After 28 seasons, “South Park” feels like it’s going to last forever. Logically, we know there has to be a finale, but it’s hard to imagine that day ever coming. In a 2018 interview with IGN, showrunners Matt Stone and Trey Parker offered their prediction on what the series’ final episode will look like:
“I think it’s going to end in failure, that’s for sure,” Parker said. “I think it’s just going to end in a dud, and we’re going to say, ‘F*** that, man,’ and walk away. … Yeah, we’ve been thinking that for 18 years. We’re like, ‘Okay, well, they’re going to cancel us, for sure!’ We’ve been waiting 18 fucking years for the cancellation.”
Stone agreed, saying he envisioned the series’ final chapter as “kind of a whimper. You either drop the mic, or you get sued, or you get kicked off television – something like that.”
Seven years have passed since this interview and the series is still going strong. Not everyone liked the new season’s hyperpolitical anti-Trump turn, but no one can argue that lack of energy is a problem here. The show is full of life and full of surprises. If season 28 turns out to be the final season (unlikely given the show’s $1.5 billion Paramount+ deal), it will be more due to the controversy it stirs up than a ratings issue.
Part of what has made “South Park” so special of late is widespread concerns that Comedy Central, now owned by a company that famously got it wrong during the second Trump administration, might cancel the series due to political pressure. Comedy Central’s counterpart “The Daily Show” has recently experienced its own era of renaissance, in part because its ability to make authentic, hard-hitting political commentary now seems less secure than ever.
‘South Park,’ ‘The Simpsons,’ and ‘Family Guy’ Will All End Eventually
Even if “South Park” miraculously continues to thrive after 28 seasons, the fact remains that it will have to end at some point, just like every other seemingly immortal animated show. “The Simpsons,” now 38 seasons old, recently released a fake series finale episode addressing this reality. The episode poked fun at many common sitcom finale tropes, but showrunner Matt Selman clarified in an interview with Cracked that the true series finale would never be that dark.
“It shouldn’t look like what we just did,” Selman explained. “There shouldn’t be this closure with a story like ‘The Simpsons Goes Away’ or someone dies. It should just be a really funny ‘Simpsons’ episode.”
Meanwhile, Seth MacFarlane, who still plays many “Family Guy” characters but no longer contributes to the scripts, said in a 2011 interview: “Part of me thinks ‘Family Guy’ should have ended by now. I think seven seasons is about right. In recent years, he has changed his tone. In 2022, he said of the show: “We’ve reached escape velocity. I don’t know if there’s any reason to stop at this point unless people get sick of it.”
That seems to be the mantra behind these three animated shows. “South Park,” “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” will continue to have fun, play with their own formula and keep the party going until the lights go out. They know the end is inevitable, but in the meantime, they won’t ease into that good night.
