South Park has five episodes that are not viewable on HBO Max

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbi...epictions.html

By MARK MCGREAL FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

PUBLISHED: 12:03 EST, 9 November 2022 | UPDATED: 12:03 EST, 9 November 2022

South Park has never stayed away from controversial topics, but there are a few episodes unavailable on HBO Max.

During its 25 years, the critically-acclaimed adult animation series has touched on issues such as racism, climate change denial, Scientology and many more.

However, since coming to HBO Max in 2020, five episodes are not available for viewers to stream. All five episodes feature a depiction of the Islamic prophet Muhammad.

Muhammad ibn Abdullah was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of the world religion of Islam.

According to Unilad, the five episodes span nearly the first half of the show's run with the first episode coming out in 2001 and the most recent airing in 2010.

The five episodes are titled Super Best Friends, Cartoon Wars parts I and II, 200 and 201.

Though each plot is different, the latter two prompted death threats from extremists groups.

Doug Herzog, who was the head of Comedy Central at the time, explained to The Hollywood Reporter in 2016, 'We were protecting everyone who works here. That was the decision we needed to make.'

When the latter two episodes – 200 and 201 – originally aired, Comedy Central used a black bar to cover the Muhammad caricature and bleeped out his name as well.

Though the show's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone pushed back, the studio held its ground.



Depictions of prophets in Islam is strictly prohibited because of the belief that it leads to idolatry or the worship of idols.

South Park isn't the only entity which has depicted Muhammad in images. The French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo did the same back in 2015 which led to a shooting that killed 12 people.

Despite all the controversies, South Park rolled out its 25th season earlier this year, and fans can watch hundreds of episodes of the show on HBO Max.

The 26th season of the show is expected to premiere either before this year ends or at the beginning of next year.