This South Park: Post-COVID sneak peek proves the future is a brutal, ball-kicking place
This tease for the new Paramount Plus "exclusive event" reminds us all to never underestimate a loudly yelling Randy Marsh
TV News South Park
Anyone wondering about the deep satirical underpinnings of Paramount+’s new South Park “exclusive event,” Post-COVID, is in luck this Thanksgiving morning, as the studio released a “sneak peek” of the “We’re not calling it a special” special today. Said clip reveals that not even a trip to the future can rob South Park of its legendary Swiftian punch.
By which we mean: Hey, enjoy a clip of an aging Randy Marsh yelling at his son Stan to kick a doctor dressed like a disco ball square in the nuts.
Writing this from the distant past of Wednesday night (i.e., several hours before Post-COVID goes live on the streaming service), we have absolutely no context for what this clip actually pertains to. Stan appears to be breaking Randy out of somewhere, sure, and Randy seems happy as ever to see some balls get kicked. But what does this particular game of scrotal soccer spell for the future that Post-COVID takes place in? What themes does it speak to? How does it address our various cultural anxieties, in the way that the previous South ParQ Vaccination Special and Pandemic Specials did?
(Note: Post-COVID is not a special; if it was a special, it would presumably have to stream on HBO Max with the rest of South Park. This is an “exclusive event.”)
We simply don’t know, any more than we know what moral forces wage war within Stan Marsh’s spirit as the patriarchal voice demands he give in to authority and kick a ball or two. All we can really tell is that the future must be a brutal place, where only crotch-based violence is the pathway to freedom, or respect.
Post-COVID is one of several new South Park projects that were commissioned during the show’s recent extension on Comedy Central; by the time you’re reading this, it should be live and streaming on Paramount+.
26 Comments
I just watched it. I’m not a big South Park fan, but I didn’t think it was very funny. Is “chin diapers” funny? Because they say it like 5 times. And jokes remarking about it being the future are ironically pretty old. It’s not terrible, but it’s just not very entertaining. Maybe I’d have liked it more if I had paid attention to the serialized story the last 5 years or so, but it wasn’t that funny on its own. If you love serialized South Park story telling, you might like this.
I wish it were otherwise but they proved to not be good at it. I fell off as a result.
The chin diaper thing was just a callback to the Pandemic Special
I do like the show, and thought the character moments were pretty good in the special, but some of the jokes really didn’t land. In particular, the whole thing about Jimmy making non-jokes was a clear reference to the BS talking point of “comedy is dead because you can’t make fun of anyone anymore,” which wasn’t remotely funny. (As as others have pointed out in the past, a comedian basically saying “I can’t find a way to be funny without punching down” is a pretty weird flex – or, a very good way to admit you’re very bad at your job.)
But Jimmy is a hack comedian with terrible delivery, so terrible it’s funnier than the jokes themselves. I haven’t seen this episode but it would be odd if they used that character to comment on good comedy as opposed to the shitty kind. Also Jimmy being handicapped kind of adds an extra layer. Can he punch down? Sideways? How hard? The guy’s on crutches a swing and a miss and he’s on his face!
Chin diaper was pretty funny a year ago in that first special.
All I can think of is Chinderwear.
Frank, that’s disgusting! Here, yet me have a go…!
Is “any tired ‘joke’” funny…because they say it like 500 times?- any given SNL sketch!?
Maybe I’d have liked it more if I had paid attention to the serialized story the last 5 years or so Is “chin diapers” funny? Because they say it like 5 times The guy that didn’t watch the previous seasons or specials complains about references to previous episodes/specials he didn’t watch, news at 11.
*She* did watch the 2 covid specials, but who cares? You seem fragile.
It’s almost like words mean things and you should’ve added that to your comment instead of stating “I’d have liked it more if I had paid attention to the serialized story the last 5 years or so”.Talk about fragile ego lol. Grow up.
Since they’re doing a month long free trial thing, I managed to get to watch it and thought it was pretty great. Hopefully part 2 drops early enough in December so I can watch that for free too, since it continues off from the previous two Covid specials, and I assume it’ll get everything set up back to “normal” for whenever the next real season starts.
People still watch this? I fell off during the 2016 election and their Libertarian both sides bullshit. I really just have no patience for libertarians in general I guess. The show was fun enough when I was a bit younger and a bit more naive. But the constant nihilism of “everything is shit” is just… exhausting.
You’re sooo brave and your comment is really unique and interesting
How did they both sides 2016? They used one of the show’s most deranged, depraved, homophobic, hypocritical, misogynistic, and racist characters as a Trump stand-in (his entire Trump arc is kicked off when he’s fired for using a xenophobic slur on a student) and said Hillary Clinton was an uninspiring candidate. Those two things are not the same (and she was).
And the only reason they used a Trump stand-in was because they didn’t want to bring anymore attention to Trump directly.
it’s true, one of the few genuinely funny moments in comedy during the ‘16 election was when Garrison started doing hacky 90s style comedy, smoking a cigarette on stage about grabbing people by the clam while the trump crowds just went nuts for it.
Yeah, they literally have Garrison say “No, seriously don’t vote for me, she is the better candidate and I’m not qualified in any way whatsoever.” They were very clear on how awful Trump was, and not simply on a “lol he has small hands” Family Guy and Simpsons way, but that that he’s a moral and psychic cancer to the country.
I never understood that “people still watch this?” take. Yes, quite a few of us still watch it, and actually enjoy it.
Yeah you’re right. I usually hate that too. Guess I was just in a MOOD when I wrote this. Like what you wanna like, people! Don’t let grumpy farts like me rain pickles on your parade.
It’s all good! I’m notorious for being an internet grump too. Take care 🙂
Nobody’s perfect.
We are allYou and meLivingIn the future
Dying of covid is stupid, but so is not dying of covid. What Matt and Trey’s theory presupposes is, what if both sides?
I grew up with South Park, so it’s one of those shows that I still get a kick out of from time to time. I thought the special was entertaining enough, even if most of the jokes didn’t land. The story about Stan’s sister and mom was pretty dark, even by South Park standards and Cartman turning into a Jewish Rabbi was funny, but it felt too easy. It’s obviously a setup, but for what… who knows?
I’m hoping that Cartman was indeed messing with Kyle, but knew the best way to do that was to live a happy life and become a better Jew than him. Then Kyle can’t stand it and changes the future not just to stop Covid, but to rob Cartman of his undeserved happy life.