Goodbye, Chef

[bradm]

According to

http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=8147

Legendary soul man Isaac Hayes has officially requested a release from his contract with the "South Park" television show, and the Comedy Central cable station. Mr. Hayes has been a cast member of "South Park" since 1997 as the voice of "CHEF."

Aloha,

Brad

[secondtube]

well, that sucks...

[can-o-phish]

Awww....no more of chef's specialty salty chocolate balls

[Freak By Night]

Booo..

he was the best one.

[zero]

Am I the only one who didn't know they still made South Park. I've gotta say that's a pretty good rationale for getting out I'd be surprised if they don't let him.

[kookycanooky]

I was never on the south park bandwagon after those first initial episodes that kept repeating, Season 8 and 9 really got me hooked on it though.

season 8's "Douche vs Turd" was the kicker for me. "vote or die mother fucker"

[ollie]

He's quitting due to religious intolerance on the show. It took him this long to figure that out? Well, the real problem he has is with them poking fun at scientology.

Isaac Hayes quits 'South Park' citing religious intolerance

[peipunk]

However, Matt Stone, one of South Park's co-creators, blamed the sudden departure on the fact that a recent episode poked fun at Scientology, of which Hayes is an outspoken follower.

"In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons or Jews," Stone said in a statement issued late Monday by the Comedy Central TV network.

"He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show," Stone said, adding however that "of course we will release Isaac from his contract, and we wish him well."

[ollie]

Just throwing out a conspiracy theory for the fun of it... anyone think Isaac was ordered to leave the show by the church of scientology?

[bradm]

That's a possibility. I also find it interesting that he didn't quit earlier, when other religions were being satirized, nor did he quit before the episode satirizing Scientology aired. You'd think he would have been offended during, say, rehearsal or early readings of the script.

Aloha,

Brad

[MarcO]

I tend to enjoy hearing about SP much more than I enjoy watching it.

Maybe it was the time I took a date to see the movie. I dunno. Nice girl though. I'll never forget her pretty eyes just glaring at me as Ghandi descended into Hell.

Rolling Stone recently had an extremely informative article on Scientology. Read it here.

[MarcO]

Just throwing out a conspiracy theory for the fun of it... anyone think Isaac was ordered to leave the show by the church of scientology?

actually, let's just assume this is correct!

[fluffhead77]

i think chef needs to spend a little time in the Death camp of Tolerance.

Long Live Lemmiwinks!!

[voodoolady]

Just throwing out a conspiracy theory for the fun of it... anyone think Isaac was ordered to leave the show by the church of scientology?

[color:purple]Yes! and I think the orders came directly from Tom Cruise!

[Guest Low Roller]

I'm sure this is somehow related to the thread:

Tom Cruise kills Oprah

[deranger]

This gets right to the crux of it:

In his 1983 autobiography, Over My Shoulder: Reflections on a Science Fiction Era, the sci-fi writer Lloyd Eshbach describes meeting Hubbard in the late 1940s. "I'd like to start a religion," Eshbach recalls Hubbard saying. "That's where the money is."

[badams]

South Park co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview Monday, saying, "This is 100 per cent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of cheques — with our show making fun of Christians."

Last November, South Park targeted the Church of Scientology and its celebrity followers, including actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta, in a top-rated episode called Trapped in the Closet. In the episode, Stan, one of the show's four mischievous fourth graders, is hailed as a reluctant saviour by Scientology leaders, while a cartoon Cruise locks himself in a closet and won't come out.

Stone said he and co-creator Trey Parker "never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin."

[Davey Boy 2.0]

As fans may have expected, the creators of the irreverent animated series South Park will incorporate a current controversy – this time the departure of singer and actor Isaac Hayes – into a new episode.

The 10th season of the profanity-laced show will debut in the U.S. Wednesday with an episode titled "The Return of Chef!"

According to a statement released by U.S. network Comedy Central, the season premiere will mark "the triumphant homecoming" of ladies' man and school cook James "Chef" McElroy, who had been voiced by the soul singer and composer since the show's debut in 1997.

The velvet-voiced Hayes quit the show last week citing its continual ridiculing of religion.

Though Hayes did not mention any episode in particular, South Park co-creator Matt Stone blamed the singer's sudden departure on a recent instalment that poked fun at Scientology, of which Hayes is an outspoken follower.

Comedy Central had been scheduled to rebroadcast the episode, entitled "Trapped in the Closet," last Wednesday, but abruptly pulled it to air a different one. The move prompted speculation that the Church of Scientology – and another high profile Scientologist, Tom Cruise – forced the last-minute change.

A synopsis for Wednesday's season premiere describes the fictional Colorado town of South Park being "jolted out of a case of the doldrums when Chef suddenly reappears."

