Why Are the Creators of South Park Backing Off Politics?

After a season of relentless mocking of US politicians, the creators of South Park are moving away from parodying current political figures. In their last season, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the creators of South Park, practically centered the entire season around a character that shared many similarities with one of the American presidential candidates of 2016. Throughout the season new developments in the presidential campaigns inspired much of Season 20. However, Stone and Parker were having a hard time keeping up with all the trending topics surrounding US politics and have now decided to step away from using politics in their next season.

Season 21 of South ParkWon't Focus on US Politics

In an ABC interview, Matt Stone and Trey Parker pointed out that they'd no longer be using US politics as a focus for the series:

"It’s tricky and it’s really tricky now as satire has become reality. We were really trying to make fun of what was going on [last season] but we couldn’t keep up. What was actually happening was way funnier than anything we could come up with. So we decided to just back off and let [politicians] do their comedy and we’ll do ours.”

Considering the stark change in direction for South Park, moving away from politics seems like the right idea at the moment. Matt Stone also mentioned that they're getting a lot of negative feedback as well from centering much of Season 20 on the 2016 presidential election.

"We’re having our head blown off like everybody else,”

Keeping those things in mind, it sounds like Matt Stone and Trey Parker are moving on to other current events for their next season of South Park , which draws into question what trending topic will they parody next?

If Not Politics, Where Will 'South Park' Go Next?

Most of the trending topics at the moment are still generally related to US politics so refraining from tapping into that topic raises the concern of whether or not South Park will keep viewers watching. Parodies of current events are what keep South Park relevant in our time, so moving away from using politics as source material might decrease South Park's popularity. However, the creators of South Park have proved time and again that they can deliver an entire season of hilarious episodes only using minor current events as inspiration. Who knows — maybe Mr. Garrison will return to South Park elementary, taking the series back to its roots?

Still, it'll be interesting to see what direction Stone and Parker will take with Season 21 of South Park. What do you think Season 21 of South Park will center around if US politics are no longer on the table?