If you were hoping that “South Park” would return to Comedy Central with some scathing satire of Donald Trump, prepare to be disappointed.
In an interview with Australia’s ABC News, show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said that they will “back off” from Trump and political humor when they write new “South Park” episodes later this year.
But Parker and Stone aren’t easing up on Trump because they like him or fear backlash. They’re easing up because they have no idea how to make today’s political events look more ridiculous.
“It’s really tricky now as satire has become reality,” Parker said. “We were really trying to make fun of what was going on [last year] 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 them do their comedy and we’ll do ours.”
Stone said that people always joke to them about how it must be easy to mock politics now that Trump is in the White House, but he doesn’t feel that way.
“People tell us all the time…’Oh, you guys are getting all this good material’ like we’re happy about some of the stuff that’s been happening,” Stone said. “But I don’t know if that’s true. It doesn’t feel that way. It’s feels like [the Trump administration] is going to be more difficult.”
“Yeah, like they’re going out and doing the comedy,” added Parker. “It’s not something that you can make fun of.”
Trump jokes or no Trump jokes, Parker and Stone will move forward with season 21 of “South Park,” which premieres on Comedy Central this fall.
Watch the interview above.
Dave Chappelle's Road From 'Chappelle's Show' to Hosting 'SNL' (Photos)
Eleven years after he walked away from one of the most successful shows in Comedy Central history, Dave Chappelle is hosting "Saturday Night Live" with the remaining members of A Tribe Called Quest as musical guests. It's a surprising move for the wildly popular but enigmatic comedian, whose career has been marked with long absences, sudden appearances and controversial stand-up performances. Here's a quick timeline...
In 2004, "Chappelle's Show" was one of the most popular shows on basic cable and a huge money-maker for Comedy Central. Chappelle displayed a willingness to plunge into depths of racial satire and N-word usage that few were willing to touch.
Comedy Central
But in 2005, during production of the show's third season, Chappelle shocked the entertainment world by abruptly leaving the show. In an interview with Time Magazine, Chappelle said he had left the show and had flown to South Africa to get away from the overwhelming fame he had built.
In February 2006, Chappelle spoke more in-depth about the show during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. He mentioned that while filming a sketch in which a pixie in blackface tempts him to act in ways that perpetuate stereotypes, a white crew member laughed in a way that made him feel uncomfortable. Chappelle began to wonder if he was reinforcing stereotypes rather than combating them.
In the following years, Chappelle chose to continue his career in comedy to free him from the attention that had unnerved him. His standup appearances were often confined to Los Angeles and went largely unannounced, though he did make several appearances on "Inside The Actors' Studio," including one in which he got the chance to interview the show's host, James Lipton.
In 2013, Chappelle slowly began to return to the limelight, starting with headlining a nationwide comedy tour with Flight of the Conchords. Unfortunately, one show quickly got ugly after hecklers in the crowd began chanting lines from "Chappelle's Show," which resulted in Chappelle ranting about the hecklers the following night at a Chicago show. That audio was later leaked onto a standup comedy blog.
Funny Or Die
Still, Chappelle's return took flight in 2014, as he made the cover of GQ, appeared on "The Late Show With David Letterman," and performed ten sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall.
GQ
Chappelle even made a return to the big screen, playing a minor role in Spike Lee's "Chi-Raq" as a one of the gangbangers who are denied sex by the women of Chicago until the violence stops. Sample line from Chappelle: "This situation is out of control... because I'm in front of an empty stripper pole!"
Spike Lee/Instagram
Now Chappelle is making his biggest TV appearance since his days of playing Rick James and blind black KKK members by hosting the first post-election "SNL" episode. If it is anything like what we've come to expect from him, "SNL" may have some of its most biting material in years in store for us.
NBC
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11 years after walking from his hit Comedy Central show, Dave Chappelle is making a big return to TV
Eleven years after he walked away from one of the most successful shows in Comedy Central history, Dave Chappelle is hosting "Saturday Night Live" with the remaining members of A Tribe Called Quest as musical guests. It's a surprising move for the wildly popular but enigmatic comedian, whose career has been marked with long absences, sudden appearances and controversial stand-up performances. Here's a quick timeline...
Comedy Central
