‘South Park’ Season 22 Premiere to Tackle School Shootings

South Park has never shied away from the more controversial issues and topics of the day, and when the show returns for its 22nd season Wednesday night, it looks like that means this time around they’re taking on school shootings.

In a teaser for the upcoming season premiere, Stan Marsh is asked to tell his parents about his day at school, and as you can see in the clip above, his mother Sharon wants him to talk about more than just his failed math quiz. After some prompting, Stan reveals that there was a shooting at his school, but he acts like it’s not a big deal at all and, after ascertaining that Stan is unharmed and uninvolved, his parents follow suit.

The commentary appears to be how common school shootings have become in the United States, so much so that they seem like nothing particularly unique to Stan and his family, though with this being South Park it’s likely the show will deal with the matter with more than just a passing conversation at the dinner table. After all, South Park frequently takes shots at current events and issues. Last season, the series premiere took on white supremacy while Season 20 dealt with Donald Trump’s election to the American presidency.

The series also played a little bit on America’s cultural and political climate in a season trailer earlier this month that jokingly alluded to cancelling the series following a voice over that said, “America has reached a crossroads. What will we do next?” While that teaser got fans concerned about the series’ fate, the show isn’t going anywhere just yet. Comedy Central has already renewed the show for a 23rd season next year.

With the series appearing to tackle school shootings right off the bat, it will be interesting to see what other issues the long-running animated series will take on this season and fans will get to find out soon enough. South Park returns Wednesday, September 26th on Comedy Central.

What do you think about the upcoming season of South Park? Let us know in the comments below.