After previously pulling a rerun of the Trapped in the Closet episode, Comedy Central has set July 19, 2006, to rerun the SOUTH PARK episode that lampoons Scientology and Tom Cruise, according to VARIETY. The episode was recently nominated for an Emmy.
The move is seen as the a big step in the studios effort to patch up their relationship with SOUTH PARK co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Though Cruise denies the accusation, Parker and Stone have said they were told the episode was pulled from rerunning in May, because Cruise had threatened to pull out of promotion for MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III for Paramount if the episode was not cancelled from follow Viacom-owned network Comedy Central.
"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 said. "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."
The devious duo, who won an Emmy last year for an episode about Terry Schiavo, made "Trapped in the Closet" their sole Emmy submission this year, mainly as a protest for being silenced. However, Comedy Central had decided to re-air the episode before the Emmy nods were announced.
"We've been through a trifecta of annoyances," Stone said. "The 'Bloody Mary' episode angered Catholics. And we had a big fight when we wanted to show Muhammad.
Stone said he and Parker believe the network made the wrong choice not to show Muhammad in "Cartoon Wars," their response to the riots and violence that followed a Danish newspaper's publication of editorial cartoons depicting the Muslim prophet. The episodes aired with Muhammad's image blacked out.
"The mantra has always been everything is fair game," Stone said. "I love Doug Herzog, but I think he's dead wrong and made a totally cowardly decision," Stone said. "HARPER'S recently published the Danish cartoons, and nobody got blown up. The magazine asked us for our uncensored image of Muhammad, and Comedy Central refused."
The network declined comment.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
