By Carly Hacon

Copyright dailystar

South Park fans were left gutted tonight (September 17) after Comedy Central confirmed the long-running animated sitcom would not be airing its scheduled new episode. The show’s creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone admitted they had failed to finish the instalment in time, joking: “Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done. This one’s on us. We didn’t get it done in time. Thanks to Comedy Central and South Park fans for being so understanding. Tune in next week!” The new episode will now debut Wednesday, September 24 at 10pm ET/PT, with further outings lined up for October 15, October 29, November 12, November 26 and December 10. But the timing of the delay has sparked plenty of chatter online, as fans speculated whether the break was linked to the show’s recent politically charged storylines. Only last week, South Park made headlines after lampooning right-wing activist Charlie Kirk , who was depicted as a loudmouth pundit roped into one of Eric Cartman’s over-the-top schemes. In the episode, Cartman set up a fake “patriot business” and tricked Kirk into fronting it, leading to a series of ridiculous blunders that left the character humiliated. The savage parody drew a mixed response — with many praising the show for skewering political hypocrisy, while others accused Parker and Stone of going too far. Cartman himself has been at the centre of ongoing chaos in the new run, with his self-serving antics spiralling further out of control every week. Fans are now speculating that the upcoming episode will escalate his feud with classmates and tie directly into the Kirk storyline. With tonight’s cancellation, viewers flooded X (formerly Twitter) to vent. One wrote: “Only South Park could cancel itself because Trey and Matt didn’t finish in time — but after that Charlie Kirk roast, I reckon they needed an extra week to recover.” Another added: “Cartman ruining schedules too now? Sounds about right.” Despite the setback, South Park remains one of Comedy Central’s biggest hits, still pulling in millions nearly three decades after its 1997 debut. Want all the biggest Showbiz and TV news straight to your inbox? Sign up for our free Daily Star Showbiz newsletter