Network, ‘South Park’ creators make up

Long before he quit “South Park,” Isaac Hayes angrily demanded that co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker disown the controversial “Trapped in the Closet” episode that poked fun at Scientology and Tom Cruise.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, Stone and Parker revealed some new details about the “Closet” flap, noting that “right after it aired in November,” Hayes, who voiced the character of Chef on the series, was “very upset” because he felt that the episode had attacked his religion.

According to the producers, Hayes asked them to remove the episode from DVD compilations of the series, which they refused to do.

Months went by, and the pair heard nothing more, although they were not completely surprised when Hayes’ camp issued a press release earlier this year saying he wanted to be released from his contract.

“We knew that might happen when we made the episode,” Parker said.

Comedy Central squelched a planned March repeat of “Trapped in the Closet” -- reportedly after Cruise threatened to withhold publicity efforts on behalf of Paramount’s feature film “M:i:III.” (Paramount and Comedy Central are Viacom properties.) Cruise’s camp has denied this, and the star has avoided questions about the matter.

Variety reported this week that the network will air “Closet” again later this month, thereby patching up its frayed relations with Stone and Parker. “It’s tough to work for people you think are holding one of your episodes hostage, but it’s water under the bridge now, because it’s going on,” Stone told reporters Thursday.

Stone and Parker were also asked about two episodes earlier this year that belittled Fox’s animated sitcom “Family Guy” as formulaic and unfunny.

After the episodes ran, Parker said, “We got flowers from ‘The Simpsons,’ we got calls from ‘King of the Hill’ saying we were doing God’s work. It’s not just our opinion.”

Maybe we should pity the reporters

To my chagrin, I missed the TV Land panel Thursday morning at the press tour in Pasadena to plug Mr. T’s new self-help show, “I Pity the Fool.” So I didn’t observe the following priceless exchange, which is quoted verbatim from the transcript provided later:

Question: Mr. T, why do you pity the fool?

Mr. T: That is a good question. That is a good question and a legitimate question. And I’m the man to answer it. You pity the fool because you don’t want to beat up a fool. You know, pity is between sorry and mercy. See, if you pity him, you know, you won’t have to beat him up. So that’s why I say fools, you gotta give another chance because they don’t know no better. That’s why I pity them.

Who says the press tour is a waste of time?

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Channel Island is a blog about the television industry. For the latest posting, go to latimes.com/channelisland. Contact reporter Scott Collins at [email protected]