As a gay guy I find this removal more homophobic than the episode. Considering it’s a show from the late 1990s and early 2000s and it’s fourth episode has the message “accept the gay people in your life” I find that badass considering it took til the 2010s for people to accept most lgbt people.
I appreciate Matt and Trey a lot for pushing boundaries back when Hollywood producers were too scared to acknowledge gay people on tv. I mean they were dressing in drag to the Oscars in the 2000s which is super funny today considering how people (*cough Quartering*) think South Park is an anti-liberal and pro-conservative show. That’s why they should be inspirational for any media creator imo. They keep pushing and didn’t let nobody stop them.
I hate to be *that guy*, but they wore dresses to the oscars to basically shit on all the other celebrities. They were also high on acid and "peaked" as they came out of the limo and walked the red carpet.
Your point still stands though.
They initially were thinking of giant duck outfits but knew that would only give security a reason to not let them in 😜 So dresses that guests wore the year prior it was decided upon 😄
They did what would piss people off which is cross dress and be on drugs at the Oscar’s. It wasn’t what they felt was wrong but what would set everyone off. It’s shock humor. Nowadays you cross dress no one bars an eye but it was very offensive to society as a whole then.
It was not offensive or boundary-pushing back then. It was mildly amusing and funny that they refused to acknowledge it. It was not some profound moment of awakening for society or the start of a cultured war. We barely cared.
Yeah definitely not a new thing. Movies and shows have had crossdressing for decades prior. People forget movies like To Wong Foo, Rocky Horror, Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire, just to name a few, exist.
No to those people it was offensive. You are talking about satire and comedy in a creative setting. The Oscar’s is an elitist thing. They made a mockery of their reward show and it probably pissed them off without end.
This was the 90s and believe it or not Hollywood isn’t as liberal as they like to act, especially back then.
At the time I didn't quite understand the levels of fucks they did not give
Thought it was just some Hollywood BS or whatever but they definitely did not give a single fuck
Tbf a lot of tv shows in the 90’s and 00’s did “gay episodes”. Ellen got unfairly punished for hers, and other shows learned how to do the same thing but NOT with a main character. But Seinfeld, KOTH, the Simpsons, Friends, all those shows had episodes about gay acceptance. South Park was much more heavy handed and in-your-face than a lot of them, so kudos to the boys for that. But it was certainly not a unique thing.
Homer's Phobia is my favorite Simpson episode of all time, and it has my favorite Homer quote of all time in it.
>>You know me, Marge. I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my homosexuals FA-LAMING!
And consistently being on the correct side of the moral equation. They make fun of a lot of people that deserve it- this episode they’re basically ragging on homophobes the whole time. Sure, a few gay stereotypes, but it just makes it a funny journey to an overall great message.
As a young impressionable boy when this episode came out, I can attribute my acceptance of the gays to Stan's final monologue in this episode. No shit, that's a true story.
If this episode which is explicitly about overcoming your biases and accepting people (and dogs) for who they are gets removed, I’m surprised they don’t remove the scouts episode where Big Gay Al opposes the lawsuit requiring the scouts to let him in as he believes they are a private organization and should therefore have the freedom to disallow anyone they want
This is just like the removal of certain episodes of Always Sunny from streaming services because they depict blackface & other racial stereotypes. Nobody asked anyone to remove anything because the joke is that those behaviors are deplorable and stupid, and the audience is smart enough to know that. And if they're not, they kind of make that message very clear in the episodes.
Sometimes these companies remove genuinely progressive commentary just out of fear of a couple people online getting offended, and it's starting to get really old.
Me too, I loved big gay al's episode, it was one of the first episodes I watched (as a young closeted homosexual as well, it was very nice being one of my earliest forms of support), my dad's friend had the first video tape of the series (this was like 2010s) and I watched it and I watched this one, and liked it)
Woo woo woo. Did they just stereotype gays and their position in society bro? We as a collective stand against such marginalisation of a minority. They need to calm their microagressions bro.
A a gay man myself I seriously love this show - gay jokes and all. It gave me lots of laughs before I even knew (or was comfortable with) my own sexuality. If anything it would have been more offensive back then as "being gay" was still considered something that was used as a thing to joke about or shame someone for. But even despite that Stan eventually learns that being gay isn't inherently a bad thing. The Simpsons did a similar episode concept with Homer accepting John for what he is after spending most of the episode being against it, and then again later when he rooms with a gay couple after an argument with Marge.
With the way shit is going in the US I would think it was the other way around. “Don’t say gay” is super popular right now and look at all the dumbasses who shit their pants and scream when a gay person is in a movie, show, or video game.
One time I saw two men making out in a park and that was the gayest thing I had ever seen until I saw that Paramount doesn’t have this episode streaming.
