Trey Parker and Matt Stone Postpone Tonight’s ‘South Park’ Episode, Claim They Couldn’t Finish It In Time

Despite the bi-weekly release schedule for South Park Season 27, and amidst heightened public scrutiny of the show’s political rhetoric, Comedy Central has postponed tonight's planned premiere of the next South Park episode to Wednesday, September 24th.

This last-minute cancellation comes one week after a gunman at Utah Valley University murdered right-wing political activist and recent South Park parody target Charlie Kirk. Just minutes after graphic videos of Kirk’s high-profile assassination went viral on social media, far-right figures and Kirk followers called for Trey Parker, Matt Stone and South Park to suffer consequences for their ridicule of the late media figure in the August 6th episode “Got a Nut.” 

Now, with the political world and the South Park fandom both anxiously awaiting Parker and Stone’s next move, the South Park duo have asked their viewers for a rain check. 

In a press release sent from Comedy Central to members of the media, Parker and Stone took the blame for the delay, writing, “Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done. This one’s on us. We didn’t get it done in time. Thanks to Comedy Central and South Park fans for being so understanding. Tune in next week!” 

Today’s South Park news may not be particularly surprising — the suspicious lack of promotional material for the new episode that was supposed to premiere tonight was a clear indicator that South Park isn’t prepared to break its silence — but the circumstances surrounding the postponement suggest that there may be more going on behind-the-scenes at South Park than just Parker and Stone failing to finish their work with twice the amount of time between episodes than every past South Park season.

There’s a strong possibility that South Park’s corporate parents at Paramount, whom the show publicly ridiculed for their handling of the recent acquisition deal with Skydance Media and for cozying up to President Donald Trump, are pushing Parker and Stone to avoid possibly inflammatory political material, forcing South Park to change its direction following four straight episodes of vicious and hilarious attacks on the Trump administration and its allies.

Nevertheless, South Park fans will figure out how the show will move forward in its single most politically dangerous season next week — and, very possibly, Parker and Stone will need that long to figure it out as well.