Why South Park could not be German

We need to step on a few toes here. If you are squeamish, please find another of our hilariously funny and deeply insightful posts for your perusal.

South Park is as wildly successful over here as everywhere, so what do we mean by "Why South Park could not be German".

We mean that it is impossible for a South Park like show to originate in Germany.

Beyond the obvious, like fewer film schools, a smaller talent pool, fewer TV channels, presumably a much more limited supply of acid, less of a go do it spirit, there is one reason highlighted not long ago by the VatiLeaks scandal.

Remember that brief spurt of good, old fashioned catholic intrigue around the Pope and the arrest of his butler?

German magazine Titanic, a satirical publication, had to pull an issue after lawyers for His Holiness obtained an injunction. The depiction of a yellow stain on the Pope's robe at crotch level was enough for German courts to sink this issue of the Titanic.

That's why South Park could not be done in Germany.

We go back to the long interview with our local former altar boy (FAB) and quote what he had to say about the Pope and libel.

FAB: Germans got to see episodes of South Park aimed at various churches, from Scientology to the Catholic Church, one starred Pope Benedict, and there were no lawyers holding up the virtues of the institution or His Holiness.

K-landnews: Did anybody try the South Park defense?

FAB: You mean, hey, South Park can do it, why are you going after us?

K-landnews: Exactly.

FAB: If they did, it was not mentioned in the press. It might not have worked anyway, because the role of legal precedent around here is quite different, carries less weight.

K-landnews: So it could simply be as they said in the documentary about the making of South Park, 'it's South Park'.

The K-landnews team has concluded that Germans get the benefits of American freedom of speech without having to endure some of its less enlightened manifestations. Except, sometimes, in a page three note about something  under the broad heading "only in America".

[Update]
The initial version of the post was published with a typo - the "t" was missing from the name Benedict. This happened because we could not find the white-out and is now fixed.