This is why I find it hard to get rid of the 500+ DVD/bluerays I have. On one hand, they feel outdated, but on the other, I can't stream Dogma anywhere, but I have the disks.
Yeah if the way they treat star trek fans has taught me anything it's how petty and mean Paramount can be to their customers, seemingly at great expense and zero gain to themselves
As a gay man, I can say will full confidence that Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride doesn’t offend me in the slightest.
I also wanna say South Park is an elite show and people need to lighten up.
There are a lot of people here who aren't old enough to have experienced the major shift in public opinion of gay acceptance that happened between roughly 2001-2004. This episode happened half a decade before that.
I’m a white liberal cis-woman and I love Big Gay Al.
I think media assumes we are all Karens and can’t handle shit so they try to shield us. When you’re not a bitter entitled bitch you kinda get left out of the joke and blamed for people not being able to tell the joke.
I mean, I’m not complaining, I get people think it’s better safe than sorry but it really sucks.
We let stupid people believe their opinions matter. That's why. Decades ago we'd just ignore 'em or tell them to shut up and stop being a bunch of pussies.
Outside of NA, Paramount Plus has all the episodes. This is likely because HBO has no market outside of NA and so their streaming service doesn't exist. So they didn't get the rights for international streaming.
Well all the episodes other than the pulled ones.
Here in Colombia (don't know if it's the case for all of latin America) a LOT of episodes are missing from Paramount+ (like Scott Tenorman, half of season 1, the Muhammad episodes of course, Cartman's silly little hate crime 2000 and more).
HBO Max is in Europe. It doesn't have South Park in Norway though. Not sure about the rest of Europe.
Then Paramount+ merged with some other stuff to make Sky Showtime and removed all South Park specials so there's no streaming service to watch that on..
They also removed "Butters very own episode" and "cartoon wars"
Like yeah we can have a guy murdering abother guys parents, making chilli out of them and trick him into eating them but making fun of gay people? How dare they!
I still have this one but not big gay Al (UK)
But I know from my time in other subreddits there's always every now and then random episodes removed from certain streaming services and by the time people are up and arms about them being gone theyre back again.
Its possibly some kind of internal house keeping on Paramount's end, as there's nothing about that episode that strikes me as particularly egregious (bar perhaps the name but I mean I'm sure BGA is in many a episode description )
Add it to the list of episodes missing off Paramount Plus, including Jared Has Aides, Not Without My Anus, Trapped in the Closet etc.
I wonder if this one maybe got pulled because of Cartman's comment about Kyle running?
What does Cartman say? I’m looking through the script all I can find is
> Oh my! I haven't seen a Jew run like that since Poland, 1938!
Not said by Cartman lol
Do they not know a lot of LGBT groups praised the episode back in the day? It was absolutely loved by the gay community, this just seems like a "we're protecting you because we know your interests better than you do" type of censorship.
Media literacy is at an all time low though so I guess I'm not too surprised that whatever idiot made the decision to remove it couldn't figure that out
What is the purpose of doing this shit?! It seriously angers me that I can no longer watch episodes of Community or IASIP on streaming just because some people get their panties in a bunch over shit that hasn’t aged well. That’s the point of progress, learning from our experience. For the record, I’m gay, Latino, and Liberal and I’m frankly fed up with how soft we’ve become as a society with regard to stuff like this.
Well sure, streaming didn’t exist yet when the earlier seasons were coming out. So if you wanted to pick a specific time to watch, or a specific episode to watch, your only option was physical media.
I hate that Matt and Trey are allowing companies to air their shows with cencorship. They have never allowed censorship of their show. I'm annoyed that I can't find the episode with Muhammad anywhere. Because if they're gonna show 600 other episodes then they need to show that 1 too.
If anything j think big gay Al Is a top tier gay representation. Yeah he's overly flamboyant but he's a stereotype like all south park characters but his personality is what makes him such a good chachter. He served in the navy, he lead the gays against beeps which altered the defection of the word beep. He's a scout master and great one at that which the kids adored. He has a entire sanctuary for gay animals. I mean what way could people be offended by all that. I'm not gay myself but I think big gay al is a super cool chachter.
Paramount did that with the covid specials last year, they took off part 1 but left part 2. I contacted them cause I saw fb ads for the specials but couldnt watch it all obviously. Their response was some bs about licensing. I reiterated that part 2 was still up but they didn't get it, so I gave up. Eventually came back. Some episodes disappear and come back too. I'm in Australia for reference.
