The satirical comedy typically works up to the last minute on new episodes, turning them around in a week’s time to offer extremely up-to-date jokes on current events. Despite this high-wire act, Parker and Stone didn’t miss a South Park deadline for more than a decade. The first time occurred in 2013, and only because a power outage rendered the team physically unable to complete the episode (“Goth Kids 3: Dawn Of The Posers“). “It sucks to miss an air date but after all these years of tempting fate by delivering the show last minute, I guess it was bound to happen,” Parker said in a statement at the time (via Entertainment Weekly).Â
The South Park guys didn’t offer a reason for this latest delay. Given how infrequently this has happened over the show’s run, it’s hard not to speculate that the current political climate made this episode a harder nut to crack. Usually, the show tackles all topics fearlessly and ruthlessly no matter what’s going on, but this would’ve been the first episode to air since the murder of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, whom South Park had parodied earlier in the season. That episode, “Got A Nut,” was pulled from reruns last week as it was scheduled to air on the same day as Kirk’s death. Some Kirk fans expressed outrage towards the South Park ep in the wake of the shooting, though Kirk seemed to enjoy the parody when “Got A Nut” originally aired.
After a contract battle with Paramount, South Park returned firing on all cylinders in July, skewering Trump, his administration, and Paramount itself. The hot-button commentary helped the show break ratings records. Unlike previous seasons, the 27th season has been airing on a biweekly schedule. Per THR, Comedy Central has stated the remaining six episodes of the season will air on September 24, October 15, October 29, November 12, November 26 and December 10.
