South Park will return with its latest episode on Nov. 28, as season 15, episode 13 “A History Channel Thanksgiving” airs tonight.
South Park will air a replay of their Ancient Aliens History Channel/Thor Thanksgiving parody from season 15. The episode first aired back on Nov. 9, 2011, and was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker. Ratings wise, the episode scored a 2.85 rating when it aired which is a significant jump to season 22 which is hovering around the 1 million mark most weeks. Last week’s episode scored a 0.82 rating according to TVByTheNumbers.
Of course, it should be recognized it was a different time then. Ratings as a whole are down across the board with the advent of streaming platforms/on-demand services. Not to mention, practically an unlimited set of shows/entertainment diluting the ratings pool by dividing the audience across not only other competing live TV shows but YouTube, Twitch, Netflix, Hulu, etc.
Much like the music industry’s album/EP sales have changed, the playing field for show ratings has changed tremendously as well. No longer is there that 90s style of rush to get home to watch a show when it airs so you don’t miss it, replaced by the knowledge you could see it at any time. While helping the viewer it also lowers their ‘entertainment urgency’ by delaying their viewership for an untold later date.
What could be watching it that night, soon turns into watching it tomorrow, which turns into maybe watching it six months from then, to finally a Hulu watch three years later. This saturation of entertainment will only continue this path from here on out, as social media and other platforms focused on the user themselves (active vs passive entertainment) continue to take over as they already have.
South Park itself has actively parodied social media, most notably the brilliantly hilarious Facebook parody episode, “You Have 0 Friends” in season 14. There was also the first class comedy goldmine of “You’re Not Yelping” in season 19 which received an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Animated Program.
There are only three episodes left of South Park this season, as season 22 is a 10 episode season.
Catch previous episodes of South Park over at Comedy Central and enjoy one of the greatest animated programs of all time!