Hayes' Chef Sort of Returns on 'South Park'

To kill off Chef would be to acknowledge the importance of Isaac Hayes. The show needs to be bigger than the cast. Especially when the cast is throwing a childish fit or acting as a puppet of large, influential outside organization. They should keep Chef but recast him way out of type. Maybe have him voiced by a woman or someone with a voice at the opposite end of the spectrum from Hayes.

To kill off Chef would be to acknowledge the importance of Isaac Hayes.

Oh, they will go far beyond killing off Chef. I imagine they will wage a war of defaming the character relentlessly for weeks or seasons to come. If South Park berates celebrities and pop culture as normal business, I can only imagine the havoc they will wreak as a result of Hayes' exodus.

I think this latest controversy will be great for South Park. Personally, I have not seen the show in years, but I am seriously interested in seeing what happens to Chef, so I may start tuning in again. I feel many more will do the same.

Screw that. I will watch Southpark with someone who sounds similar to Chef to keep the character alive. Or for dramatic effect why not a very different voice. After all sitcoms have used different actors to play the same part before so why not a different voice on the same face. The risk is that people won't like the new and improved version and as geekyguy points out that would only further show the importance of Hayes.

What the heck is it about scientology anyways? If their beliefs are even a quarter of how Parker and Stone make it out then they are all just a bunch of looneys in an exclusive cult for the rich.

I say the should use this new episode to drive home their point (i.e. Scientology sucks and/or is dangerous) and then just let Chef disappear from the cast without further comments. To keep defaming the character more just makes Stone and Parker look like sore losers wanting to kick someone who is lying down.

So we'll see what happens. I for one am really looking forward to the new episodes though. Haven't seen Chef in a long while anyway, so I really couldn't care less about his disappearance from the cast.

Oh how hypocritical of him! He stays with the show for years while it bashes every religion out there and commits obscenities and blasphemies. But when it starts to poke fun at his religion just a little bit more than it used to, he up and runs.

I think this whole thing is either a scheme to increase viewership of the cartoon or an elaborate April Fool joke. Matt Stone and Trey Parker are being a little too agressive towards Hayes. This is someone they actively recruited and have worked with for a long time. I'm writing this whole thing off as a publicity stunt.

Matt and Trey have done Chef's voice before. And they did Chef's parents so I expect they'll just do it full time.

If you're interested, read the most recent issue of Rolling Stone. There's a fascinating article on Scientology. Having done a substantial amount of reading on the organization, I'm personally of the opinion that it is no more than an unscrupulous commercial organization. Using the word "cult" is too easy, but unfortunately for all these idiot celebrities, its also entirely accurate. Isaac Hayes has already been made to look like the fool that he is, and I hope Stone and Parker continue to take jabs at the "Church" of Scientology. Its a relief to me that they refuse to be coerced out of airing the show.

It's no wonder South Park makes so much fun of it. It's actually a whole lot funnier than Christianity and the other "mainstream" religions.

I cant wait to see how they kill of Chef.

Maybe there will be a Chef vs. Issaaaaaaac HAAAAAYZEE Super Match of the Universe!

THAT EPISODE WAS SO GREAT. The message can be summed up like this: Don't get mad at Isaac Hayes, get mad at the Scientologists who brainwashed him.

That was ridiculously funny!