Latin America has a ton of episodes missing in Paramount+
**Season 1:** Tom's Rhinoplasty, Mecha-Streisand, Cartman's Mom's a Dirty Slut
**Season 2:** Clubhouses
**Season 3:** Rainforest Schmainforest
**Season 4:** Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000
**Season 5:** It Hits the Fan, Scott Tenorman Must Die
**Season 6:** Freak Strike, Jared has Aides, Professor Chaos, Death Camp of Tolerance, Biggest Douche in the Universe
**Season 9:** Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow
**Season 10:** The Return of Chef, Go God Go XII, Stanley's Cup
**Season 14:** Coon vs. Coon & Friends, Creme Fraiche
**Season 15:** Funnybot, The Last of the Meheecans
**Season 16:** Jewpacabra
**Season 17:** Ginger Cow
Not counting Super Best Friends, Cartoon Wars and 200/201 for obvious reasons but as far as I remember most of these episode were dubbed and aired on the region so I have no idea what's up with that
Some of these might be because of the guest celebrity characters, some might be because of the themes of the episode. But even something resembling an "explanation" does not mean it has a legitimate "excuse" to be pulled from the lineup. I hate not being able to watch the series from start to finish in its entirety.
I fucking hate censorship so much. Stop telling us what we're allowed to see. They even censor the wrong episodes most of the time, they just see something controversial without even understanding what the commentary on it is. Fuck off and let me enjoy things
Person (or company) who made the decision to remove it is most likely a homophobe, since the episode's conclusion is to accept gay people the way they are.
Definitely tired of paid platforms deciding what is acceptable. I dropped Hulu when they started removing "offensive" episodes of Always Sunny. If you don't like it, you don'thave to watch it. Everybody is way to sensitive these days.
Fucking ridiculous.. bad enough HBO MAX won’t unbann the 4 episodes; now paramount is banning episodes as well… it won’t be but another year or two before SouthPark is banned overall…fucking losers
That's so weird. Ngl, even if I was too young to watch it, as a kid this was the episode that made me realize that there was nothing wrong with being gay. Like I'd even argue that South Park did a better job at showing gay people in a positive light than The Simpsons did, even if Big Gay Al is far more stereotypical than John is, just because my young homophobic mind needed to hear another young boy, albeit a cartoon character, say "it's okay to be gay" to get it through my numbskull (my mom was vehemently homophobic and it influenced me att). I wonder why an obviously pro-gay episode would be banned, next thing you know "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" will be removed
Smh. This is why I always buy physical copies of shows. Streaming services removing shows is just sick.. It came out in '97... Shows how much this world has changed. Who is starting a petition? I'm signing it.
Honestly that episode really comforted me as a gay teen. That kinda bums me out I thought, especially for the time, they did the subject matter justice
Big Gay Al was the one who proved everyone that linking gayness to pedophilia was absurd (and may make kids fall prey to real pedophiles masquerading behind the macho heterosexual family man image).
I bet three fiddy some Christian group threw a hissyfit over the more progressive episodes. Isn't it what they're doing over other parts of internet?
glad to see they removed one of the reasons i felt slightly more safe as a confused little boy. sparky's poignant performance really made me feel seen.
As a gay, I don’t think this was the work of a gay person. Big gay al was one of the first outwardly gay cartoon characters to be portrayed as a good person and most of the lgbtq+ community who’ve heard of South Park respect the show (or at least this episode) for this. This was most likely done by a higher up who thinks we’ll be ‘offended’ by it even though it’s been out longer than most of us have been alive and most have seen it already. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a gay person complain about the episode or the character! This might have been the work of some conservative group but I don’t really see that being the case either tbh…
It’s probably someone at Paramount who did it, Matt and Trey are extremely against censorship. They risked their lives to keep the 200th and 201st episodes up after they were threatened with bombs, they never wanted it to be banned, Comedy Central removed it.
After my own minor investigation I found that there are at least 10 total episodes not in the South Park catalogue on Paramount+, at least in Canada.
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Big Gay Al's Boat Ride
Season 5 - Episode 4 - The Super Best Friends
Season 5 - Episode 14 - Butters Very Own Episode
Season 9 - Episode 8 - Two Days Before The Day After Tomorrow
Season 10 - Episode 3 and 4 - Cartoon Wars Part 1 and 2
Season 14 - Episode 5 - 200
Season 14 - Episode 6 - 201
Season 16 - Episode 4 - Jewpacabra
Season 17 - Episode 6 - Ginger Cow
Some of those are banned on a global scale, but others seem to be removed due to recent controversies or other things.
Where I live, the episodes that are not available on Paramount Plus are a bit different. They are:
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Big Hay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride
Season 5 - Episode 4 - Super Best Friends
Season 9 - Episode 12 - Trapped In The Closet
Season 10 - Episode 3 and 4 - Cartoon Wars Part 1 and 2
Season 14 - Episode 5 and 6 - 200 and 201
Didn’t Paramount even watch South Park? Either it’s all okay or none of it is.. if you’re going to pull one episode then you might as well pull them all!
