Why Isn’t ‘South Park’ Airing a New Episode Tonight?

South Park fans are going to have to wait another week for a new episode.

Series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone announced on Wednesday, Sept. 17, that the next episode of the Comedy Central staple will no longer be airing later in the day as previously scheduled. Instead, the next slated release is arriving on Sept. 24.

“Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done,” the pair said in a joint statement about their 27th season. “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!”

After the Sept. 24 episode, viewers can expect new installments on Comedy Central every other week from Oct. 15 through Dec. 10. Parker and Stone announced a schedule for their slate of additional upcoming episodes: Oct. 15, Oct. 29, Nov. 12, Nov. 26 and Dec. 10.

South Park has largely followed a bi-weekly release pattern for its 27th season after its first episode aired on July 23, following a $1.5 billion deal with Paramount Global just days before. The latest season has stirred up controversy for its depictions of politicians and public figures, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Vice President JD Vance and President Donald Trump — who finds himself romantically involved with Satan (and eventually, expecting a surprise child with the biblical figure).

The scheduling switch-up comes a week after a re-run of an episode parodying Charlie Kirk was pulled from Comedy Central’s schedule following the right-wing media personality’s fatal shooting in Utah on Sept. 10.

The episode, titled “Got A Nut,” initially aired on Aug. 6 and featured character Eric Cartman adopting the mannerisms of Kirk as he accuses classmate Clyde Donovan of “stealing my shtick” and “masterdebates” those who don’t agree with his views. Cartman eventually adopts Kirk’s real-life hairstyle and argues with women at live debates, before losing the “Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebaters” (and a free vacation) to his friend.

Kirk himself labeled the episode “hilarious” and claimed it acknowledged his “viral, cultural domination” in a TikTok he shared weeks before he was killed at the Utah Valley University during an on-campus event. The episode remains available to stream on Paramount+ and via CC On Demand.

“Now, there’s going to be a lot said about this, but we need to have a good spirit about being made fun of,” Kirk said on Aug. 7. “This is all a success, this is all a win. We as conservatives, we have thick skin, not thin skin. And you could make fun of us, it doesn’t matter. And until next time, I hope all of you become ‘masterdebaters’ for truth.”

Other subjects parodied by South Park this season haven’t been as thrilled with their inclusion, including Noem, who called the show “so lazy to constantly make fun of women for how they look.”

The creatives behind South Park previously detailed their speedy production process in the 2011 documentary 6 Days to Air, which showed the behind-the-scenes of how episodes are turned around on short notice. Later speaking with PEOPLE in 2022 about the show’s 25th anniversary, Parker opened up about whether he’s ever given thought to when South Park will conclude.

“If there is anything I’ve learned after 25 years, it’s not to answer that question because I’ve had a lot of stupid — I had someone show me a magazine where I said at 32, ‘There’s no way I’m going to be doing South Park when I’m 40. That would be lame.’ So, we take everything a show at a time and a week at a time,” he said. “And that has always been best.”

South Park is set to air every other Wednesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central and streams next day on Paramount+.