If you feel like American politics have been inescapable recently, you’re not alone. Even entertainment creatives like “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone can’t help but be influenced by the political landscape these days.
The duo recently spoke with The New York Times about the inspiration for the show’s latest season, which has reflected many events in the news cycle through a comedic cartoon lens. That includes the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainments happening across the country, statements from the Federal Communications Commission chairman, and most recently, the demolition of White House’s East Wing.
The show’s creators said part of that is simply due to the fact that the line between politics and pop culture has never been blurrier.
“It’s not that we got all political,” Parker told the Times. “It’s that politics became pop culture.”
The show’s skewering of the Trump administration has turned “South Park” into “a surprising voice of the resistance and catapulted the show back into relevance,” the publication said. Though its ratings may be higher for this season than previous ones, it’s worth noting this is nothing new for Parker and Stone, who grew up in Colorado and now own the legendary Casa Bonita restaurant.
The franchise may have started more than 25 years ago by chronicling the hilarious and often crass journey of four elementary school students from Parker and Stone’s home state. But it has also long played on current events to offer viewers the chance to laugh at what’s actually happening in the world.
In 2004, for example, “South Park” featured a hot political debate between a Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich as the show’s main characters sought to make the case for why the candidate they backed was the better choice. The episode aired the week before the 2004 U.S. presidential election, in a not-so-subtle nod to the match-up between George W. Bush and John Kerry.
Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich were again revived in 2016 as nicknames for two presidential candidates running for election: Mr. Garrison, whose spray tank and demeanor seemed a whole lot like Donald Trump, and Hilary Clinton.
Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, “South Park” released “The Pandemic Special” that reflected what was happening in the news, such as the struggles of virtual and in-person education, the reckoning around police brutality, and the cannabis industry’s banner sales year.
Parker and Stone said that they thought about avoiding the recent MAGA movement, but ultimately couldn’t.
“It’s like the government is just in your face everywhere you look,” Parker told the Times. “Whether it’s the actual government or whether it is all the podcasters and the TikToks and the YouTubes and all of that, and it’s just all political and political because it’s more than political. It’s pop culture.”
That was even true within the walls of their workplace. Comedy Central, the network that airs “South Park,” is owned by Paramount, which earlier this year merged with Skydance Media in a deal that both impacted the show’s ability to air and needed approval from the Trump administration. Paramount also owns CBS, which canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in a move that many believe was executed to appease regulators.
That inspired Parker and Stone to make the season 27 premiere show explicitly that they maintained independence, they said. For those who missed it, the storyline revolved around Trump and his “teeny tiny” manhood. It also mentioned Colbert and the Paramount-Skydance deal.
“South Park” is in the midst of airing new episodes. The next is expected to drop on Nov. 12, but if recent history is any indication, that could change – and not because Parker and Stone are getting censored. Read the full New York Times interview here.