"South Park" Fracas

UPDATE: Now IMDB.com is claiming Steve Irwin's widow is devastated over the "South Park" reference to Irwin's death and scared that their two children might accidentally see it. Then an Irwin compatriot suggests people place poisonous animals in the homes of the show's creators. Way to keep the spirit of Steve Irwin alive: use animals to frighten and kill people! An Australian TV network says they MIGHT air the episode next year or in 2008, which the friend insists is still "too soon." As for fears that her kids might see it: the daughter is now 8 and the son will turn 3 in December. Assuming the episode is shown in Australia two years from now, they'll be 10 and 5. What the hell would any decent parent be doing let a ten year old and a five year old watch an adult TV show like South Park which typically doesn't even air until late at night (10 p.m. in the US) and is filled with expletives? It's not a kiddie show, for heaven's sake.

Last week I wrote about the last episode of "South Park" and how consistently amusing I've found the show recently. In it, Satan is throwing himself a Super Sweet 16 Birthday Party (a la the spoiled girls on that MTV reality show) and it takes place at Halloween so everyone wears a costume. Now some people are upset that the show included a joke about Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin. Yes, I'm sure his family wouldn't be ready to see such a joke, but you don't make TV shows geared towards a handful of privileged people. And in fact the idea that it would be tacky for someone to dress as Steve Irwin this Halloween was the very point of the joke: Satan spots the guy and asks him to leave, saying it's "just too soon" to come as Steve Irwin. Then Irwin says no, it's really him and Satan makes him leave anyway because he's not wearing a costume. Yes, it was a joke about Irwin but it also sent out the message that "doing" Irwin this Halloween would be crass. Mind you, I doubt the Irwin family would be pleased to see anyone dressing as him ever -- especially if they had a stingray sticking out of their chest as he did on the show. But really, complaining about this seems silly -- if you're easily offended, surely you shouldn't be watching "South Park" in the first place.