The 29th season of the Emmy-winning animated satire South Park is one of the most anticipated shows on the fall television slate. The last couple of seasons torched a fictionalized version of President Trump as a narcissistic, manipulative, phony Christian, and father of Satan’s baby. After avoiding a direct attack on Trump for years, the subject seemingly became unavoidable as politics morphed into a dominant strand of popular culture. Leading up to the season premiere, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have continued the trend, mocking Trump’s desire to rename global geographic landmarks after America.
Last week, South Park posted on its official social media accounts that it would change its name to South America. A scathing statement accompanied the new graphic, “Inspired by the bravery and patriotism of Apple and Google, we are changing the name of South Park to SOUTH AMERICA.” The show further thanked its parent company, Paramount, calling it a “Skydance Capitulation.” Poking fun at the growing culture of genuflecting to absurd demands was more than just a social media gag. Parker and Stone fully committed to the bit, officially launching the Season 29 premiere under the South America title and altering Primus’ iconic opening theme.
While we all expected South Park to continue hammering its political beat from the previous season, last night’s episode was rather tame by comparison. Outside the altered opening, there were only coy references to contemporary politics. With all the speculation about November’s midterms, characters in South Park America kept referring to how things will get better in November — which also happens to be when Grand Theft Auto VI comes out.
As the schedule for this season confirms that new episodes will drop every two weeks, the series is slated to air an episode just two days after the November midterms. This timing is reminiscent of the Season 16 episode “Obama Wins!” that aired the day after the Presidential election. The story mocked the blind optimism of Obama voters while lampooning the apocalyptic antics of the Romney camp. The framing perfectly captured the present moment, so we can expect South America to continue calling it exactly as it is following the pivotal midterms.
The era when presidential candidates treated each other with respect is long gone. American politics have become a meathead cage match on the White House lawn. At a time of seemingly insurmountable polarization, Parker and Stone may just be the heroes we need and deserve.
- Release Date
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August 13, 1997
- Network
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Comedy Central
