Trey Parker and is rated TV-MA in the United States. It depicts several religious figures, including Muhammad, whose appearance at the time of the original airing caused little to no controversy. Following Islamists' death threats regarding Muhammad's portrayal in the 2010 episode titled '201', the South Park Studios website no longer streams 'Super Best Friends', nor is it available for streaming or purchase from online stores. The episode has been replaced on the South Park Studios with a notice: 'We apologize that South Park Studios cannot stream Super Best Friends.'[1] The episode was also featured in syndication, but was permanently removed after the threats.[citation needed] It is one of three episodes which are unavailable on Hulu, along with season 14's '200' and the aforementioned '201.'
In 2013, fans voted 'Super Best Friends' as the best episode of Season 5.[2]
Plot[edit]
David Blaine visits South Park, impressing the town's residents, including Kyle, Stan, Cartman, and Kenny, with his street magic. Mesmerized, the boys join the cult of 'Blaintology,' hoping to learn more about magic. Stan becomes progressively more disturbed by the cult and soon leaves, but Kyle refuses to join him, and so Stan asks Jesus for help. Meanwhile, Kyle and Cartman go door to door in a recruitment drive, sporting nametags labeled 'Elder Kyle' and 'Elder Cartman.'
Jesus appears at Blaine's show in Denver, and challenges him by performing the miracle of the loaves and fish... after requesting that everybody in the audience turn around; Blaine manages to win the crowd with much more powerful enchantments. Jesus promptly requires the assistance of the Super Best Friends: a group of major religious figures including Muhammad, Buddha, Moses, Joseph Smith, Krishna, Laozi and 'Sea Man', an Aquaman-like character.[3] They are dedicated to defending the world against evil (except for Buddha, who 'doesn't really believe in evil').
The Blaintologists, meanwhile, petition the government for tax-exempt status. Their request is denied, and all the Blaintologists are told that they are to commit mass suicide in Washington, D.C. Kyle is shown to have escaped the cult's control, but when he tries to convince Cartman that they should flee, Cartman reports him, and Kyle is imprisoned in a glass bubble and forced to participate at the mass suicide. When word about the mass suicide reaches the Super Best Friends, they consult Moses (previously seen in 'Jewbilee') for advice.
In D.C., the Blaintologists begin to drown themselves in the Reflecting Pool even though it is only approximately a foot deep, while Cartman installs a hose in Kyle's glass bubble to fill it with water, so as to drown him. The Super Best Friends arrive at the scene, to which Blaine responds by animating the statue of Abraham Lincoln to fight them.
Meanwhile, Stan searches for his friends, first finding Kenny drowned in the pool and shouting 'Oh my God! They killed Kenny!', to which Kyle replies 'You bastards!'; they alternately repeat their catchphrases in Marco Polo fashion to find each other. In order to defeat the Abraham Lincoln statue, the Super Best Friends create a giant animated John Wilkes Booth statue, which shoots it in the head, causing it to fall over and shatter Kyle's prison. Afterwards, Joseph Smith uses his ice powers to freeze the reflecting pool so as to prevent more suicides.
It is revealed that Cartman has not managed to kill himself, as he keeps coming up for air. Blaine curses the Super Best Friends for ruining his plans and flies away in a rocket ship. Stan finally announces that any religion which forces people to relinquish their money or control over their lives is really a cult. After his speech, Kyle reconciles with Stan, they amuse themselves with kicking a taunting Cartman in the testicles, and the episode ends with the Super Best Friends flying away.
References to Scientology[edit]
In the DVD commentary, Parker states that the episode's references to real-life magician David Blaine and Blaintology were allusions to Scientology.[4]
Depiction of Muhammad[edit]
In 2005, cartoon depictions of Muhammad became more controversial during the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy. The creators of South Park returned to this theme in later episodes, parodying censorship attempts and portraying Muhammad again in the 2006 episodes 'Cartoon Wars Part I' and 'Cartoon Wars Part II'[5] and again in the 2010 episode '200'. Further controversy ensued, and one group, 'Revolution Muslim', warned that South Park's creators would 'probably wind up like Theo van Gogh'.[6] Around this time, the original 'Super Best Friends' episode was removed from the South Park Studios website.[5]
Home release[edit]
'Super Best Friends', along with the fourteen other episodes from South Park: the Complete Fifth Season, were released on a three-disc DVD set in the United States on February 22, 2005. The sets included brief audio commentaries by Parker and Stone for each episode.[7]
The episode was included in the re-release of the fifth season on Blu-ray, released on December 5, 2017.[8] This was the first time the episode was made available in HD, as the episode was not released alongside the rest of the season when it debuted in HD on iTunes in 2011.[9] The episode is shown in its original presentation, without Muhammad's image being obscured as in later episodes of the series.[10]
References[edit]
- ^'Super Best Friends (Season 5, Episode 4) – Full Episode Player'. South Park Studios. Retrieved 2016-01-16.
- ^'Summer of South Park (Season 5)'. South Park Studios. Retrieved 2013-07-10.
- ^Amos N. Guiora, Freedom From Religion: Rights and National Security, Oxford Univ Pr, 2011, p. 128.
- ^Season 5 DVD commentary
- ^ abcDouthat, Ross (April 25, 2010). 'Not Even in South Park?'. New York Times.
- ^'South Park creators warned over Muhammad depiction'. BBC. April 22, 2010.
- ^Codding, Jamey (February 26, 2009). 'South Park: The Complete Fifth Season DVD Review'. Bullz-Eye. Retrieved April 25, 2017.
- ^'Archived copy'. Archived from the original on 2017-11-05. Retrieved 2017-11-03.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
- ^https://itunes.apple.com/us/tv-season/south-park-season-5/id213888284
- ^http://www.thedigitalbits.com/item/south-park-season-5-brd
South Park Episode 200
External links[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to: Super Best Friends |
- 'Super Best Friends' episode guide at South Park Studios
- 'Super Best Friends' on IMDb
- 'Super Best Friends' at TV.com