Summary
WhileSouth Parkseason 27 will have a hard time making one character’s story compelling, it’s too late for the series to reverse course and change their role.South Parkhas changed a lot since the show began in the late ‘90s. In its early seasons,South Parkfocused primarily on random non-sequiturs, shock value, obscenity, and cartoon violence. From season 4 onwards,South Parkshifted its focus to parodying news stories and world events as they unfolded. This approach made the series the satirical juggernautSouth Parkis now considered, but the show still continued to evolve.
South Parkexperimented with serialized storytelling in seasons 19, 20, and 21, departing from the episodic style of earlier outings. It is unlikely thatSouth Parkseason 27will bring back this approach since the show’s serialized outings earned mixed reviews. In particular,South Parkseason 20’s plot relied on the assumption that Hillary Clinton would win the 2016 election. This prediction turned out to be wrong and, sinceSouth Park’s creators didn’t have a plan for this eventuality, the season’s ending was messy and disjointed. This also madeSouth Parkseason 27’s biggest storyharder.
Every Banned South Park Episode (& Why They Were Controversial)
Over 25 seasons, South Park has seen only six out of more than 300 episodes banned and censored. What made these outings so uniquely controversial?
South Park Season 27 Can’t Replace Mr. Garrison’s Donald Trump
The Satirical Series Has Relied On The Character For Nine Years Now
SinceSouth Park’s creators assumed Donald Trump would not win the election, the show represented the divisive politician via Mr. Garrison, an existing character. Mr. Garrison has been an outrageous, outspoken elementary school teacher throughout South Park’s earlier seasons, so he was a fitting substitute for the bombastic, controversial Trump. However,South Parkseason 27 can’t replace Mr. Garrison’s Trump with another version of the politician, but the show also can’t get any more mileage out of Mr. Garrison’s caricature of Trump. Garrison’s Trump parody only worked when the President was campaigning, and its appeal fell apart once Trump won.
Mr. Garrison’s Trump parody proved that evenSouth Parksometimes called for decorum.
Mr. Garrison’s Trump imitation proves thatSouth Parkisn’t as controversialas it once was. Although the show originally prided itself on shocking viewers and offending censors, Mr. Garrison’s Trump parody proved that evenSouth Parksometimes called for decorum. Throughout his campaign,South Parkdepicted Garrison’s Trump as a shock comic who garnered support and built a base by saying as many offensive, shocking things as he could to braying crowds. This critique was more of a reflection on the state of American political rhetoric than a specific condemnation of any policies unique to Trump or the Republican Party.
South Park Season 27 Will Struggle With Mr. Garrison’s Trump
The Political Caricature Worked Better Before 2016’s Election
As the above summary outlines, Garrison was a great stand-in for Trump during the campaign trail. However, his role inSouth Parkbecame complicated and weird when he stood in for the real-life president.South Park’s streak of never depicting Joe Bidenproves that the series isn’t all that interested in examining the policies and actions of sitting Presidents. While Bush, Obama, and Clinton were all lampooned onSouth Park, all of their appearances in the series focused more on their media personalities and less on their politics. This made Trump a tough subject thanks to Mr. Garrison.
It wasn’t clear if Trump and Mr. Garrison was the same person.
South Parknever clarified where Mr. Garrison’s personality ended and the show’s spoof of Trump began, so the series struggled to criticize Trump during his presidency. It wasn’t clear if Trump and Mr. Garrison was the same person or if Mr. Garrison was a separate entity designed to spoof Trump. If the latter was the case, it wasn’t obvious how many of Mr. Garrison’s actions and policies were meant to mirror Trump’s real-life time in office.AlthoughSouth Parkignored Bidenentirely, this was arguably preferable to parodying the President via an existing character, as the show did with Trump.
South Park Season 27 Can’t Avoid Mr. Garrison’s Trump
Season 26’s Finale Already Acknowledged Season 27’s Focus
Ideally,South Parkshould replace Mr. Garrison’s version of Trump with a straightforward parody of the real-life politiciansince this would be clearer and would return Mr. Garrison to his old role in the show. However,South Parkcan’t simply change lanes after nine years of using the character as a Trump stand-in, albeit ineffectively.South Parkseason 26, episode 6, “Spring Break,” even acknowledged this issue with an episode about Garrison flirting with the idea of campaigning again and going back to his old self. Garrison’s love interest hated the thought, but Garrison didn’t deny the possibility of his return.
South Parkseason 27’s 2024 release means the series will inevitably address Trump.
Donald Trump is definitively the Republican nominee for 2024’s US presidential election and there is still no sign ofSouth Parkseason 27’s arrival. Although 2024’s earlier feature-length specialSouth Park: The End of Obesitycould afford to ignore Biden, Trump, and the Democratic nominee Kamala Harris,South Parkseason 27 won’t have the same luxury. Barring a massive once-in-a-lifetime news story, it is likely that the latter half of 2024’s news cycle will be dominated by election coverage. As such,South Parkseason 27’s 2024 release means the series will inevitably address Trump.
South Park Season 27 May Avoid 2024’s Election Altogether
2020’s Election Went Unmentioned Due To The COVID-19 Pandemic
That said,South Parkignoring an entire election is not unheard of, even if it is a strange move for a show that became famous via its timely social, cultural, and political satire.South Parkseason 27 might arrive between September and December 2024 and not mention the election at all, much like 2020’s election was not central to the feature-length specialsSouth Parkreleased in 2020 and 2021. However, this would be a disastrous misstep for a series that ostensibly satirizes news stories as they unfold, as it would makeSouth Parkseason 27 feel painfully irrelevant.
South Parkwould be better off continuing to use the flawed Mr. Garrison/Trump character rather than ignoring the election wholesale. Already, it is strange that the show’s last four seasons have avoided any substantial storylines about President Biden. Steering clear of the most important politician in America is a strange choice for any satirical series, but it makes a comedy as ribald and ruthless asSouth Parkfeel particularly tired and toothless. As such,South Parkseason 27 should not sidestep the 2024 election, even if this does mean bringing back Mr. Garrison’s admittedly uneven Trump stand-in.
