Comedy Central takes on Tom Cruise, Scientology

Creators and producers of Comedy Central cable channel program 'South Park' Matt Stone (L) and Trey Parker take part in a panel discussion at the Cable Television Critics Association press tour in Pasadena, California, July 13, 2006. (Fred Prouser/Reuters)

The Comedy Central network has decided that Scientology and movie star Tom Cruise are once again fair game for the cartoon satire of "South Park," but the Prophet Mohammad remains off-limits -- sometimes.

The Viacom Inc.-owned cable channel plans to air a repeat of a "South Park" episode from last fall lampooning the Church of Scientology and its movie star adherent on July 19, four months after canceling a rerun of the show.

At the same time, an animated image of Mohammad created for a more recent two-part episode entitled "Cartoon Wars" will remain blacked out -- as it was for its original telecast -- in future airings and DVD releases, the network said this week.

Series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have criticized Comedy Central as "cowardly" for censoring that episode, which they intended as a commentary on the bloodshed sparked earlier this year by editorial cartoons in a Danish newspaper.

"It comes down to a judgment call," Comedy Central President Doug Herzog told TV critics. "I think history might show we overreacted, but we're willing to live like that."

However, Parker and Stone pointed to apparently conflicted standards at the network, noting Comedy Central continues to air reruns of another episode from four years ago that depicts Mohammad as a superhero.

The network acknowledged that episode, called "Super Best Friends," remained in the network's rerun rotation and in syndication on local broadcast stations around the country.

Parker and Stone said they were deeply disappointed Comedy Central, like many media outlets in America, had succumbed to a perceived threat of violence in censoring an image Islam regards as blasphemous.

They noted that outlandish religious satire has been a recurring theme of the show since its debut in 1997, poking fun at Catholics, Jews, Mormons, Buddhists and Muslims.

"If you're saying that this is the one thing we can't do, besides Tom Cruise, because they're threatening violence, well then, I guess that's what everyone should do," Parker told a gathering of critics on Thursday. "Then if the Catholics don't want us ripping in Jesus anymore, they should just threaten you with violence, and they'll get their way."

The "Trapped in the Closet" parody of Cruise, originally telecast last November, was abruptly pulled from reruns in March after soul singer Isaac Hayes, also a Scientologist, quit his job as the voice of the character Chef in protest.

At the time, industry sources said the "Closet" episode was bumped because Cruise had threatened to boycott promotion of his then-upcoming film, "Mission: Impossible III," from Paramount Pictures, also a unit of Viacom.

Representatives for Paramount and Cruise denied having anything to do with the rerun cancellation.

Parker and Stone said they remain convinced their network acted under pressure from Cruise and higher-ups at Viacom, and they were puzzled by what prompted the network to put the Scientology segment back on the air now.

The reversal comes a week after the episode earned the series an Emmy Award nomination for best animated program.