‘South Park’ to Fight for Its Beef in Latest Episode

It’s the last Wednesday in October, one of the most beloved holidays is only days away and the boys of South Park are stepping up to the plate with a brand-new episode of their long-running series, which has a long tradition of spooky-season installments.

We’re not ones to get our hopes up for a fresh South Park Halloween episode, but doesn’t it seem like the perfect addition to the buildup to Oct. 31 this year? Still, there’s no guarantee here and the logline for Season 29, Episode 4 doesn’t quite scream “Halloween episode.” It does let the mind run wild about what’s going on in our favorite white-bread, redneck mountain town, recently rebranded as South America.

According to a pre-show press release sent to The Hollywood Reporter by Comedy Central on Tuesday, the Oct. 28 episode, “Guinea Pig on a Stick,” follows what happens “when South America’s beef becomes highly prized and sought after” and the four boys “fight to keep it in local hands.” Clearly, there’s room for some Halloween cheer in such a premise. Or maybe just some clever wordplay and lewd humor.

Speculation aside, it will be yet another Season 29 episode that seems to center on events in the titular town. That carries on what we can probably now say is a definite theme of what is shaping up to a return-to-form season, which has jettisoned the political satire that defined last year’s 10 episodes in favor of local news and a renewed focus on the lives of Stan, Kyle, Eric and now a kid-size Randy, who appears to be replacing Kenny in the show’s quartet. At least that’s what the press image above implies, with Kid Randy looking even more youthful after his new skincare regimen.

South Park, which just took home its latest of six Emmys for outstanding animated program, has seen a resurgence in popularity and relevance as it approaches its 30th anniversary. The Comedy Central mainstay hit new rating highs last year and saw its most-watched season in six years. Season 29’s premiere episode delivered 4.2 million multiplatform viewers across the Paramount+ platform and Comedy Central in its first three days in the U.S., according to a press release from Paramount.

“Guinea Pig on a Stick” debuts at 10 p.m. ET on Comedy Central on Wednesday and will be available on multiple streaming platforms on Thursday.