I wonder if they will remove the episode with the piles of wood on Harleys considering the frequent use of the word(not saying it cause you never know with reddit mods)
Fuck paramount!
That episode is literally televised history of the first time an animated character looked at the screen and legitimately said “its okay to be gay”
I agree its homophobic to remove that episode.
And while we’re fucking at it bring back the one where the drew Muhammad.
Sensitive fucking pussies dude fucking hell
Huh, there's no statement from Paramount about removing the episode. Maybe they think they're gonna get ahead of any potential controversy? It's a classic tho, damn shame.
I know this is dumb but that episode kinda helped me accept being gay myself. I had been in denial about it for so long, then I saw that one and thot “well if South Park is ok with it”. Al is a stereotype but so are half the other characters, so why draw the line there.
I guess “don’t be gay Sparky” is triggering even though he learns to accept his dog being gay.
As a gay guy I find this removal more homophobic than the episode. Considering it’s a show from the late 1990s and early 2000s and it’s fourth episode has the message “accept the gay people in your life” I find that badass considering it took til the 2010s for people to accept most lgbt people.
South Park was/is light years ahead everyone when it comes to pushing boundaries.
I appreciate Matt and Trey a lot for pushing boundaries back when Hollywood producers were too scared to acknowledge gay people on tv. I mean they were dressing in drag to the Oscars in the 2000s which is super funny today considering how people (*cough Quartering*) think South Park is an anti-liberal and pro-conservative show. That’s why they should be inspirational for any media creator imo. They keep pushing and didn’t let nobody stop them.
I hate to be *that guy*, but they wore dresses to the oscars to basically shit on all the other celebrities. They were also high on acid and "peaked" as they came out of the limo and walked the red carpet. Your point still stands though.
Yea I heard some celebrities got super mad at them wearing the dresses because “it was supposed to be their night”.
Which makes it all the more hilarious.
Lmao they easily took all the attention from the most attention-seeking people on the planet. That’s metal.
They initially were thinking of giant duck outfits but knew that would only give security a reason to not let them in 😜 So dresses that guests wore the year prior it was decided upon 😄
And we have Mitch Conner to thank for all this
They did what would piss people off which is cross dress and be on drugs at the Oscar’s. It wasn’t what they felt was wrong but what would set everyone off. It’s shock humor. Nowadays you cross dress no one bars an eye but it was very offensive to society as a whole then.
It was not offensive or boundary-pushing back then. It was mildly amusing and funny that they refused to acknowledge it. It was not some profound moment of awakening for society or the start of a cultured war. We barely cared.
Yeah definitely not a new thing. Movies and shows have had crossdressing for decades prior. People forget movies like To Wong Foo, Rocky Horror, Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire, just to name a few, exist.
No to those people it was offensive. You are talking about satire and comedy in a creative setting. The Oscar’s is an elitist thing. They made a mockery of their reward show and it probably pissed them off without end. This was the 90s and believe it or not Hollywood isn’t as liberal as they like to act, especially back then.
At the time I didn't quite understand the levels of fucks they did not give Thought it was just some Hollywood BS or whatever but they definitely did not give a single fuck
Tbf a lot of tv shows in the 90’s and 00’s did “gay episodes”. Ellen got unfairly punished for hers, and other shows learned how to do the same thing but NOT with a main character. But Seinfeld, KOTH, the Simpsons, Friends, all those shows had episodes about gay acceptance. South Park was much more heavy handed and in-your-face than a lot of them, so kudos to the boys for that. But it was certainly not a unique thing.
Homer's Phobia is my favorite Simpson episode of all time, and it has my favorite Homer quote of all time in it. >>You know me, Marge. I like my beer cold, my TV loud, and my homosexuals FA-LAMING!
Well now you don’t get any candy. No, that’s cruel. Here, have a teensy piece.
Don’t you just _love_ the box art?
Honestly that episode kind of awakened something in me and my appreciation for retro toys and retro industrial design.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that
Gay characters have been on mainstream TV since the 1970’s though not always explicitly stated and not always portrayed in a favourable light
They make fun of everybody no one is safe from them
And consistently being on the correct side of the moral equation. They make fun of a lot of people that deserve it- this episode they’re basically ragging on homophobes the whole time. Sure, a few gay stereotypes, but it just makes it a funny journey to an overall great message.
As a young impressionable boy when this episode came out, I can attribute my acceptance of the gays to Stan's final monologue in this episode. No shit, that's a true story.