"While [main characters] Stan, Kyle, Kenny and Cartman are thrilled to have their old friend back, they notice that something about Chef seems different. When Chef's strange behavior starts getting him in trouble, the boys pull out all the stops to save him."

Comedy Central spokesperson Tony Fox said he had expected Stone and fellow South Park creator Trey Parker to incorporate the recent controversy into the show.

"Knowing these guys as I do, I can't imagine that they're not going to do just that," Fox told Reuters, adding that the show's fast turnaround time for new episodes – typically as quick as six days – left the team plenty of time to work the flap into the season debut.

Fox said he assumed someone besides Hayes would voice the character of Chef.

Based on the childhoods of creators Parker and Stone, the Emmy-winning animated series has been heavily criticized for lampooning everyone from Osama bin Laden to Jesus.

[Dr_Evil_Mouse]

Scientology has got to be one of those curious cases where they went from being a "cult" to a "religion" in pretty short order through an awful lot of hefty PR. They're really clever about it, too. A U of Toronto prof I used to TA for always got invitations to these bogus conferences in sweet spots like Hawaii, all expenses paid, just so they could point to his name in print and say, "See? Respectable academics work with us!"

I have no time for them, myself; they just come across too obviously as unashamedly self-indulgent. It's kind of scary, really.

Canada has a well-respected resident expert on Scientology in Stephen Kent at the U of Alberta, who has had to deal with all sorts of lawsuit grief over the years, which is what anyone who treats them critically can pretty much expect to have to deal with. He's got some good material up on his website.

[Diggzz]

Actually it's all BS.....

http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,188463,00.html

The link may have to be copied into your browser to view it, but there may be another side to this story, speaking of conspiracies (sp?)...

[Davey Boy 2.0]

uh that's a Fox [color:purple]News story there son

do the math

[MarcO]

Fox news....... 'nuff said.

[Diggzz]

Exactly why I said "speaking of conspiracies"...and thanks, I'm pretty good at math

[StoneMtn]

South Park" Keeps Chef

By Steve Taylor

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Despite Isaac Hayes' recent departure from the hit Comedy Central series South Park, his character, James "Chef" McElroy, will be making his return to South Park, Colorado, in the season premiere of the show's 10th season. The voice of Chef is still a mystery, however, as are most of the details of the plot.

In an interview with Reuters, Comedy Central spokesman Tony Fox spoke about bringing the Chef character back to South Park, saying "Knowing these guys as I do, I can't imagine that they're not going to do just that." He added that producer for South Park routinely turn episodes around in less than a week, which means the recent war between South Park and Scientology could be fair game for the episode. And, while production started last week, Matt Stone and Trey Parker are notorious for attacking popular stories in the media.

As for details surrounding the plot, the New York Daily News quoted a press release from Comedy Central. Apparently, Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman, Kyle Broflovski and Kenny McCormick are happy "to have their old friend back, [but] they notice that something about Chef seems different. When Chef's strange behavior starts getting him in trouble, the boys pull out all the stops to save him." The episode will be titled "The Return of Chef".

Is it not known if Scientology or Tom Cruise will be involved in this episode. Also unclear is how long Chef will be around for.

Isaac Hayes has voiced "Chef" for the first nine seasons of South Park, but recently quit the show, citing its religious intolerance (See Isaac Hayes Quits South Park). The religious intolerance Isaac Hayes spoke of is believed to stem from an earlier episode, "Trapped in the Closet", in which South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone ridicule Scientology, which is Hayes' religion. The story took another turn when Comedy Central cancelled a re-run of the episode. It is widely believed that "Trapped in the Closet" wasn't re-run due to pressure from Tom Cruise. Tom Cruise allegedly threatened to stop doing promotional work for his upcoming blockbuster movie, Mission: Impossible 3, unless the show was pulled (see South Park Battles Scientology, Tom Cruise). The connection between the two is that Viacom is the parent company to both Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures, the company putting out Mission: Impossible 3.

Speaking to Isaac Hayes' quick departure, the BBC quotes Matt Stone saying "In 10 years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslims, Mormons or Jews. He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show."

Matt Stone and Trey Parker added another shot at Scientology when they released a statement to the Daily Variety, saying "So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!" The statement had been signed by "Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu." The note is written in a form that seems to mock Scientology as being science fiction.

South Park's Season 10 premiere episode, "The Return of Chef" will air at 10pm on Wednesday March 22 on Comedy Central. The New York Daily News also reports "Tomorrow's episode is the first of seven new half-hours of "South Park." The remaining seven will begin airing in October."

[Additional Sources: Reuters, New York Daily News, BBC, Daily Variety]

Article here.

[MarcO]

Did anyone else check out the Rolling Stone article on Scientology (I linked it above).

I found it both disturbing and fascinating.