'South Park' creators have outraged fans of the late Steve Irwin by poking fun at his death.
The latest episode of the satiric sketch, entitled 'Hell On Earth 2006', shows the 'Crocodile Hunter' attending a fancy dress party in Hell - along with the late Princess Diana and Hitler - with a stingray poking out of his bleeding chest. Irwin is then kicked out of the party by the Devil because he isn't in fancy dress.
The scenes have sparked outrage among fans and media regulators because they appear to ridicule the wildlife expert's shocking death in September, when a stingray's barb pierced his chest while he was snorkelling near the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.
British broadcasting watchdog Mediawatch branded the episode "grossly insensitive".
Mediawatch director, John Beyer, said: "This is bad taste. Steve Irwin's family is still grieving. To lampoon somebody's death like this is unacceptable."
'South Park' makers Comedy Central have defended the controversial episode, saying it is no different from their usual work.
A spokesman said: "It has offended people in the past and probably will again. Regular watchers would not be shocked."
I usually like to watch South Park but I must admit that was tasteless. I’m not supreised though, they are known for their shock value, this one was pretty tasteless.
THIS IS BEYOND TASTELESS. I AM VERY AFFENDED THAT THEY WOULD STOOP SO LOW. WHAT ASSHOLES. I AM UPSET ABOUT THIS. I DOUBT I WILL EVER WATCH THIS SHOW EVER AGAIN.
It didn’t look to me like Steve Irwin was getting the heave-ho for not being in fancy dress. In fact, Satan kicked him out because the supposed costume was in bad taste and he even goes on to say it’s a little too soon. This is exactly what the South Park detractors are saying. Did they even watch the clip?
I thought he was the stupidest man on planet earth, and he got on my last nerve. But, it is a shame that his kids will grow up without a father. That’s one of the reasons I couldn’t stand him. A father should not be so reckless with his life. And, that incident with him feeding a croc while holding his infant son was inexcusable. Lots of people face dangers in their jobs, but they don’t go out of their way to flirt with disaster. Irwin took unnecessary risks, and his show was popular because people were mesmerized by his recklessness. His wife is equally to blame for his stunt with the baby. As for scuba diving, mountain climbing, etc, those are sports, and I don’t feel particularly saddended when some asshole falls from the cliff to his death.
Its not called a hug ray or a kiss ray…. I would be upset if I was chillin and then all of a sudden an Australian and his camea crew came rubbing on me.
dont watch the show then!
Ok look I love Steve and I love southpark. I think its horrible to make fun of the dead and blah blah blah but really, satan said ITS NOT COOL, HE JUST DIED. So it’s not that horrible but I hope his children and wife never never never see that.
There is a line that you just should not cross and these mutha f*ckers have crossed it. This is tasteless and disrespectful. This man just died for the love of God. Have some respect for him, his wife and his children. He was a decent and kind human being even if he could be annoying sometimes.. Who the f*ck isn’t annoying at times?
There is a special place in HELL for people who are like these morons.
I say whether we watch it or not it’s still not right. Why even bring a mans name into a show this soon, or ever, after they’ve died and have a family that can possibly hear about it.
It’s not even remotely funny? I can’t imagine anyone over 12 years old watches this show..
It’s beyond tasteless, Steve’s wife can still barely speak about her husband because she is still too distraught…
Geez imagine if the creators of South Park lost someone dear to them and their memory was insulted just weeks after their death.. see how they would feel
I’m here in Australia but I don’t know if the episode will be aired or what.
Wow i never liked southpark because i thought it was stupid, but some episodes were funny though. Mocking a person’s death and making it into comedy is not so funny to me. Having him show up with a barb in his chest in the episode is just stupid, and i hope his family never sees it. And there is no proff yet that he touched the ray himself, some say he was just swimming along and the barb came up, and some say…well that’s all i heard.
Agent Hollywood you are very right, the sting ray was actually under the sand, and Steve was just swimming along, and unintentionally disturbing it.
Here in Oz everyone is still pretty upset about it. I can’t say that I think South Park is ever particularly caring toward the feelings of others, but I agree with the general consensus that it is very harsh, particularly as it is so recent. But the show never professed not to piss people off. I also hope none of his family ever see it.
Is that it? Is that clip on here all it was? I thought it was going to be much worse.
It was tasteless but holy crap, as others have mentioned, it’s South Park. It’s not a show about warm fuzzies and butterfly kisses. They intentionally try to piss people off. It’s what they do. I thought they actually showed quite a bit of restraint.
And yes I was a fan of Steve Irwins, and I have cried quite a few times after his death. I just don’t think that clip was that bad, for South Park.
South Park is South Park, and I realize that nobody is off limits when it comes to this show, but I still think this particular episode is super shitty. I mean, couldn’t they have waited a bit longer if they just HAD to do it? It’s just totally disrespectful towards him and his family. it was just lacking in taste and respect and I think they should’ve held off on it a bit if they wanted it to go over well. Then again, like they’ve been saying, they’ve shocked people before, so what’s new? I just wish I had never seen or heard about it. I saw a thing on the news about how Terri Irwin has either heard about or seen the clip now and hopes that her children never have to. It’s for reasons like that that I think it could’ve been done at a later date, at least….
I just don’t think it was THAT bad. They could’ve done a lot worse.
