This year’s episodes of South Park have brought a resurgence of the franchise. Season 27 of the beloved series is a ratings bonanza for Comedy Central, as well as a creative triumph for its showrunners, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and a delight for fans of irreverent topical satire. In fact, the animated hit’s fans have been so laser-focused on every detail of the show that they were quick to notice when Wednesday night’s episode marked the beginning of the show’s 28th season — an unannounced move that seemed to make little sense.
Wednesday night’s episode focused on several current issues, including surveillance, government encroachment on everyday life, and the annoying “6, 7” meme that has overtaken Gen Alpha. It also marked a whole new season of the show, which returned for its 27th season over the summer after a two-year hiatus to critical acclaim and the chagrin of the White House. Traditionally, South Park seasons consist of six episodes and, like most TV shows, have a long break until the next season begins. However, early in the latest run, it was widely reported that season 27 would consist of 10 new 22-minute episodes. All the better for the show’s many fans.
Ahead of Wednesday’s show, fans began to speculate as to why what was expected to be season 27’s sixth episode was being listed as season 28, episode 1. It must be a glitch, viewers assumed, or maybe a maneuver to fulfill Parker and Stone’s contractual obligations, given the retooling of their deal over the summer. It was perplexing for many to find that many of the plot threads set up in the five episodes that made up season 27 were continued as if they were the same season; in fact, nothing from the storylines — Donald Trump and Satan’s love child, Jesus’ entree into South Park Elementary as a counselor — had been resolved by episode five.
It turns out that this is a case of misreporting, a rep for the show suggested on Friday. Season 27 was never meant to be a full 10 episodes, and the showrunners had planned all along for Seasons 27 and 28 to bow at five episodes each, it seems. No announcement was made regarding the number of episodes in season 27 at the time it debuted, Comedy Central clarified to The Hollywood Reporter. This is all despite widespread reporting of a 10-episode run for the latest season. And what the rep told THR tracks: looking back at the press releases for this season, Comedy Central has consistently provided air dates for the upcoming episodes, but has never referred to them as part of a continuous season of 10 episodes.
Yet the latest season has had a perplexing schedule. Episodes 2701 and 2702 aired on the standard week-over-week schedule, but then it was announced that the team had switched to a biweekly schedule before the delayed fifth episode. That now-apparent season finale aired three weeks later, on Sept. 24. It was another three weeks before Wednesday’s surprise season 28 premiere episode.
Could there be more to this that we don’t know? Perhaps. Does it matter, as long as South Park keeps delivering pitch-perfect satire? Not really.
