The twenty-first season of the American animated sitcom South Park premiered on Comedy Central on September 13, 2017, and contains ten episodes. This season had planned "dark weeks" (weeks during which no new episodes would air) after episode three, episode six, and episode eight.[1] The season lampooned many events and cultural institutions such as the Trump administration, the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Netflix, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and themes of self-victimization. The season received mixed to positive reviews, with many reviewers praising the show's ability to remain relevant and choice of abandoning the linear narrative that dominated much of the previous season, despite many of the previous story elements being carried over into this season such as Cartman's relationship with Heidi.[2] The seasons ratings declined overall in comparison to the previous season.[3] The second episode "Put It Down" received an Emmy nomination.[4]
| South Park | |
|---|---|
| Season 21 | |
 Home media release cover | |
| No. of episodes | 10 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Comedy Central |
| Original release | September 13 – December 6, 2017 |
| Season chronology | |
Marketing
editComedy Central announced on August 22 that the network would be running a marathon of South Park consisting of 254 episodes, all airing over eight days, in a similar vein to The Simpsons 600 episode marathon that aired over 13 days of the previous year.[5] The marathon drew more than 10 million unique viewers to the network. Online across Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter over 7 million video views were generated as well as 500,000 engagements. The stunt helped increase the ratings of other Comedy Central programs as well such as Broad City, which premiered directly after South Park.[6]
Episodes
edit| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date [7] | Prod. code | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 278 | 1 | "White People Renovating Houses" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | September 13, 2017 | 2101 | 1.68[8] |
|
Randy and Sharon start a home renovation show that is threatened. Cartman's relationship with Heidi becomes strained and he grows attached to his Amazon Alexa. | |||||||
| 279 | 2 | "Put It Down" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | September 20, 2017 | 2102 | 1.25[9] |
|
Tweek and Craig's relationship is strained. Cartman begs Heidi to take him back but claims suicidal thoughts. Everyone else is busy mourning people killed by distracted drivers. | |||||||
| 280 | 3 | "Holiday Special" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | September 27, 2017 | 2103 | 1.25[10] |
|
A relationship is formed when Randy kisses a Native American man. | |||||||
| 281 | 4 | "Franchise Prequel" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | October 11, 2017 | 2104 | 1.12[11] |
|
The Coon and Friends members struggle to start a superhero franchise while fake news gets spread about them through Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg visits South Park, invading everyone's privacy and speaking like a 1970s voiced-over kung fu villain. | |||||||
| 282 | 5 | "Hummels & Heroin" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | October 18, 2017 | 2105 | 0.93[12] |
|
Opiates cause a problem in South Park and Stan is believed to be responsible. | |||||||
| 283 | 6 | "Sons a Witches" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | October 25, 2017 | 2106 | 1.22[13] |
|
When a witch causes problems for South Park's Halloween, Cartman looks for a way to use this crisis to kill his girlfriend whom he finds annoying. | |||||||
| 284 | 7 | "Doubling Down" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | November 8, 2017 | 2107 | 1.13[14] |
|
Kyle is fed up with Cartman's abuse towards Heidi and gets involved. President Garrison's advisers worry about some of his recent actions. | |||||||
| 285 | 8 | "Moss Piglets" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | November 15, 2017 | 2108 | 1.09[15] |
|
Timmy and Jimmy's science project catches the attention of some very important people. As Heidi and Cartman's codependent relationship continues, she takes on his appearance and behavior, earning the disapproval of her peers. | |||||||
| 286 | 9 | "Super Hard PCness" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | November 29, 2017 | 2109 | 0.90[16] |
|
PC Principal falls in love with the new vice-principal. Kyle realizes how wrong Terrance and Philip are. | |||||||
| 287 | 10 | "Splatty Tomato" | Trey Parker | Trey Parker | December 6, 2017 | 2110 | 0.97[17] |
|
The President, Mr. Garrison, continues to cause problems for the children of South Park. | |||||||
Reception
editThe twenty-first season of South Park received mixed reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the season holds a 54% approval rating based on 13 reviews, stating "South Park delivers an uncharacteristically stilted season that feels timid in its satire and unsure of who or what it's lampooning."[18]
Jesse Schedeen with IGN rated the entire season an 8.2 out of 10, praising the creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone for shifting away from continuity-heavy storylines and commentary on current events and returning to its roots in absurdity-based situational humor. Schedeen commented, "It's not that this season ignored what was going on in the world this year, but it wasn't quite so obsessed with lampooning current events from week to week. That shift, more than anything else, resulted in a stronger, more well-rounded show."[19]
Home media
editThis season was released in its entirety on DVD and Blu-ray on June 5, 2018.[20]
See also
edit
References
edit- ^ "South Park Returns For Season 21!". South Park Studios.com. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved September 11, 2017.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (December 13, 2017). "South Park: Season 21 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- ^ Porter, Rick (September 15, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'South Park' returns lower, 'Broad City' improves". TV By The Numbers. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- ^ "Here Are the 2018 Emmy Nominations". Vulture. Archived from the original on October 5, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- ^ "'South Park' Marathon: Comedy Central to Air All 254 Episodes in 8 Days". EW.com. Archived from the original on October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- ^ "Ratings - Comedy Central's Eight-Day "South Park" Marathon Leads to Big Ratings and a Big Season 21 Premiere | TheFutonCritic.com". www.thefutoncritic.com. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
- ^ "Watch South Park Episodes Online Season 21 (2017)". TV Guide. Archived from the original on August 13, 2019. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
- ^ Porter, Rick (September 15, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'South Park' returns lower, 'Broad City' improves". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 15, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2017.
- ^ Welch, Alex (September 21, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'The Sinner' season finale leads". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on September 22, 2017. Retrieved September 21, 2017.
- ^ Welch, Alex (September 28, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'Broad City' ticks up, 'Greenleaf' holds steady". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 1, 2017. Retrieved September 28, 2017.
- ^ Welch, Alex (October 12, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'Mr. Robot' premieres, 'Broad City' takes a minor hit". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
- ^ Welch, Alex (October 19, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'Mr. Robot' takes a hit, 'Queen Sugar' holds steady". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on October 23, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- ^ Welch, Alex (October 26, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'Queen Sugar' ticks up, 'Mr. Robot' hits series low". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved November 5, 2017.
- ^ Welch, Alex (November 9, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'Broad City' holds steady, 'Queen Sugar' dips". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ Welch, Alex (November 16, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'Mr. Robot' rises, 'Broad City' holds steady". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
- ^ Welch, Alex (November 30, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'Vikings' premieres down, 'South Park' dips". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- ^ Welch, Alex (December 8, 2017). "Wednesday cable ratings: 'Vikings' holds steady, 'Happy!' premieres". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on December 8, 2017. Retrieved December 7, 2017.
- ^ "South Park: Season 21". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on December 12, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2022.
- ^ Schedeen, Jesse (December 13, 2017). "South Park: Season 21 Review - IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 18, 2017.
- ^ "'South Park Season 21' Announced for Blu-ray & DVD Release". HDReport. March 20, 2018. Archived from the original on July 19, 2019. Retrieved June 6, 2018.
External links
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