As far as social satires go, few shows hit as hard as South Park does. From PC culture to the rise of Donald Trump, there’s no faction in the United States that’s truly safe from series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Over the years, their commentary on the state of the world has been followed closely by millions of viewers. What the series will come up with this year, however, remains to be seen.
Historically, new episodes tend to premiere in September, and given how that’s only a few weeks away now, fans of the show are taking to Twitter to voice their excitement. And right they are. So far, 2020 has been one of the most eventful and polarizing years the country has ever experienced, and it’ll be fascinating to see how Stone and Parker tackle it.
I can’t stop thinking about how fantastic this season of South Park is gonna be. 2020 has given them so much content to work with
— Korey Brooks (@NebrasKorey) August 12, 2020
https://twitter.com/TurqMc/status/1295061951379316736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1295061951379316736%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftvweb.com%2Fsouth-park-season-24-new-episodes-2020%2F
I’m ready for South Park to shit on 2020 for a whole season
— 🌙 (@Raegan360) August 13, 2020
I’m not so sure 2020 isn’t just a great season of South Park at this point
— C. Benjamin Doyle (@CBenjaminDoyle) August 17, 2020
https://twitter.com/vibrvntcourt/status/1294411173438226432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1294411173438226432%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftvweb.com%2Fsouth-park-season-24-new-episodes-2020%2F
Damn South Park is gonna have so much to work with when making jokes about the fucking disaster fire that has been 2020.
— 🩸THESEXORCIST🩸 (@HallowsHumour) August 17, 2020
After everything thats happened in 2020 all I know is that the new season of South Park is gonna be wild
— Scott Chesnutt (@ScottChesnutt) August 15, 2020
Indeed, from the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic to the civil rights protests and of course, the gradual disintegration of the Trump administration at large, the South Park team will have no shortage of material to work with. How exactly they’ll choose to tackle the events of this year, though, is another question altogether.
In the last few years, the show’s approach has been interesting to say the least. Most notably, Stone and Parker opted not to portray Trump directly but instead have him be personified in Mr. Garrison. While there are those who suspect that the creators did so out of sympathy for the man, they have in fact stated the opposite. Suggesting that Trump satirizes himself enough as is, they saw no need to do it for him.
Then there are the ramifications of the pandemic itself. Although work from home orders have grounded most live-action productions around the world to a screeching halt, animation has been doing pretty well. Made using smaller teams who are used to working from remote locations anyway, their schedules have been able to continue with minor alterations. Let’s hope the same goes for South Park.Â
