‘South Park’ Creators Speak Out After Comedy Central Pushes Back Season 27 Premiere Date

South Park’s new season has hit a bit of a snag.

Comedy Central announced on Wednesday that the animated show’s Season 27 premiere has been pushed to July 23 instead of July 9.

Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were pretty upset about it, releasing a statement on the show’s official social media pages. “In response to the press release from Comedy Central about the change in premiere date for South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone said: ‘This merger is a s–-show and it’s f–-ing up South Park. We are at the studio working on new episodes, and we hope the fans get to see them somehow.’”

The statement is in regard to Paramount Global’s merger with Skydance, which seems to finally be moving forward, according to TVLine. Paramount Global owns Comedy Central and co-owns South Park Digital Studios along with Parker and Stone. South Park’s deal with HBO Max also ended last week, and although no new deals have been established to replace it, all episodes of South Park are expected to be added to Paramount+ at some point this year.

Additionally, Parker and Stone have threatened Paramount with legal action, alleging that incoming president Jeff Shell was “interfering in their contract negotiations with Warner Bros. and Netflix.” It’s not entirely clear how the merger played a part in the premiere getting pushed back, but at the very least, it’s just getting delayed a couple of weeks. It could have been a lot worse, even if Parker and Stone aren’t very happy about it. If all stays on track, the Skydance and Paramount merger is expected to close on Sunday.

South Park may no longer be premiering its 27^th season on July 9, but it will still be premiering the new season very soon. Season 27 of South Park premieres on July 23 on Comedy Central. Numerous specials are streaming on Paramount+, with the entire series expected to come to the streamer soon. Well, almost the entire season. It was previously reported that a number of banned episodes will not be on the streamer, but nothing has been confirmed. There isn’t a set date for South Park on Paramount+, but more information will likely come soon.