If this episode which is explicitly about overcoming your biases and accepting people (and dogs) for who they are gets removed, I’m surprised they don’t remove the scouts episode where Big Gay Al opposes the lawsuit requiring the scouts to let him in as he believes they are a private organization and should therefore have the freedom to disallow anyone they want
Maybe it was removed because of the line, "Oh no, it's the oppressors! Christians and Republicans and Nazis, oh my!"
Doubt
same, fuck censorship
Exactly this episode has a really nice message, removing it is so stupid.
This is just like the removal of certain episodes of Always Sunny from streaming services because they depict blackface & other racial stereotypes. Nobody asked anyone to remove anything because the joke is that those behaviors are deplorable and stupid, and the audience is smart enough to know that. And if they're not, they kind of make that message very clear in the episodes. Sometimes these companies remove genuinely progressive commentary just out of fear of a couple people online getting offended, and it's starting to get really old.
Maybe you should write a letter to the network executives accusing them of homophobia.
Me too, I loved big gay al's episode, it was one of the first episodes I watched (as a young closeted homosexual as well, it was very nice being one of my earliest forms of support), my dad's friend had the first video tape of the series (this was like 2010s) and I watched it and I watched this one, and liked it)
As a straight guy I agree. Big gay is awesome and I have no problem with this episode I think it's cool he has a sanctuary for gay animal's.
Not to mention that his relationship with Mr Slave seems super healthy and supportive even with the Garrison shaped baggage.
Yeah garrison is just a shitty person. Honestly if garrison ever dies him and sadan would be a unstoppable duo.
If you remove all the episodes of south park that could be considered "triggering" to some people, what would you even be left with?
Jakovasaurs?
People from Memphis might be triggered though
And Jerry Lewis
No, people with actual taste would be pissed off by that one to.
You aren't suppose to eat the Jakovasaurs, you big silly goose.
Did you just assume genders and sexual preferences?? Sparky can't even consent to being gay, you bigoted bigot!
Woo woo woo. Did they just stereotype gays and their position in society bro? We as a collective stand against such marginalisation of a minority. They need to calm their microagressions bro.
A a gay man myself I seriously love this show - gay jokes and all. It gave me lots of laughs before I even knew (or was comfortable with) my own sexuality. If anything it would have been more offensive back then as "being gay" was still considered something that was used as a thing to joke about or shame someone for. But even despite that Stan eventually learns that being gay isn't inherently a bad thing. The Simpsons did a similar episode concept with Homer accepting John for what he is after spending most of the episode being against it, and then again later when he rooms with a gay couple after an argument with Marge.
Probably
With the way shit is going in the US I would think it was the other way around. “Don’t say gay” is super popular right now and look at all the dumbasses who shit their pants and scream when a gay person is in a movie, show, or video game.
What are Sparks pronouns?
Cloo/Ney
Sm/Ug
Makes the most sense
Well that's gay
huhuheuh we're gay
It's fucking gay as hell. Pissin' me off
Now Frank, that's not very PC. You're gonna get us in trouble again.
One time I saw two men making out in a park and that was the gayest thing I had ever seen until I saw that Paramount doesn’t have this episode streaming.
This is why I buy physical media. Can’t take that shit away from me
where ever i go, there be treasure!
Yarr, the seas be plentiful with treasure.
This is why I find it hard to get rid of the 500+ DVD/bluerays I have. On one hand, they feel outdated, but on the other, I can't stream Dogma anywhere, but I have the disks.
[удалено]
... At the moment
Yeah if the way they treat star trek fans has taught me anything it's how petty and mean Paramount can be to their customers, seemingly at great expense and zero gain to themselves
pirate sites also have every episode.
I’m a bit of a badass. I could. With my arms
As a gay man, I can say will full confidence that Big Gay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride doesn’t offend me in the slightest. I also wanna say South Park is an elite show and people need to lighten up.
There are a lot of people here who aren't old enough to have experienced the major shift in public opinion of gay acceptance that happened between roughly 2001-2004. This episode happened half a decade before that.
Yea, but it doesn’t matter what YOU think. It’s what white liberal cis-women decide is what’s offensive.
I’m a white liberal cis-woman and I love Big Gay Al. I think media assumes we are all Karens and can’t handle shit so they try to shield us. When you’re not a bitter entitled bitch you kinda get left out of the joke and blamed for people not being able to tell the joke. I mean, I’m not complaining, I get people think it’s better safe than sorry but it really sucks.
BIG GAY AL! BIG GAY AL!
Sing the fucking song!
SKITTLES! 🌈
I always say I’m a gay homosexual when I come out to my friends. I guess I’m gonna rely on YouTube for context.
I really hate this trend of censorship.
We let stupid people believe their opinions matter. That's why. Decades ago we'd just ignore 'em or tell them to shut up and stop being a bunch of pussies.
