Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | News | July 25, 2025
My favorite part of this week’s South Park episode wasn’t the PSA — it was the brutal way the show exposed the President as the petty man he is, portraying him as someone who childishly sues anyone who criticizes or disagrees with him. I doubt the Narcissist-in-Chief actually watched the episode, but everyone else did. And had he threatened to sue, he would’ve walked right into South Park’s trap, revealing himself exactly as depicted. In the end, though the White House issued a half-assed response, the President—reportedly seething over the episode—wisely kept his mouth shut, lest he hand Trey Parker and Matt Stone more ammunition for next week.
According to Parker and Stone—who appeared on a Comic-Con panel last night with Mike Judge (Beavis & Butthead) and Andy Samberg (Digiman!) — the episode came together quickly, as most South Park episodes do. “Just three days ago, we were going, ‘I don’t know if people are going to like this,’” Parker said, adding that they were reading newspaper headlines and saying, “Let’s put that in there.”
As for objections from the network, there was only one: Comedy Central wanted to blur the penis. Parker and Stone refused, but compromised by giving the penis eyes. “Then it’s a character.”
As reluctant as I am to admit this, I kind of hope that character makes a return this season.
When it came to criticism of the President’s depiction as Satan’s bedmate and a petty tyrant, Parker and Stone offered only a deadpan apology: “We’re terribly sorry.”
They did, however, express regret over the funding cuts to PBS, noting that the two originally bonded over their love of Monty Python, which Stone discovered on PBS. They also said they were already brainstorming ideas for next week’s episode.
The panel happened to fall on the same day the FCC finally approved the long-delayed merger between Paramount and Skydance, the last hurdle before the deal becomes official. The network had to settle the 60 Minutes lawsuit to get the White House on board, but the South Park episode didn’t appear to derail anything. The merger passed along party lines, 2-1. It’s worth noting that while the FCC Chairman has some power to regulate broadcast networks (hence the threats to shut down The View this week), that authority is minimal when it comes to cable.
