“South Park” Literally “Banned in China”

South Park’s getting ready to celebrate 300 episodes on this god-forsaken Earth, and we couldn’t be happier. In honor of the 300th episode of South Park, Comedy Central will host an all-day series marathon starting at 9:00 a.m. ET/PT on October 9.  And while the 300th episode is set to premiere this Wednesday Night @ 10 pm ET/PT (check your local listings), it sounds like the country of China is still pissed off at episode #299 entitled “Band in China”. 

This is news to me that South Park even makes it to China, but the episode is being banned for a variety of reasons including: 1) the fact that Winnie the Pooh, who resembles China President Xi Jinping, being murdered and 2) the episode is critical of media companies selling out their morals so that they can make a buck.

As is typical in China, a ban is a bit more serious. Forums, clips of the episodes, and even search results have been completely wiped from the country’s government-controlled internet.  We loved the episode, but with the increasing PC movement as it pertains to comedy, this should be a stark reminder of the ramifications of removing freedom of speech and looking for increased censorship.