South Park gets Emmy nomination
Trapped in the Closet up for TV animation award
Emmy courts controversy with South Park nomination, going up against Family Guy and The Simpsons.
(Source: Toon Zone)
Wow. South Park's controversial "Trapped in the Closet" episode is up for Outstanding Animation Program at the 58th Emmy Awards. Wow.
For those of you who have been living in a cave for the past year, "Trapped in the Closet" was the show that satirized Scientology. In the episode, the cult decides that one of the show's main characters is the reincarnation of founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Also in the episode, an animated Tom Cruise locks himself in a closet after that character tells the action star that he's a lousy actor. Later, several people, including ex-wife Nicole Kidman, implores Cruise to "come out of the closet." Cruise denies that he's "in the closet" and fellow actor John Travolta joins him there. This is a poke at longstanding rumours about Cruise and Travolta's sexual orientation.
Fearing a Scientology backlash, the entire crew listed themselves as "John and Jane Smith." Voice actor Isaac Hayes, a Scientologist, quit South Park over the episode and the episode has rarely shown since. Unconfirmed reports stated that either Tom Cruise or Scientology put pressure on Comedy Central not to rebroadcast "Trapped in the Closet."
Here are the Emmy nominations for animated programs:
Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less than One Hour)
- Camp Lazlo: "Hello Dolly/Over Cooked Beans" (Cartoon Network)
- Family Guy: "PTV" (Fox)
- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends: "Go Goo Go" (Cartoon Network)
- The Simpsons: "The Seemingly Neverending Story" (Fox)
- South Park: "Trapped in the Closet" (Comedy Central)
Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming One Hour or More)
- Before the Dinosaurs (Discovery Channel)
- Escape from Cluster Prime (Nickelodeon)
