The news that South Park’s first 2025 release will be a special rather than a standard season may bode badly for the long-running satirical cartoon. South Park has changed a lot over the years, but one consistent trend can be observed throughout the show’s 27-year history. Although South Park season 1 and season 24 are minor outliers, the number of episodes in each South Park season has gradually declined since the show began. Season 1 featured only 13 episodes, but seasons 2, 3, and 4 featured 18, 17, and 17 respectively.

This number dropped to 14 for season 5 but increased back up to 17 in season 6. South Park season 7 had 15 episodes, and seasons 8-17 featured between 15 and 14 episodes. further South Park specials.

South Park’s First 2025 Release Will Be A Special

Co-Creator Matt Stone Told Bloomberg An Episode Would Arrive In Early 2025

Since 2020, South Park has focused on feature-length specials as much as the show’s traditional seasons. Instead of producing ten or more shorter episodes, the show’s creators have produced six normal episodes and two annual specials. Some of these, like 2023’s Streaming Wars, are two-part specials released a few months apart. Others, like 2024’s ing the Panderverse and Not Suitable For Children, are standalone specials that run between forty minutes and an hour.

Although these specials can be fun, they have also massively decreased the show’s normal output. The End of Obesity was South Park’s only new release in 2024 since the show’s co-creators didn’t want to cover the year’s election cycle. The news that South Park’s first 2025 release will be another standalone special is surprising, since it has been a long time since viewers saw new episodes from the series.

South Park’s most recent special, The End of Obesity, aired in May 2024. However, South Park’s most recent episode, season 26, episode 6, “Spring Break,” aired back in March 2023. Co-creator Matt Stone told Bloomberg that the series had a big year planned, saying “We're coming back with one episode” early in 2025. Although Stone did clarify that there would be “A bunch more in the second half of 2025,” this isn’t necessarily a relief for viewers who hoped for a more consistent release schedule from the series.

South Park’s Specials Have Been A Mixed Bag

South Park’s 2023 Specials Received Less Than Stellar Reviews

South Park’s specials are fun, but they can’t replace the show’s normal seasons thanks to their inconsistency. What made South Park's 2024 so disappointing wasn’t The End of Obesity itself, which was a fairly solid standalone outing, but the lack of a corresponding season. No matter how well a South Park special tackles a specific topic, the specials can only touch on one or two satirical storylines without feeling cluttered or unfocused.

When South Park’s specials try to tackle multiple plots at the same time, they tend to feel disted and pointless, as evidenced by Not Suitable for Children’s toothless spoof of unrelated topics like Prime Energy drinks and OnlyFans. However, when South Park’s specials successfully focus on a single topic, like The End of Obesity, this means viewers miss out on the show’s commentary on other current events. South Park’s uniquely quick production schedule means it is one of the only shows commenting on news stories as they unfold.

South Park’s Only 2024 Release Was A Single Special

The End of Obesity Didn’t Make Up For Season 27’s Delays

When South Park is mocking its own success or its competitors like The Simpsons and Family Guy, the series can afford to leave its finger off the pulse of current events. However, after a long time off the air, South Park season 27 must return feeling fresh and vital. It will be tough for South Park season 27 to feel relevant after such a long absence and coming back with a special instead of an ordinary season is unlikely to help in this regard.

After a six-episode season and two standalone specials in 2023, it was pretty disappointing to see only one special from South Park in 2024. 2025 could have started strong with a six-episode season that used each episode to mock current events, making the series feel up to date again. This is how the infamously controversial South Park overcame its lack of output in 2020 and 2021, with early 2022's season 25 featuring storylines about distance learning, gentrification, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and race relations that all felt relevant and timely.

South Park Season 27 Must Be Worth The Lengthy Wait

Stone Promised “A Bunch More Episodes” In The Latter Half of 2025

No matter what specific issue or trend South Park’s first 2025 special addresses, it can’t give the show as many chances to impress viewers as a standard season would. Even season 25 inevitably featured a dud in episode 6, “Credigree Weed St. Patrick's Day Special,” a vague spoof of cultural appropriation that felt outdated and tired. However, this wasn’t a major letdown, since the preceding episodes had been surprisingly strong.

Stone’s comments suggest viewers shouldn’t expect a new season until at least a full year and three months after The End of Obesity’s release.

If South Park season 27 arrived in the first half of 2025, the show could have re-established its relevance with a sextet of storylines focused on current events. Instead, Stone’s comments suggest viewers shouldn’t expect a new season until at least a full year and three months after The End of Obesity’s release. It is hard to imagine how South Park will come back after such a long absence, and the choice to return with a special puts much more pressure on that individual release.

South Park’s next special needs to be strong to avoid the show slipping into irrelevance and season 27’s new episodes need to be even stronger thanks to the lengthy wait between seasons. The longer South Park spends off the air, the more pressure there is on its return. An ordinary season could have ameliorated this pressure with numerous episodes, but starting with a special instead means that South Park truly has to hit it out of the park when the series finally returns in 2025.

Source: Bloomberg (via YouTube)