Why South Park Season 27 Could Release Later Than The Past 2 Seasons

Although recent seasons have started relatively early in the year, South Park season 27 has a good excuse to postpone its premiere until a little later. South Park has been on the air since 1997, but the show’s release schedule has changed a lot since the controversial animated satire series first debuted. In 2021, South Park co-creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker inked a historic deal with Paramount that promised the network 14 feature-length specials and six more seasons. Since then, two South Park seasons have aired, each consisting of six episodes, in 2022 and 2023.

While South Park season 27 could follow this pattern, the show has another upcoming project that may throw a spanner in the works. South Park seasons 25 and 26 began in early February of 2022 and 2023, respectively, ending their runs in late March. This allowed Stone and Parker time to work on the feature-length South Park specials released in the months that followed. 2022 saw the debut of the two-part The Streaming Wars, while 2023 followed up with October’s standalone special, Joining the Panderverse, and December’s Not Suitable for Children. Unlike South Park season 27, however, the past two seasons didn’t have another release complicating things.

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South Park: Snow Day’s Release Could Slow Down Season 27

South Park seasons 25 and 26 did not coincide with a game release, but South Park season 27 will arrive in tandem with the show’s new spinoff game, Snow Day. South Park: Snow Day will be released on March 26. Following the success of 2014’s The Stick of Truth and 2017’s The Fractured but Whole, Snow Day will be a four-player cooperative game. Since the show’s creators will be busy promoting the game, South Park season 27 could potentially be delayed. The season may also be pushed back to facilitate a tie-in episode (or episodes), which South Park did previously with season 17’s Black Friday trilogy.

Although South Park: Joining the Panderverse’s ending saw the series mock Disney’s many spinoffs and reboots, the show’s video games have been almost as popular as its new seasons. As such, Snow Day‘s release will be a major event, and it would make sense for South Park season 27 to co-promote the game and the series with tie-in episodes. On the other hand, if there are only six episodes in South Park season 27, as in seasons 25 and 26, the show might arrive sooner. That way, all six episodes could air in the lead-up to South Park: Snow Day‘s release on March 26.

Will South Park Season 27’s Release Be Delayed By 2023’s Strikes?

Fortunately for viewers, South Park season 27’s production should not be heavily affected by the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike or the WGA strike. South Park‘s production isn’t covered by WGA, and SAG-AFTRA made an exemption for animated voice work. The show is famously written, produced, and animated in the five days before it airs regardless. South Park season 27 has many problems to fix, but the show would never have been impacted, since the strikes ended long before this outing’s uniquely fast-paced production began. As such, any delays faced by the upcoming South Park season 27 will likely be due to the show’s impending game release.