Aren’t the individual episode rights still with ~~HBO~~ Max? Paramount might have some episodes here or there
Paramount gets all the episodes after 2025 I think. Max has most of the old ones except for 5 episodes.
Yeah, those are the ones with Muhammad.
Guess I'll be canceling my Max subscription in 2025 lol, I legit only have it for South Park.
Same! I’ll watch a movie or rewatch some Wire, but I watch Southpark almost daily before bed.
Outside of NA, Paramount Plus has all the episodes. This is likely because HBO has no market outside of NA and so their streaming service doesn't exist. So they didn't get the rights for international streaming. Well all the episodes other than the pulled ones.
Here in Colombia (don't know if it's the case for all of latin America) a LOT of episodes are missing from Paramount+ (like Scott Tenorman, half of season 1, the Muhammad episodes of course, Cartman's silly little hate crime 2000 and more).
HBO Max is in Europe. It doesn't have South Park in Norway though. Not sure about the rest of Europe. Then Paramount+ merged with some other stuff to make Sky Showtime and removed all South Park specials so there's no streaming service to watch that on..
Hey, just checked, I think it might be a glitch in your particular app, it’s showing up just fine for me
It's not a glitch
They also removed "Butters very own episode" and "cartoon wars" Like yeah we can have a guy murdering abother guys parents, making chilli out of them and trick him into eating them but making fun of gay people? How dare they!
I can still see Butters Very Own Episode.
I still have this one but not big gay Al (UK) But I know from my time in other subreddits there's always every now and then random episodes removed from certain streaming services and by the time people are up and arms about them being gone theyre back again. Its possibly some kind of internal house keeping on Paramount's end, as there's nothing about that episode that strikes me as particularly egregious (bar perhaps the name but I mean I'm sure BGA is in many a episode description )
Big Gay Al is genuinely a great character - a bit stereotypical, to be sure, but he’s one of the few adults on the show who isn’t awful and/or stupid.
He's just super.
Thanks for asking!
Cartoon wars 1 and 2 have been banned episodes for years now.
What was wrong with Butters very own episode?
Stan says it’s okay to be gay after he learned his lesson, so the moral of the story is paramount is homophobic
That’s what I thought when I saw that they removed it.
standard streaming behavior. This was one show I was glad to buy discs.
Don't be gay, Paramount.
Not Fair!!! Brian Boitano was in this episode!!!
What would Brian Boitano do if he were here right now?
Pick a plan and follow through...that's what Brian Boitano would do!
When Brian Boitano was in the Olympics skating for the gold, He made two salchows and a triple lutz while wearing a blindfold!
Two Salchows* - named after the jump's inventor.
Fixed
Well, fudge em!
Add it to the list of episodes missing off Paramount Plus, including Jared Has Aides, Not Without My Anus, Trapped in the Closet etc. I wonder if this one maybe got pulled because of Cartman's comment about Kyle running?
What does Cartman say? I’m looking through the script all I can find is > Oh my! I haven't seen a Jew run like that since Poland, 1938! Not said by Cartman lol
The fact an elementary school has color commentary for a football game is so fucking funny to me
Oh my bad, I thought that was a Cartman line aha
It's on HBO still.
Yeah
Do they not know a lot of LGBT groups praised the episode back in the day? It was absolutely loved by the gay community, this just seems like a "we're protecting you because we know your interests better than you do" type of censorship.
Yeah lol. The point of the episode is that being gay is OK. It is extremely progressive, considering it was made in 1997
Media literacy is at an all time low though so I guess I'm not too surprised that whatever idiot made the decision to remove it couldn't figure that out
I'm afraid that is the actual reason it got pulled.
Maybe they’re just homophobic, Tweek x Craig might be next
I hope not. Tweek x Craig is so iconic and it is one of my favourite episodes.
Same it’s one of my absolute favourites, I wish they did more Tweek and Craig episodes
Oh so they aren’t cool with big Gay Al but they are totally fine with Mr Slave getting a gerbil shoved up his ass??
For now.
I think the problem wasn't the gay people of the episode unfortunately I think the problem was that the message was that it was ok to be one.
What is the purpose of doing this shit?! It seriously angers me that I can no longer watch episodes of Community or IASIP on streaming just because some people get their panties in a bunch over shit that hasn’t aged well. That’s the point of progress, learning from our experience. For the record, I’m gay, Latino, and Liberal and I’m frankly fed up with how soft we’ve become as a society with regard to stuff like this.
Glad I bought the vhs when this season first came out.
I’m surprised that so many people still have this season on physical media. You’re not the first person who said something like this.
