Waiting for new South Park is basically a part-time job now. Honestly, you've probably refreshed your Paramount+ app a dozen times only to find the same old episodes of The Big Bang Theory staring back at you. It used to be simple. Every fall, we’d get ten weeks of chaos, then they’d disappear until next year.
Everything changed recently.
The South Park episode release dates for Season 27 and the surprise Season 28 shift have been, frankly, a bit of a mess. But it's a calculated mess. If you're looking for a neat, weekly calendar, you’re going to be disappointed. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have completely blown up the traditional TV schedule in favor of something much more erratic and, if we're being real, pretty confusing.
The Season 27 Delay and the Trump Problem
We were supposed to get Season 27 in 2024. Then September rolled around, and the creators basically said, "Nah, we're good." They famously told Vanity Fair and The Hollywood Reporter that they wanted to skip the 2024 election. They were tired of parodying Donald Trump.
Except, when the show finally returned on July 23, 2025, Trump was... everywhere.
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The premiere, "Sermon on the Mount," kicked off a season that was anything but regular. Instead of the usual weekly drop, Comedy Central moved to a bi-weekly rhythm. One week on, one week off. Sometimes two weeks off. It felt like the show was being held together by duct tape and caffeine.
What happened to the 10-episode promise?
Back in July 2025, word got out that Trey and Matt signed a massive new deal worth roughly $1.5 billion. Part of that deal was a promise of 10 episodes a year. Fans (myself included) thought, "Great! A full season again!"
Wrong.
Season 27 abruptly ended after only five episodes on September 24, 2025. The finale, "Conflict of Interest," didn't even feel like a finale. It just... stopped.
The Sudden Jump to Season 28
Then things got really weird. On October 15, 2025, a new episode aired. Everyone thought it was Episode 6 of Season 27. Instead, the title card revealed it was the premiere of Season 28.
Why the split?
- Streaming Politics: The "merger s**tshow" (Trey’s words, not mine) between Paramount and Skydance likely played a role in how seasons are counted for licensing.
- Production Crunch: They admitted they were failing to get episodes done in the usual six-day window.
- Narrative Arcs: Season 28 immediately picked up a story arc involving Peter Thiel and a "TikTok trend" that felt like a totally different beast than the first half of the year.
South Park Episode Release Dates (2025-2026 History)
If you're trying to track what actually aired and when, here is the breakdown of how the schedule collapsed and reconstructed itself over the last few months.
Season 27 (The "Summer" Run)
- Episode 1: July 23, 2025 ("Sermon on the Mount")
- Episode 2: August 6, 2025 ("Got a Nut")
- Episode 3: August 20, 2025 ("Sickofancy")
- Episode 4: September 3, 2025 ("Wok is Dead")
- Episode 5: September 24, 2025 ("Conflict of Interest")
Season 28 (The "Surprise" Run)
Season 28 started almost immediately after Season 27 "ended," but it followed the same stuttering bi-weekly schedule. This brings us into the current landscape of January 2026.
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The most recent episodes have been hitting on Wednesdays at 10:00 PM ET on Comedy Central, typically landing on Paramount+ by 6:00 AM ET the next morning. But don't bet your life on that Wednesday window. They've already pushed dates back multiple times because, as the creators put it, "sometimes you don't get it done."
The Paramount+ Special Factor
Don't forget the movies. Or "events." Whatever we're calling them today.
Since the 2021 deal, we’ve been getting these long-form specials like The End of Obesity and Joining the Pandeverse. These don't follow the South Park episode release dates for the main seasons at all. They just drop whenever the contract requires.
As of right now, in early 2026, the strategy seems to be:
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- Short, 5-episode seasons.
- Bi-weekly airings to stretch the "relevance" over more months.
- Large-scale specials to fill the gaps between these mini-seasons.
Is the Weekly Schedule Dead?
Probably.
Trey Parker is in his mid-50s now. The legendary "6 days to air" schedule is brutal. It’s legendary for a reason—it’s nearly impossible. By moving to a bi-weekly format, they’re giving themselves 14 days to animate, write, and voice everything.
It makes the episodes sharper. "Sickofancy" was a direct response to cultural shifts that happened only days before it aired, showing they can still pivot fast, but they clearly value the extra breathing room.
What to Watch For Next
If you're tracking the future of the show, keep your eyes on the Wednesday nights following major news cycles. While the official "schedule" is often just a suggestion, the pattern suggests Season 28 will wrap up its 5-episode block by the end of this winter.
Actionable Steps for Fans:
- Check the South Park Studios Site: They usually post a "New Episode" countdown about 48 hours before an air date. If there’s no countdown by Monday night, there’s likely no episode that week.
- Ignore the "Season" Numbers: For the purpose of your DVR, Season 27 and 28 are basically one long, disjointed year. Treat them as such.
- Verify Your Streaming Home: Remember that while Comedy Central has the first run, the full library finally moved to Paramount+ in 2025, ending the long-standing split with Max.
The days of 10-episode autumn blocks are over. We’re in the era of "whenever it’s ready," and honestly, as long as the quality stays high, most of us will keep hitting that refresh button.