Imagine you are a cable network. You received a death threat in response to an unflattering depiction of the Muslim prophet Muhammad made on one of your network's programs. Two weeks later, a car bomb was planted in front of your parent company's headquarters. What do you do next? If you are Comedy Central, you develop a cartoon lampooning Jesus Christ.
That's right, the network who (kind of) brought you Muhammad in a bear suit is developing an animated series starring Jesus Christ. The half-hour comedy JC would center on the Messiah wanting to gain independence from his "powerful but apathetic father" and acclimate to a normal life in the Big Apple. For the show's official description, let's refer to Comedy Central's press release distributed this morning:
"A lot has changed in 2000 years and [Jesus] is the ultimate fish out of water. Meanwhile his all-powerful yet apathetic father would rather be playing video games than listening to JC recount his life in the city. JC is a playful take on religion and society with a sprinkle of dumb."
If that does not have your blood boiling, maybe these five other projects announced today will:
· A**Holes: A scripted comedy about the world's two biggest a**holes, Jeff and Geoff, who fill their days by shamelessly hitting on women, talking on their cell phones in movie theaters and not holding doors open for old ladies. Brought to you by Steve Koren (Saturday Night Live) and Nick Malis (Tosh.0).
· Patrice Oneal's Guide to White People: An educational comedy starring stand-up comic Oneal as he teaches viewers about various details of white culture in the classroom and through on-the-street instructionals. Produced by Michael Hirschorn (Celebrity Rehab) and Gideon Evans (The Daily Show).
· Live Sex Show: The show does not feature live sex but live sex talk. Bert Kreischer and Maxim model Layla Kayleigh will host this interactive, no-holds-barred program which includes frank intercourse discussion, celebrity guests, sketches and audience interaction via Skype and Twitter. Blame this on executive producer Jesse Ignatovic (The T.O. Show) and writer Mat Harawitz (The Soup).
· Intercourse with Whitney Cummings: A half-hour scripted narrative comedy that will feature the comedienne as she dates and sleeps around. She will get help from a guy friend Neal, a porn star neighbor Starla and her stand-up material for this "twisted Sex and the City."
· Waiting...: Before tuning into this potential series, you may want to rent the Ryan Reynolds film it is based on first, which featured gratuitous genitalia humor... in a restaurant setting. Like the movie, this project will center on a group of young employees at a chain restaurant who find inventive ways to avert boredom. Brought to you by Rob McKittrick, who wrote and directed the film.
Would anyone like to lodge a complaint yet?