South Park to Air Hour-Long Pandemic Special Episode

Over the last two decades, South Park has made a habit of satirizing everything about our society, from politics to entertainment and everything in between. Although 2020 already seems to write the jokes itself, the folks behind South Park certainly weren't going to miss an opportunity to take on the current state of affairs. Comedy Central announced on Tuesday that South Park is returning with a brand new special on September 30th, aimed directly at the coronavirus pandemic and the fallout it has caused.

Not only is this going to be the first new South Park fans have seen in quite a while, but it is also the first time in the show's history that it will air an episode longer than 30 minutes. There have been multi-episode specials before, but they've all been broken up into 30-minute segments. This special will be an hour-long episode.

South Park revealed the news about the special in a short trailer, filled with ridiculous footage of the residents of the titular Colorado town. It clearly won't be holding back when it comes to its depiction of the country during this crisis, as it shows people fighting to re-open schools and Cartman refusing to wear a mask.

"Randy comes to terms with his role in the COVID-19 outbreak as the on-going pandemic presents continued challenges to the citizens of South Park. The kids happily head back to school but nothing resembles the normal that they once knew; not their teachers, not their homeroom, not even Eric Cartman," reads Comedy Central's description of the episode.

While this special will be the first new episode of South Park since December of last year, it doesn't mark the return of the series on a regular basis. After 23 years on the air, South Park remains a hit for Comedy Central, and the network rewarded the success by renewing the series through 2022. At this time, it's not clear when the show will return in a normal capacity. Fortunately, the pandemic special should help tide everyone over.

Are you excited for the South Park pandemic special at the end of the month? Let us know in the comments!

The South Park pandemic special will air on Comedy Central on September 30th at 8 pm.