Question: what are you doing Friday, 26 November?
Answer: you’re going down to South Park, going to have yourself a time.
After announcing that Trey Parker and Matt Stone had signed a mega-deal with ViacomCBS’ MTV Entertainment Studios that would see them produce 14 South Park films for Paramount Plus, the streamer has also revealed that two new original South Park exclusive events will be landing on the platform.
The first — South Park: Post Covid — will premiere Friday, 26 November and the second exclusive event will stream in December, with the date yet to be announced. With these exclusive events, Kyle, Stan, Kenny and Cartman make their highly anticipated debut on Paramount+, adding to the service’s growing roster of adult animated series.
South Park itself has been renewed for an additional six seasons, through to 2027 which means we will be laughing out loud for a while yet.
Evidently, Parker and Stone are also laughing — all the way to the bank —with their ViacomCBS deal valued at USD $900 million over a six-year term. It has also been reported that Parker and Stone were advanced USD $150 million a year to cover their fees for the upcoming productions as well as their ongoing profit participation stakes from the franchise.
The new deal not only means that we will get to keep up with the antics of Cartman, Kenny, Stan and Kyle for years to come, but represents Stone and Parker’s Park County banner — which includes the hit Broadway show Book of Mormon — being valued at over USD $1 billion.
Not too shabby for an animated series that was launched in 1997 by two mates from uni who originally bonded over their shared love of Monty Python. Since its debut, South Park has kept its place in the cultural zeitgeist, with fans watching over 2.2 billion episodes of the series, between linear broadcasts and streaming services, so far, in 2021.
The series has earned five Emmy Awards to date and a George Foster Peabody Award.
Known for keeping up with the headlines, Parker and Stone put their sardonic spin on the pandemic in 2020 and again earlier in 2021, with a special episode titled The South ParQ Vaccination Special. The hilarious episode examined the rise of QAnon conspiracy and anti-vaxxers that have been popping up like a whack-a-mole game since the COVID-19 situation first arose.
The series was previously adapted into a feature film in 1999 with South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut.
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