Comedy Central’s South Park has been renewed for three more seasons and for now, keeps the title of the longest-running prime-time scripted series in cable. Kent Alterman, President of Comedy Central, Paramount Network and TV Land, praised the show for its legacy.
“South Park is the greatest comedy in the history of television, unmatched in its satirical strength and cultural relevancy and it shows no signs of slowing down,” said Alterman. “If humanity is still intact in 1000 years, historians will see the most transcendent artists of our era as The Beatles, Muhammed Ali, and Matt and Trey. We’ll do as many seasons as they would like.”
Co-creators of the controversial animated show, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, campaigned to have their series canceled throughout the entirety of season 22. Of course, this was a joke the duo came up with as a response to those critics who have been wanting South Park canceled since episode one.
“Apparently, our efforts to get our own show canceled have fallen short,” joked Parker and Stone. “Luckily, we love Comedy Central and Kent and our staff so we are looking forward to new cancellation opportunities in the next few years.”
The three seasons will have 10 episodes minimum, but Comedy Central has given Stone and Parker the freedom to write more if needed. “I don’t think we have ever had an ‘OK, let’s sit down and decide if we are going to keep going,'” Parker said. Stone added, “I am 48. Trey turns 50 this year. So I will say that I don’t think we will be doing this show when we’re 60.”
South Park is in second place for TV’s longest-running animated series – the first being The Simpsons. The show will air its 23rd season on September 25th. The upcoming new episodes guarantee that South Park will surpass 300 episodes.
“In this day and age, it is more of an achievement than it was before, the fact that we are still going,” said Parker.