Mere hours after signing a $1.5 billion deal with Paramount, “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone premiered their new season on Wednesday night, and the episode has gone so viral that they’re not sure how to follow it up.
The episode, titled “Sermon on the ‘Mount,” features U.S. President Donald Trump as a major character – this version adopting the same voice and mannerisms as their take on Saddam Hussein in the “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut” film. Saddam’s old boyfriend Satan also shares a bed with him.
What follows is some fearless political satire with relentless jokes about Trump’s manhood and frequent lawsuit threats, and ending with a live-action advertisement with a deepfaked Trump parodying a political campaign ad.
Reviews have been glowing, highly praising the episode for its fearless satire of the current administration. It drew so much attention that Taylor Rogers, the White House Assistant Press Secretary, issued a statement in response to the episode, telling Rolling Stone on Thursday morning. Here’s an excerpt:
“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.”
Then yesterday afternoon, series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone appeared on a San Diego Comic Con panel and said (via The Guardian) that they were “terribly sorry” for the episode, following that remark with a long and deadpan comic stare.
The production team can create an episode in just a few days and finish it just hours before airing, which allows them to stay current. However, Parker admits, “I don’t know what next week’s episode is going to be. Even just three days ago, we were like, ‘I don’t know if people are going to like this.’”
They also indicated that the teaser trailer for the new season, which they released a few months ago, was created at Paramount’s request and features no actual footage from the new season – it was all made for the promo.
