The Return of Chef - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

"The Return of Chef" is the first episode of the tenth season

South Park (season 10)

Season 10 of South Park, an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, began airing on March 22, 2006. The tenth season concluded after 14 episodes on November 15, 2006...

of the animated television series South Park

South Park

South Park is an American animated television series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become famous for its crude language, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics...

, and the 140th episode overall. It first aired on Comedy Central

Comedy Central

Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

on March 22, 2006. It was advertised as the tenth season premiere. The episode was the first after the departure of Isaac Hayes

Isaac Hayes

Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...

, who voiced Chef

Chef (South Park)

Jerome "Chef" McElroy is a fictional character on the Comedy Central series South Park. He was voiced by Isaac Hayes. A cafeteria worker at the local elementary school in the town of South Park, Colorado, Chef was generally portrayed as more level-headed than the other adult residents of the town...

. Hayes, a Scientologist, left after a falling-out with the creators over their treatment of Scientology in the episode "Trapped in the Closet." Scientology has been accused of using brainwashing techniques, and the episode portrays Chef as having been brainwashed.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," Hayes was quoted as saying in a press statement.