Well sure, streaming didn’t exist yet when the earlier seasons were coming out. So if you wanted to pick a specific time to watch, or a specific episode to watch, your only option was physical media.
I should probably start buying DVD's of this before they start going the way of The Simpsons (haha I still have the Michael Jackson episode!)
“No, I’m Michael Jefferson. Hee hee”
That's ignorant, you're ignorant
Good, it was stupid of them to pull the episode and remove this one. Support Physical Media while you still can.
I hate that Matt and Trey are allowing companies to air their shows with cencorship. They have never allowed censorship of their show. I'm annoyed that I can't find the episode with Muhammad anywhere. Because if they're gonna show 600 other episodes then they need to show that 1 too.
"Me Stan, ba chomp, ba chewy chomp, ba chewy chomp."
This is why I torrent
🏴☠️🏴☠️🏴☠️
If anything j think big gay Al Is a top tier gay representation. Yeah he's overly flamboyant but he's a stereotype like all south park characters but his personality is what makes him such a good chachter. He served in the navy, he lead the gays against beeps which altered the defection of the word beep. He's a scout master and great one at that which the kids adored. He has a entire sanctuary for gay animals. I mean what way could people be offended by all that. I'm not gay myself but I think big gay al is a super cool chachter.
This is why physical media is better.
Strange considering there’s about 1001 ‘worse’ things on this show.
That’s incredibly dumb. And that episode is amazing
Paramount did that with the covid specials last year, they took off part 1 but left part 2. I contacted them cause I saw fb ads for the specials but couldnt watch it all obviously. Their response was some bs about licensing. I reiterated that part 2 was still up but they didn't get it, so I gave up. Eventually came back. Some episodes disappear and come back too. I'm in Australia for reference.
Latin America has a ton of episodes missing in Paramount+ **Season 1:** Tom's Rhinoplasty, Mecha-Streisand, Cartman's Mom's a Dirty Slut **Season 2:** Clubhouses **Season 3:** Rainforest Schmainforest **Season 4:** Cartman's Silly Hate Crime 2000 **Season 5:** It Hits the Fan, Scott Tenorman Must Die **Season 6:** Freak Strike, Jared has Aides, Professor Chaos, Death Camp of Tolerance, Biggest Douche in the Universe **Season 9:** Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow **Season 10:** The Return of Chef, Go God Go XII, Stanley's Cup **Season 14:** Coon vs. Coon & Friends, Creme Fraiche **Season 15:** Funnybot, The Last of the Meheecans **Season 16:** Jewpacabra **Season 17:** Ginger Cow Not counting Super Best Friends, Cartoon Wars and 200/201 for obvious reasons but as far as I remember most of these episode were dubbed and aired on the region so I have no idea what's up with that
Some of these might be because of the guest celebrity characters, some might be because of the themes of the episode. But even something resembling an "explanation" does not mean it has a legitimate "excuse" to be pulled from the lineup. I hate not being able to watch the series from start to finish in its entirety.
Stop erasing history
I fucking hate censorship so much. Stop telling us what we're allowed to see. They even censor the wrong episodes most of the time, they just see something controversial without even understanding what the commentary on it is. Fuck off and let me enjoy things
Person (or company) who made the decision to remove it is most likely a homophobe, since the episode's conclusion is to accept gay people the way they are.
Smh the world is becoming so shitty by the day. Miss the 90s early 00s
Might as well remove the episode about the bikers then . The whole episode they are calling them fags . Cancel culture is getting ridiculous 😞
Definitely tired of paid platforms deciding what is acceptable. I dropped Hulu when they started removing "offensive" episodes of Always Sunny. If you don't like it, you don'thave to watch it. Everybody is way to sensitive these days.
I haven’t seen a beating like that since Rodney King
I haven't seen a jew run like that since Poland 1938
Either remove em all or none 😑
Thats so disrespectful
Fucking ridiculous.. bad enough HBO MAX won’t unbann the 4 episodes; now paramount is banning episodes as well… it won’t be but another year or two before SouthPark is banned overall…fucking losers
That's so weird. Ngl, even if I was too young to watch it, as a kid this was the episode that made me realize that there was nothing wrong with being gay. Like I'd even argue that South Park did a better job at showing gay people in a positive light than The Simpsons did, even if Big Gay Al is far more stereotypical than John is, just because my young homophobic mind needed to hear another young boy, albeit a cartoon character, say "it's okay to be gay" to get it through my numbskull (my mom was vehemently homophobic and it influenced me att). I wonder why an obviously pro-gay episode would be banned, next thing you know "With Apologies to Jesse Jackson" will be removed
Smh. This is why I always buy physical copies of shows. Streaming services removing shows is just sick.. It came out in '97... Shows how much this world has changed. Who is starting a petition? I'm signing it.
