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South Park Episode Mocking Putin Censored
July 13, 2009 9:31 AM
ABC's Alexander Marquardt reports from Moscow:
An episode of the infamously irreverent cartoon South Park was edited by a Russian television channel last week, slicing out a sequence that poked fun at Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.
The adult cartoon channel “2x2” wouldn’t give a reason why it cut a one-minute portion of the episode portraying Putin as a greedy and desperate leader, and the Russian broadcast regulator denied that they played a role.
"We have never interfered with editorial decisions," said spokesman Yevgeny Strelchik.
The episode originally aired in the US in 2005 and 2x2 says that this is the third time this year that the censored version has aired in Russia.
The video that ended up on the cutting room floor includes a scene where Putin receives a phone call asking him for help sending a dying whale to the moon. Putin decides it’s a prank call from President George W. Bush.
2x2 landed in some hot water last year after another South Park episode earned them an official warning from Russian prosecutors saying that it promoted “hatred between religions.” (The warning was cancelled last month.) In 2002, the channel NTV canceled its puppet show “Kukly” after the Kremlin complained about its mocking of Putin.
Though the economy and media have been significantly deregulated since the Soviet era, television stations are still far from being able to broadcast what they please. This latest censorship has lit up Russian blogs, one of the few completely unregulated forums where Russians can speak their minds.
"It's stupid to cut things this way," wrote blogger Oleg Kuavev, arguing that it will simply attract more attention to the episode and channel.
The Associate Press contributed to this report.
July 13, 2009 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (9)
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I agree with the blogger. Now Russians will be racing to download the unedited version. Good luck, Putin...
Posted by: Nichole | Jul 13, 2009 11:27:16 AM
Free Willzyx
Posted by: MetalGearSolid | Jul 13, 2009 12:31:05 PM
Too funny. Wonder if they get to enjoy Family Guy or a Russian equivalent.
Posted by: Huh | Jul 13, 2009 12:56:10 PM
This is not nearly as bad as US network TV excluding certain political candidates from appearing in debates.
Posted by: alucart | Jul 13, 2009 2:16:26 PM
well, well there's those censors..I didnt think there were any......
Posted by: johnthemon | Jul 13, 2009 2:46:25 PM
We would NEVER edit or censor like that here in the US.................
.........unless they tried to put Mohammed in South Park.
Posted by: Tom | Jul 13, 2009 2:53:31 PM
I'm sure, like over here, the immature get to enjoy family guy over there.
Posted by: Dan | Jul 13, 2009 6:26:31 PM
Good job Russia. Censor it and you will have 10x the number of Russians downloading/watching it!
Posted by: Brent | Jul 13, 2009 10:41:56 PM
What? No vodka, either?
Posted by: IKilledKenny | Jul 14, 2009 5:48:46 AM
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