Top 10 Times South Park was Censored
Script written by Ty Richardson
“South Park” can be pretty explicit, but even it has had to deal with censorship. For this list, we’ll be looking over the times “South Park” got smacked by the censors, though we’re not counting straight-up bans as they could make a list of their own. Our countdown includes the brief time the show was on Netflix, an edited graphic scene in "Proper Condom Use," the 2014 remake of "South Park Pinball" (1999), and more! Which of these censors did you feel was necessary? Did any of them surprise you? Let us know in the comments.
#10: “South Park Pinball” (2014)
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This remake of the 1999 table was a treasure for “South Park” fans as it came with not just the original “South Park Pinball” table, but one dedicated entirely to Butters as well. While the tables come with a small helping of references to the show, there is something about the personality and charm that’s missing here. That’s because the table was rated E-10+ for Everyone Ages 10 and Up. Yes, you can turn on “PG-13 mode” to allow some profanity, but even then, there’s some clear restraint in humor and dialogue, which is weird when the prototype supposedly featured more of what you would expect from “South Park”.
#9: “Rainforest Shmainforest”
“Rainforest Shmainforest” really made an impression with viewers thanks to its guest star, Jennifer Aniston, and its commentary on environmentalists and tourism. As for Latin America, it wasn’t until 2007, eight years since the episode aired, when the Costa Rican government took umbrage with it. Longtime viewers might recall a scene where Cartman remarks about the smell of the Rainforest, and yes, this is what caused a stir and would get the episode banned. Several redubs and edits were made until a new cut that toned down the dialogue was finally approved in 2011.
#8: “Pinewood Derby”
“Pinewood Derby” saw the world in possession of a new currency they dubbed “space cash”, and the episode quickly dove into a discussion on what would happen if such an event were to occur. As expected, not everyone was portrayed in the greatest light, particularly Felipe Calderón, then-President of Mexico. In the episode, Calderón frivolously spends a portion of the space cash on hospitals and water parks. This conflicted with Mexico’s Ministry of the Interior and how they wanted Calderón presented. On top of that, MTV failed to secure a proper license to allow airing the episode without altering the Mexican flag. And so the episode was pulled from air until April 2010, roughly a year after its initial premiere.
#7: “South Park Let’s Go Tower Defense Play!”
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While it isn’t as outrageous as the show, “Let’s Go Tower Defense Play” faced some trouble during its development in terms of staying true to its source material. In addition to Microsoft Japan demanding several cuts, developer Doublesix had to go through multiple name changes to fit with Microsoft’s guidelines for the Xbox Live Marketplace. Achievements also had several revisions as Xbox achievements cannot contain profanity or obscene imagery. And so, achievements that referenced episodes, like “How to Eat With Your Butt” and “Chasing the Dragon”, were altered for the final build of the game.
#6: “Proper Condom Use”
This episode is arguably the most risque we’ve seen “South Park”, and it certainly caused a commotion among several parties. The UK and Taiwan outright refused to air the episode because of its sexual content, but that’s a topic for another day. While “Proper Condom Use” aired without any problem, Comedy Central approached creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and asked for a cut that shortens one very graphic scene. Since then, this edited version is used for re-runs as well as for home media releases. In other words, you’ll have to do some searching of your own to find the original episode.
#5: “Bloody Mary”
“Bloody Mary” was an episode that caused a ton of uproar within religious communities, so much so that the episode was pulled from re-runs. According to Parker and Stone, Comedy Central had called them, stating their intent to not air a re-run of the episode. Stone remarked that the call made it sound like the network was simply pulling a re-run just once, not for a longer period than what occurred. Thing is that once “Bloody Mary” had been pulled, several other organizations came out and started demanding other episodes be pulled as well, igniting a series of headaches for Comedy Central and South Park Studios.
#4: “South Park” (1998)
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This first-person shooter wasn’t exactly an ideal debut for “South Park” in the world of video games. Yes, it had the same absurd humor and excessive vulgarity. However, it wasn’t anything more than your standard shooting gallery game. Funny enough, this game was slated for a release on Game Boy Color at one point. Parker and Stone had a problem with this port not because of quality or anything to do with the game, but because they knew how Nintendo marketed the Game Boy Color to kids, and putting something like “South Park” on there would generate a ton of problems. The game was canceled, but some finished cartridges were kept as commemorative pieces, and ROM files for the port were leaked online in 2018.
#3: Their Brief Time on Netflix
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At the time of this video, “South Park” the show streams exclusively on HBO Max while Paramount Plus gets to air specials and made-for-TV movies exclusively. What many might forget is that “South Park” was on Netflix at one point before. Unfortunately, this was arguably not the ideal way to watch the show. Every episode was heavily censored regardless of what age or profile you were watching on. In other words, you were forking over cash to Netflix just to get the same experience you would get on cable TV. If you wanted to watch the show uncensored, you would have had to go to Hulu instead.
#2: “South Park: The Stick of Truth” (2014)
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“The Stick of Truth” saw much hype from the fanbase in the months leading up to launch. But to make the launch as smooth as possible, some liberties had to be taken for its European and Australian release as well as some regions in Asia. Anyone who has played or seen the game knows why: graphic imagery that’s sexual, violent, pertains to Nazis, and much more. “Stick of Truth” would famously replace some of these scenes in Europe and Australia with still images of a face-palming statue and a crying koala in their respective regions.
#1: The Muhammed Episodes
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Die-hard “South Park” fans know which episodes we’re referring to. “Super Best Friends”, “Cartoon Wars, Part I & II”, “200”, and “201” have long been marred in controversy, all for the same reason: depicting the prophet, Muhammed. These episodes did manage to air and even went up on South Park Studios’s website for streaming, but all five caused such a stir that they would all be pulled from the site. This was because Parker, Stone, Comedy Central, and everyone at SPS would receive vicious threats from religious organizations. Even HBO Max won’t list them on their service, and the only way you can watch them is by finding them on your own.
