In 2001, illusionist David Blaine was at peak popularity — making him a prime target for “South Park” parody. “Super Best Friends” stepped up to the challenge by imagining a world where Blaine heads up a very Scientology-inspired cult called Blaintology, using the art of illusion to lure in acolytes through his Magic Camp. Impressed by Blaine’s magic, Kyle, Stan, Kenny, Cartman, and Butters sign up and quickly find themselves trapped in a suicide cult. With everyone else completely brainwashed, it’s up to Stan to save the day with the help of Jesus and his Super Best Friends — a Superfriends and Justice League-style sendup that comprises Jesus, Krishna, Buddha, Muhammad, Lao Tse, Moses, Joseph Smith, and the Aquaman-inspired Seaman.
A classic example of what makes “South Park” great, the episode is brimming with potentially offensive content from Buddha having a coke habit to the thinly veiled rebuke of Scientology. But it’s the episode’s depiction of Muhammad that would get it banned years after first airing amid a rise in threats from extremist Muslims. After one such extremist executed Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in 2004, networks were far less inclined to risk airing images of Muhammad. South Park Studios removed the episode from its available content, and it’s one of only a few episodes that can’t be found on streaming video.
