South Park is planning to return with its twenty-seventh season later this month, but the Comedy Central animated series is running into some serious drama. Earlier this summer, it was announced that the fan-favorite franchise would be pushing back its upcoming premiere from July 9th to July 23rd. The creators of the series, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, didn’t mince words regarding why the show was delayed, stating that the licensing fight between Paramount and HBO Max was the key cause. Unfortunately, it appears as though the drama is heating up as Paramount+ has apparently dropped all episodes of the series.
When you conduct a search on Paramount+ at this moment, all the installments of South Park’s previous seasons are no longer available. While the specials, including the likes of South Park: Post-COVID, South Park: The Streaming Wars, South Park: The End of Obesityand South Park: Joining The Panderverseare still available, the individual episodes cannot be found. Also, the first movie, South Park: Bigger Longer, & Uncut is still available on the platform. With many fans wondering what the future of the series will now be, Paramount has officially been contacting subscribers regarding the controversy and has given an official statement that you can check out below.
Paramount’s Official Statement
On social media, fans have been reaching out to Paramount directly regarding the loss of the episodes, with the streaming service releasing the following message, “We understand your frustration. Unfortunately, South Park has come to the end of the window in which we have the rights to carry it on Paramount+ which is why it has now had to come down from the platform. If you wish to cancel your Paramount+ subscription and forfeit the promotion applied to your account, please confirm the email adddress associated with the account you wish to close. Once we receive your information, we’ll respond with confirmation that your subscription has been cancelled.”
When the upcoming season was delayed, Parker and Stone took to social media via the Official South Park social media account, stating the following, “This merger is a sh**show and it’s f***ing up South Park. We are at the studio working on new episodes and we hope the fans get to see them somehow.” South Park as a franchise is planning to have a big event at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con, leaving many to wonder if the event will even happen in the face of this current controversy.
At present, no new delays have been announced for the upcoming twenty-seventh season, or where it will be streamed between Paramount+ and HBO Max, though we’ll inform you of everything regarding the upcoming release. Obviously, the episodes arriving on Comedy Central seem like a no-brainer, but things could change on this South Park roller coaster ride.
Want to stay up to date on the happenings of the beloved animated franchise? Follow along with ComicBook.com for the latest updates on South Park and hit me up directly @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.
