South Park season 27 premiered to the delight of fans who were concerned the series was doomed to TV purgatory – and its ratings broke a record dating back to 1999.
One person, however, who might not be so delighted about the satirical cartoon’s return is President Donald Trump.
The opening episode, Sermon on the Mount, mercilessly mocked Trump, portraying him as a litigious sex pest who is in a relationship with Satan and displaying cartoon depictions of his nude body several times.
The new episode scored 5,900,000 viewers, across Paramount+ and Comedy Central in the US (via Variety) in the first three days it was available to watch.
The broadcaster also said South Park enjoyed its biggest share of the cable audience for a season premiere episode since 1999, touting it as ‘most social episode’ of South Park ever.
The South Park episode made several (quite literally) below-the-belt jokes about the US Commander-in-Chief’s penis – and it’s now been revealed that the creators had to argue to stop it from being blurred.
After jokingly apologising for the episode’s gags at Comic Con by saying ‘We’re terribly sorry’ with a hilarious straight face, creator Trey Parker explained with co-showrunner Matt Stone the concerns behind the scenes.
They said (via Hollywood Reporter): ‘Just three days ago, we were going, “I don’t know if people are going to like this [but ultimately decided] let’s put that in there.”‘
Arguments then reportedly ensued: ‘They were like, “We’re gonna blur the penis” and we’re like, “No, you’re not gonna blur the penis.’”
These comments refer to a fake public service announcement which aired after the episode – the scene depicted a deepfake AI version of President Trump wandering through the desert naked.
As the President collapses to the floor, his penis (which can talk and appears to have googly eyes) declares: ‘I’m Donald J. Trump and I endorse this message’ before a voice over states, ‘Trump! His penis is teeny-tiny, but his love for us is large.’
The decision to give the penis additional googly eyes was apparently agreed to by the show’s team in order to make it ‘a character’.
During an earlier scene, when Satan and Trump are getting intimate, the president exposes himself to the Devil and declares: ‘Come on, Satan, you know you can’t resist this.’
To which the Devil replies, ‘I can’t even see anything because it’s so small.’
Following the episode’s premiere, fans were shocked and amused in equal measure, with many speculating how the notoriously thin-skinned President might react to the show.
The Devil's in the detail…
Our South Park historian and deputy TV editor Tom Percival explains his thoughts on the significance of Satan sleeping with Trump…
Jokes are never funny after you’ve explained them. Still, as a journalist, it’s fallen to me to explain the Trump gag, and this is a callback to the show’s earlier seasons.
You see, South Park has a long tradition of showing Satan in relationships with problematic men.
In South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, Satan was in a similar relationship with Saddam Hussein until the pair had a rather dramatic break-up.
The South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker may then be attempting to draw parallels between the former Iraqi leader and President Trump; they’ve even animated the pair in the same fashion.
What are the similarities? Well, I don’t think we have the right to dictate that to you.
‘OMG South Park went straight for the jugular with Trump! The ending is amazing,’ wrote @Pookerella on X.
‘If you haven’t watched the new #SouthPark… watch the new South Park. Maybe their best episode ever,’ added @BlackMagicSama
‘They told us what we all know,’ wrote @TylerandAndrei. ‘They are definitely going to try and give #SouthPark the Colbert treatment.’
@DowntownHWV meanwhile, perhaps summed it up most succinctly when they wrote, ‘Trump is going to lose his sh*t’.
Although Trump has yet to comment publicly, the White House has slammed the show’s creators as ‘desperate’.
‘The Left’s hypocrisy truly has no end – for years, they have come after South Park for what they labeled as ‘offense’ [sic] content, but suddenly they are praising the show,’ White House assistant press secretary Taylor Rogers said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
‘Just like the creators of South Park, the Left has no authentic or original content, which is why their popularity continues to hit record lows. This show hasn’t been relevant for over 20 years and is hanging on by a thread with uninspired ideas in a desperate attempt for attention.
‘President Trump has delivered on more promises in just six months than any other president in our country’s history — and no fourth-rate show can derail President Trump’s hot streak.’
Other fans, meanwhile, couldn’t help but point out that Paramount, who own the network that airs South Park, just paid Trump $16,000,000 to settle a 60 Minutes lawsuit.
This decision has been seen by critics as Paramount capitulating to the White House.
‘The new #SouthPark is an absolute masterpiece and a shot across the bow to all those companies currently capitulating to Trump. Paramount should be ashamed,’ wrote @BlackMagicSama
@defonotfranklin said, ‘This is why I love South Park. They don’t give a f**k and want to give us a clear message that Donald Trump is a piece of sh*t. F*ck Trump. F*ck idiotic MAGA supporters. F*ck Paramount.
‘Holy smokes, South Park just went scorched earth on Trump for their season 27 premiere,’ added @WUTangKids. ‘Paramount is gonna love this after giving Trey Parker and Matt Stone a cool $1.5B streaming deal’.
Of course, not everyone enjoyed the episode @ajonestherapist branded the episode ‘lazy ‘ and ‘woke’.
‘It has become self-aware of its own cultural cache and relevance,’ he continued. ‘It’s leaning into it with the subtlety of Marvel humour.’
@gregorytangelo was similarly upset by the episode, claiming the series had ‘jumped the shark’.
Can I watch South Park season 27 in the UK?
Sadly, at the time of writing, South Park season 27 is not available to stream in the UK.
That said, we do know that brand new episodes of South Park season 27 at some date in the future and be available to stream on Sky.
‘Matt & Trey succumbed to the cancer of recalibrating storylines to trash Trump—without sarcasm, irony, or laughs’ he wrote. ‘The show used to poke fun at everything and everyone; now it’s just a partisan hatefest—and only sociopaths want to watch that.’
Meanwhile, @RandMatthews ‘South Park has gone woke. They must go broke.’
Sadly for Mr Matthews, it might be a while before the South Park team goes broke.
The co-creators have reportedly signed a deal worth $1.5 billion with Paramount to keep the show on the air for another five years.
Metro has reached out to the White House and President Trump for comment.
A version of this article was originally published on July 24.
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