Southern Park has never shied away from poking fun at politics, having parodied presidential elections several times in the past. However, fans shouldn't expect Matt Stone and Trey Parker to do the same in 2024.
According to Vanity Fair, Stone and Parker confirmed that they will not be satirizing the U.S. presidential election. Parker explained how difficult it is to parody such a major election, admitting that he and Stone simply “have less fun“when they took on that task previously. With Donald Trump in particular, Parker also believes that Southern Park has already spent far too much time mocking the former US president, who could potentially reclaim the Oval Office if he wins this year's election.
“We tried to do Southern Park through four or five presidential elections, and it's such a difficult thing—it’s such a mental mess, and it seems to take on an outsized importance,” Parker said. “Of course, it’s f—ing important, but it kind of overwhelms everything and we have less fun with it. I don’t know what else we could say about Trump.”
I don't know what else we could say about Trump.
It's a fair point that Parker makes. The show spent a lot of time mocking Trump when the former host of The Apprentice was elected president in 2016. Although Trump himself was not introduced, the character of Mr. Garrison was reworked to more closely resemble the real-life president, replacing him in the series' version of the divisive politician. After spending many episodes using Garrison as a stand-in for Trump, it may have become much harder to think of anything new to do with the gimmick.
Stone and Parker also confirmed that Southern Park won't return with new episodes until 2025. That'll make it even easier to completely ignore the 2024 presidential election. While Parker has implied that behind-the-scenes issues with Paramount are part of the reason for the delay in new episodes, Stone has suggested that the delayed return may have more to do with making it easier to skip this year's election season.
“[We’re] waiting for Paramount to figure out all their s***,” Parker said. Stone then added that he had pushed back the show's return to 2025, “Honestly, it's done on purpose [to avoid the election].”
Trey Parker and Matt Stone Have a New Documentary Coming Out
Parker and Stone's new film, the documentary Beautiful House My Love!, recently debuted at the Telluride Film Festival. It will be shown in select theaters on September 13, before streaming on Paramount+. The film has ties to Southern Parkas it tells the story of how Stone and Parker purchased the Casa Bonita restaurant in Lakewood, Colorado, after its appearance decades earlier in a memorable episode of the Comedy Central series.
Southern Park will return in 2025.
Source: Vanity Fair