Since its inception in 1997, the comical series South Park has had quite the run. With a lovable cast of characters, unique animation style and apathetic sense of humor, the show really has made a name for itself to be very one-of-a-kind. Recently, South Park has seemed to have had a resurgence of sorts, with more and more people, especially teenagers, getting into the show. Thanks to South Park’s ability to appeal to all population groups, this new wave of viewership isn’t really a surprise.

Part of what makes South Park so appealing is how up-to-date the plot of the episodes usually is. Most of the regular episodes are written and entirely animated just a week before airing. This short gap between production time and air date leads to the episodes being able to touch on and joke about the most current issues in the world. Plus, considering the show is written with no real regard to political correctness, touching on sensitive topics that have come about recently is feasible. One recent example of this was in season 26 episode two, which told the story of “the prince and princess of Canada” as they moved away from the Canadian royal family in search of privacy, while creating more publicity in the process. The episode was a direct response to the recent actions of Prince Harry and his wife Meghan Markle, with jokes pointing to Harry’s new book, Spare. At the time the episode was published, the book had only been released for about a month, showing just how up-to-date South Park really is.

Part of the reason South Park has been on the air so long is the success it’s seen. With over 300 episodes, plus numerous full-length feature films, the popularity of the show really has been a driving factor in keeping it alive, especially through the pandemic, which almost put the show off air, according to the creators of the show, Matt Stone and Trey Parker. WarnerMedia’s purchase of the show’s streaming rights for over $500 million also definitely helped give the show a big boost. So, it’s pretty safe to assume that viewers will get to enjoy South Park for years to come!