Matt Stone and Trey Parker have finally explained why South Park can’t seem to quit Donald Trump—and it turns out it’s exactly the reason you’d expect from the duo who’ve built a career on gleefully charging toward whatever society considers untouchable.
The Comedy Central show has sparked massive ratings and intense debate since its Trump-skewering Season 27 opener in July. While various subplots have woven through recent months, the overarching storyline spanning Season 27 and now Season 28 revolves around Trump and Satan having a baby together—a premise so outrageous it prompted an actual rebuttal from the White House.
Now, in a revealing interview with The New York Times, Stone and Parker have opened up about what attracted them to this extended Trump saga and why they’re not done yet. Parker and Stone explained whey they are leaning so heavily into the MAGA storyline. “It’s not that we got all political,” Parker said. “It’s that politics became pop culture.”
It Started as a One-Off
According to the creators, the Trump plotline emerged just weeks before Season 27 began, and they initially envisioned the character as a single-episode appearance. Plans changed dramatically when they discovered something during production of that first episode.
“Trey and I found a ‘vein of comedy’ in the first episode,” Stone explained. What they sensed was a palpable fear of speaking out against the Trump administration and what they described as “new taboos” emerging around political commentary.
For Stone and Parker, that fear acted like a homing beacon.
“Trey and I are attracted to that like flies to honey,” Stone said. “Oh, that’s where the taboo is? Over there? OK, then we’re over there.”
It’s the South Park ethos distilled to its essence: find the thing people are nervous about discussing, then charge directly at it with maximum irreverence. The fact that mocking a sitting president might generate controversy—including official White House responses—only made it more appealing.
The White House Responded. They Kept Going.
The Season 27 opener didn’t just generate headlines and ratings—it sparked an actual response from the Trump administration’s communications team. For most shows, that might prompt caution or a strategic retreat. For South Park, it confirmed they’d struck exactly the nerve they were looking for.
The storyline has continued through Season 27 and into Season 28, with Trump and Satan’s unholy union serving as the narrative thread connecting episodes. While the show has explored other storylines and targets, the Trump plot remains central—much to the administration’s apparent chagrin and the creators’ evident delight.
When Will It End?
Parker admitted the pair will eventually tire of the Washington-focused storyline, but that moment hasn’t arrived yet.
“You know, next year will be different,” Parker said. “If there’s one thing we know, it is that our show will be a lot longer than theirs. So, we just got to do this for now.”
The comment reflects both confidence in South Park’s longevity (the show is currently in its 28th season with no end in sight) and a strategic calculation: strike while the political moment is hot, knowing they’ll outlast any single administration.
It’s worth noting that Stone and Parker have weathered multiple presidencies over South Park’s nearly three-decade run. They’ve mocked Bush, Obama, Clinton, and Trump across various storylines. What makes this iteration different is the sustained focus and the sense that the cultural environment around political comedy has shifted in ways that make their approach more provocative than ever.
The Chaos of Week-to-Week (Now Biweekly) Production
Parker and Stone famously create each South Park episode on a week-to-week basis—a notoriously chaotic production schedule that allows for maximum topicality at the cost of creators’ sanity. For Season 27, they switched to a biweekly schedule, with episodes airing every two weeks instead of weekly.
The elongated production timeline gives the pair more breathing room to craft each episode, something Paramount was reportedly happy to accommodate. It also means they’re making creative decisions about upcoming episodes while current ones are still airing.
Case in point: during their San Diego Comic-Con 2025 panel, which took place the day after the Season 27 opener aired, Parker revealed they were unsure what the next episode would be, calling the decision “super stressful.”
This just-in-time production approach has occasionally caused problems. Comedy Central delayed the Season 27 finale just hours before it was scheduled to air, though Parker and Stone took full responsibility.
“Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done,” the pair told Variety. “This one’s on us. We didn’t get it done in time. Thanks to Comedy Central and South Park fans for being so understanding. Tune in next week!”
Season 27’s Surprise Early End
In a surprise move, South Park brought Season 27 to an end after just five episodes. The abbreviated season gave way to Season 28, which is currently airing its final three episodes on the biweekly schedule through December 10 (November 12, November 26, and December 10).
The truncated Season 27 raised questions about whether production challenges or creative decisions drove the change. Given Parker and Stone’s comments about eventually tiring of the Trump storyline, it’s possible they wanted the flexibility to pivot more dramatically between seasons rather than being locked into a longer run of a single narrative arc.
The Taboo Business
What’s most revealing about Stone and Parker’s comments is how explicitly they frame their creative process around seeking out taboos. South Park has always operated on this principle—nothing is too sacred, no target too sympathetic, no subject too sensitive. But the creators’ acknowledgment that they specifically seek out areas where “fear” exists around political speech suggests something more calculated than simple shock value.
In an environment where political comedy has become both ubiquitous and increasingly careful—where comedians and shows weigh potential backlash before taking aim at powerful figures—Stone and Parker see opportunity. If others are nervous about fully committing to Trump mockery despite his polarizing presence, that nervousness itself becomes the signal that South Park should go all-in.
It’s a business model that’s served them well for 28 seasons. By positioning themselves as the show willing to go where others won’t, they’ve carved out a niche that’s commercially successful precisely because it courts controversy.
What’s Next
Parker’s assurance that “next year will be different” suggests Season 29 will pivot away from the Trump-Satan baby storyline, though knowing South Park’s history, that could mean anything. The show has never been particularly precious about continuity or long-term planning, preferring to respond to cultural moments as they arrive.
With three episodes remaining in Season 28 (airing November 12, 26, and December 10), fans can expect the Trump storyline to reach some kind of conclusion—or at least a pause. Whether that conclusion involves resolution or simply the creators getting “sick of” the premise remains to be seen.
What’s certain is that Stone and Parker will continue seeking out whatever taboos emerge next. Whether that’s continued political satire, cultural commentary, or completely unexpected targets, the South Park formula remains consistent: find what people are uncomfortable discussing, then discuss it as uncomfortably as possible.
For now, that means Trump and Satan’s baby. Next year? As Parker said, their show will outlast any administration. They’ve got time to figure it out—preferably just a few weeks before episodes air, in true South Park fashion.
