‘South Park’ Coronavirus Special Coming on September 30

South Park fans will be thrilled to know that show is coming back for a special Coronavirus episode. According to Collider, “The Pandemic Special” — as it’s titled — will be a one-off, hour-long episode that finds everyone’s favorite foul-mouthed cartoon kids weather life during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will air at 8 p.m. on Sept. 30, with two encore airings at 9 p.m. and 10 p.m.

In a trailer for the special, it’s quite clear that South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone mean to be fully self-aware about the irony of a “Pandemic Special.” In the clip, Cartman laments to Kyle the fact that they are gonna be forced to go back to school during the deadly viral pandemic, to which Kyle responds by being mad that Cartman may be spreading germs. Additionally, Randy Marsh announces he is holding a “Pandemic Special,” presumably related to his Tegridy Farms marijuana business. This does not sit well with his wife, Sharon Marsh.

South Park is not the only series addressing the coronavirus pandemic, like Law & Order: SVU star Ice-T who recently revealed that when the show returns fans will see the actors occasionally wearing masks. A fan tweeted to Ice-T, asking about the use of masks in scenes, to which he replied, “Not actually wearing mask in full scenes, or you’d never see us talk… But you will sometimes see us remove them.” He also confirmed that the cast is “social distancing in this first episodes scenes.”

Ice-T later went on to share a little about how the show is handling things behind the scenes. “It’s hard to explain the new way we’re working to stay safe,” he said. “The entire crew stays in masks all day. We COVID test every day. We rehearse in masks and ONLY remove em for the short moments we actually film. Then back on.. We wanna stay safe AND keep filming.”

Ice-T also assured fans that the show will acknowledge the real-life COVID-19 pandemic. He also stated that many other issues in current events — such as the Black Lives Matter movement and police brutality protests — would also be addressed. Season 22 of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is currently scheduled to debut on Nov. 12. The season premiere episode is titled, “Remember Me In Quarantine.”