During a presentation at the Television Critics Association, Paramount+ confirmed there are two more South Park specials coming to the streaming channel this year. The upcoming specials are part of the deal creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker signed with MTV Entertainment Studios, ensuring the main series will keep running until 2027.
Last year, Stone and Parker signed a deal to produce six new seasons of the South Park show, set to premiere on the show's original home, Comedy Central. The deal also predicted the production of 14 made-for-streaming events, set to stream directly at Paramount+. In 2021, Paramount+ exhibited two of these events as a two-part pandemic-themed story, South Park: Post COVID and South Park: Post COVID: The Return Of COVID.
When asked if the upcoming specials would always be exhibited at the end of the year – and if the streaming platform would keep the two-part format –, a Paramount+ representative confirmed that two new specials were coming this year and that there are no hard rules about release windows. As they explained, South Park special releases are “not necessarily always at the end of the year and not necessarily two-part events. We're keeping those options, and like we said we’re incredibly flexible in terms of bringing those stories to Paramount+, but there will be two this year.”
South Park launched in 1997 and has been running strong ever since, becoming the flagship of Comedy Central. Although the series is always surrounded by controversy, South Park has received many rewards throughout its run, including five Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award. The show is coming back today for a new entire season, after a hiatus caused by the pandemics. The last full season of South Park was released back in 2019, with two special episodes about the pandemic released in 2020 and 2021 serving as the show's 24th season.
Besides the long-format specials of the 24th season and the events created for Paramount+, South Park has also extended to various sources of media, including the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. In addition, the franchise also spawned many video games, including the recent RPG hits South Park: The Stick of Truth and South Park: The Fractured but Whole.
South Park will be making its return with the six-episode season today, February 2. The new season will be available on Comedy Central, on the Comedy Central site and South Park's own website.