South Park’s sudden jump to season 28 is explained after weeks of confusion

A new report reveals that the unexpected shift wasn’t a mistake, but part of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s unconventional release plan.

Gabriel Huerta

Update: Oct 21st, 2025 21:28 CEST

The return of South Park in recent months has been chaotic, to say the least. After five episodes in Season 27, the animated series created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone jumped to Season 28 without an official reason from the creators themselves, Comedy Central, or Paramount. This has left many fans wondering what is behind this abrupt change, but an article by The Hollywood Reporter provides new clues about this change.

An official public statement, a representative for South Park told The Hollywood Reporter that the confusion stems from a simple case of misreporting. According to this account, the showrunners intentionally structured their annual output into two smaller, distinct seasons: five episodes for Season 27 and five episodes for the newly launched Season 28. Comedy Central further noted that no official announcement was ever made regarding a ten-episode count for Season 27 at the time of its debut.

Despite the split into two distinct seasons, the narrative transition was seamless. The Season 28 premiere, “Twisted Christian,” immediately continued the overarching storyline featuring Donald Trump and Satan, suggesting that Parker and Stone view the two five-episode blocks as a continuous story, offering viewers a fluid, multipart narrative experience.

Production peculiarities

The unexpected season change follows an already erratic release pattern for the latest batch of episodes, which saw Season 27 quickly switch to a biweekly schedule. Creators Parker and Stone famously adhere to a lightning-fast production process, often writing and animating episodes in less than a week to ensure maximum topicality. However, the schedule delays hint at the ongoing pressures of this creative process, especially following the one-day delay of the Season 27 finale, which the creators playfully blamed on themselves: “Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done,” they stated at the time.

The remaining episodes of Season 28 are set to air every two weeks on Comedy Central, with a consistent biweekly schedule that runs through December:

Season 28, Episode 2: October 29
Season 28, Episode 3: November 12
Season 28, Episode 4: November 26
Season 28, Episode 5 (Season Finale): December 10