Crikey - What were they thinking at South Park?

Steve Irwin

The creators of the South Park cartoon series are unrepentant about a new episode that shows Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin attending a party in hell with a stingray barb protruding from his chest.

Irwin died just eight weeks ago when a stingray barb pierced his heart while he was filming off the north Queensland coast.

The South Park episode, which had been scheduled for broadcast in the United States on Wednesday, is expected to upset Irwin fans and his family - wife Terri and children Bindi and Bob.

But the show's creators say it is not the first time their work has created waves.

"We have offended people in the past and probably will again," a South Park spokesman told a London newspaper.

"We know that regular watchers will not be shocked."

In the episode, Satan hosts a fancy dress party attended by Irwin, Princess Diana and Adolf Hitler - among other famous dead people.

But Irwin is kicked out by the Devil because he's not in costume.

"This is such bad taste and the makers of South Park should review their decision to show it," according to mediaatch-uk.

"Steve's family are still grieving," the online watchdog's director, John Beyer, said.

"To lampoon somebody's death like that is unacceptable and so soon after the event is grossly insensitive."

- AAP