New York, USA - The creators of South Park have skewered their own network for hypocrisy after Comedy Central banned them from showing an image of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in the cartoon's most recent episode.
Instead, the cartoon featured an image of Jesus Christ defecating on United States President George W Bush and the American flag.
In an elaborately constructed, two-part episode, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker intended to comment on the controversy created by a Danish newspaper's publishing of caricatures of Muhammad.
Muslims consider any physical representation of their prophet to be blasphemous.
When the cartoons were reprinted in newspapers worldwide in January and February, it sparked a wave of protests around the world.
Parker and Stone were angered when told by Comedy Central, several weeks ago, that they could not run an image of Muhammad.
A spokesperson for the network said the decision was made over concerns for public safety.
'The hypocrites are Parker and Stone
Parker and Stone built the latest episode of South Park around the incident.
In Wednesday's episode, the character Kyle is shown trying to persuade a Fox network executive to air an uncensored "Family Guy", even though it has an image of Muhammad.
"Either it's all OK, or none of it is," Kyle said. "Do the right thing."
In the episode, the executive decides to strike a blow for free speech and agrees to show it.
But at the point where Muhammad is to be seen, the screen is filled with the message: "Comedy Central has refused to broadcast an image of Muhammad on their network".
It is followed by the images of Christ, Bush and the flag.
William Donohue, of the anti-defamation group Catholic League, said: "The ultimate hypocrite is not Comedy Central - that's their decision not to show the image of Muhammad or not - it's Parker and Stone.
"Like little whores, they'll sit there and grab the bucks. They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus. That's their stock in trade."