Audiences appear eager to go on down to South Park. On Wednesday, Paramount announced that South Park‘s Season 27 premiere drew in one of the show’s biggest audiences. Per Paramount, the premiere episode saw the series’ viewership surge, with its share on Comedy Central since 1999, up sixty-eight percent when compared to the show’s last season premiere, and nearly six million cross-platform viewers across Paramount+ and Comedy Central. As if that wasn’t impressive enough, though, the season opener, titled “Sermon on the ‘Mount,” also became the franchise’s most viral season debut, earning the title of the “#1 Most Social Episode Ever.”
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The premiere episode also reportedly dominated Wednesday as the top telecast across all cable, with the hashtag #SouthPark having trended on X for well over twelve-hours, with the hashtag taking the top spot for at least five hours. While the season premiere is the biggest linear season premiere for the series in over twenty-five years, it’s also perhaps the most controversial episode of the series in some time. Recently, Paramount was in the news for its dealings with the President, drawing plenty of issue among not just general audiences but also late-night hosts. As is often the case with South Park, both Matt Stone and Trey Parker used the premiere episode as a response of sorts, drawing an angry reply from the White House.
Following the success of its season premiere, it was revealed that fans will have to wait a bit longer to enjoy the next episode. Rather than airing a brand-new episode on Wednesday, July 30th, as expected, South Park will instead air its next episode on Wednesday, August 6th. While there was a trailer released for this current season, the creators of the hit series did reveal during San Diego Comic-Con that there was never a plan to actually use that footage from the trailer in the new season. In fact, the creators weren’t even entirely sure where they planned to take the show the remainder of the season after its premiere episode.
South Park and its creators have been in a sticky situation with Paramount in recent months. After a licensing issue resulted in the series being pulled from Paramount+, both Stone and Parker finally managed to sign a new deal with Paramount valued at a staggering $1.5 billion. Rumors have recently suggested that the series could face cancellation, despite how well it has been performing following this season’s premiere. Although Paramount has never come out and suggested as much, the latest episode did result in a theory from fans that could suggest Stone and Parker are unsure of what lies ahead.
South Park has been a staple on Comedy Central since it premiered on August 13, 1997. The series has never been one to shy away from controversy and has even found success in limited theatrical films. The long-running animated series is voiced by its creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, and has also featured the likes of Isaac Hayes, Bill Hader, Mona Marshall, April Stewart, and Eliza Schneider. New episodes of South Park will air on Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on Comedy Central, with them set to hit Paramount+ the very next day. Fans that missed the controversial episode, “Sermon on the ‘Mount,” can now stream the viral sensation exclusively on Paramount+.
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