While Comedy Central is censoring depictions of Muhammad, they’re giving Jesus Christ his own show. At the network’s upfront presentations this week, Comedy Central announced “JC,” a program currently in development that follows Christ as he attempts to “escape the shadow of his ‘powerful but apathetic father’ and live a regular life in New York.” The network described the animated comedy as “a playful take on religion and society with a sprinkle of dumb.”
The network recently came under fire for censoring images of Mohammad in an episode of the long-running animated sitcom “South Park.” After drawing criticism from Islamic groups, the network decided to censor all images of the Muslim prophet as well as a speech given by the character. Over the years, “South Park” has regularly featured Jesus as a character on the program; he hosted a television call-in show called “Jesus & Pals,” used his “master carpentry skills” to fight an evil magician,” and, in his last appearance, got shot in the back by a Muslim extremist.
“In general, comedy in its purest form always makes some people uncomfortable,” said Comedy Central head of original programming Kent Alterman.
The show was announced as one of 22 projects currently “in development”; the network says planning is in its early stages and, according to Alterman, “we don’t even know what the show is yet.”