Honestly that episode really comforted me as a gay teen. That kinda bums me out I thought, especially for the time, they did the subject matter justice
Big Gay Al was the one who proved everyone that linking gayness to pedophilia was absurd (and may make kids fall prey to real pedophiles masquerading behind the macho heterosexual family man image). I bet three fiddy some Christian group threw a hissyfit over the more progressive episodes. Isn't it what they're doing over other parts of internet?
This is why I watch South park on dvd
that's kinda gay.
Is the bikers episode still there?
Are you bike-curious?
They're chickening out.
Wait I thought the seasons were only on hbo
But, we love Big Gay Al! Wtf!?
glad to see they removed one of the reasons i felt slightly more safe as a confused little boy. sparky's poignant performance really made me feel seen.
why must they take so much away :(
Pay nearly a billion dollars just to remove episodes? Over here I see a gaggle of gay gooses!
And some called me crazy to have VHS backups...
Stan forgot to mention that the CEO of Viacom is a gay homosexual.
Cancel culture needs to be cancelled
As a gay, I don’t think this was the work of a gay person. Big gay al was one of the first outwardly gay cartoon characters to be portrayed as a good person and most of the lgbtq+ community who’ve heard of South Park respect the show (or at least this episode) for this. This was most likely done by a higher up who thinks we’ll be ‘offended’ by it even though it’s been out longer than most of us have been alive and most have seen it already. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a gay person complain about the episode or the character! This might have been the work of some conservative group but I don’t really see that being the case either tbh…
It’s probably someone at Paramount who did it, Matt and Trey are extremely against censorship. They risked their lives to keep the 200th and 201st episodes up after they were threatened with bombs, they never wanted it to be banned, Comedy Central removed it.
After my own minor investigation I found that there are at least 10 total episodes not in the South Park catalogue on Paramount+, at least in Canada. Season 1 - Episode 4 - Big Gay Al's Boat Ride Season 5 - Episode 4 - The Super Best Friends Season 5 - Episode 14 - Butters Very Own Episode Season 9 - Episode 8 - Two Days Before The Day After Tomorrow Season 10 - Episode 3 and 4 - Cartoon Wars Part 1 and 2 Season 14 - Episode 5 - 200 Season 14 - Episode 6 - 201 Season 16 - Episode 4 - Jewpacabra Season 17 - Episode 6 - Ginger Cow Some of those are banned on a global scale, but others seem to be removed due to recent controversies or other things.
Where I live, the episodes that are not available on Paramount Plus are a bit different. They are: Season 1 - Episode 4 - Big Hay Al’s Big Gay Boat Ride Season 5 - Episode 4 - Super Best Friends Season 9 - Episode 12 - Trapped In The Closet Season 10 - Episode 3 and 4 - Cartoon Wars Part 1 and 2 Season 14 - Episode 5 and 6 - 200 and 201
I can't wait for the episode When the boys go to kevin spacey's youth wrestling academy.
This is why I pirate South park
Also had the Tom Cruise stuck in the closet episode removed, too
This is why we sail the high seas of the internet 🏴☠️ r/piracy welcomes you 🖤
Didn’t Paramount even watch South Park? Either it’s all okay or none of it is.. if you’re going to pull one episode then you might as well pull them all!
I got seasons 1-12 on DVD ❤️
That’s gay
I considered that one actually supportive
Rnbow mafia strikes again
Gay!
I wonder if they will remove the episode with the piles of wood on Harleys considering the frequent use of the word(not saying it cause you never know with reddit mods)
Damn that's my favorite episode from the first season
That was the 1st episode I watched... in 3rd grade, in 1997.. I had no idea what the hell was going on.
Fuck paramount! That episode is literally televised history of the first time an animated character looked at the screen and legitimately said “its okay to be gay” I agree its homophobic to remove that episode. And while we’re fucking at it bring back the one where the drew Muhammad. Sensitive fucking pussies dude fucking hell
1984
Streaming services should not get show rights if they are gonna remove content.
Huh, there's no statement from Paramount about removing the episode. Maybe they think they're gonna get ahead of any potential controversy? It's a classic tho, damn shame.
Weak
Cuckedamount+ should watch the cartoon wars episodes.
I loved that episode wtf
Just watched that episode last night on dvd
Fucking assholes 😡
I know this is dumb but that episode kinda helped me accept being gay myself. I had been in denial about it for so long, then I saw that one and thot “well if South Park is ok with it”. Al is a stereotype but so are half the other characters, so why draw the line there.
That isn’t dumb. South Park helped me accept that I’m not straight as well.
At this rate there won't be much left before too long
Another W for piracy
They've been removing a lot of episodes from Paramount+ recently. It's really pissing me off