Copyright The Boston Globe
“South Park” has a special treat in store for fans this Halloween. Comedy Central revealed earlier this week that the hit animated series will return with a new episode on Friday night, forgoing its usual Wednesday night slot. According to the network’s logline for the episode, titled “The Woman in the Hat,” the upcoming installment will center around President Donald Trump and his team dealing with “a disruptive spirit from the East Wing,” while Stan frets over his hometown becoming “too political.” In a teaser trailer for the episode, parody versions of the president and his staff can be seen holding a séance as they try to communicate with the “entity” haunting the White House amid its controversial renovations. The demolition of the White House’s East Wing is just the latest hot topic to make its way onto “South Park” this year, as the show has found renewed interest from viewers since returning in July thanks to its commentary on the Trump administration, parodying everything from the federal takeover of Washington D.C. to the ongoing tariff situation with various countries around the world. The season 27 premiere in July drew in nearly 6 million viewers across platforms, scoring its “biggest linear season premiere share since 1999,” according to a press release. Despite the attention, “South Park” has been unusually inconsistent with its release schedule since returning to the airwaves in July. While the show is known for sticking to quick weekly turnarounds for writing and releasing new episodes, the latest installments have occasionally faced delays in production. Advertisement “South Park” also surprised fans earlier this month by announcing that Season 27 would only last five episodes, ending with the Sept. 24 episode, “Conflict of Interest.” Season 28 officially kicked off only a few weeks later on Oct. 15 with the episode “Twisted Christian,” which touched on the viral “6-7” trend and continued the story of the show’s Trump parody character preparing to have a baby with a pregnant Satan. In its announcement for the upcoming new episode, which airs Friday night at 10 p.m. and will stream on Paramount+ following its debut, Comedy Central revealed that “South Park” will return to Wednesday nights for its next round of episodes, which will air Nov. 12, Nov. 16, and Dec. 10. Matt Juul is the assistant digital editor for the Living Arts team at the Boston Globe, with over a decade of experience covering arts and entertainment. Advertisement Matt Juul can be reached at matthew.juul@globe.com.
