South Park Creators: 'We Cannot Stand Behind Censored Muhammad Episode'

When Comedy Central aired last night's episode of South Park -- which, in spite of death threats by radical Muslim groups, picked up where last week's Muhammad-in-a-bear-costume installment left off -- fans were surprised to hear Muhammad's name bleeped. Were creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone just poking fun at the Muslim culture with some kind of meta-censorship joke? Or was the network taking extra measures to protect themselves in light of the recent threats?

Click through for the official explanation from Parker and Stone.

"In the 14 years we've been doing South Park we have never done a show that we couldn't stand behind. We delivered our version of the show to Comedy Central and they made a determination to alter the episode. It wasn't some meta-joke on our part. Comedy Central added the bleeps. In fact, Kyle's customary final speech was about intimidation and fear. It didn't mention Muhammad at all but it got bleeped too. We'll be back next week with a whole new show about something completely different and we'll see what happens to it."

· DID COMEDY CENTRAL WUSS OUT? South Park Defies Muslim Extremists But Prophet Muhammad Gets Censored; UPDATE: Matt & Trey Say Can't Stand Behind Show [Deadline]