Stephen Colbert, ‘South Park’ And The Return Of Political Comedy

Last week, CBS canceled The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. While the three-decade franchise is among the most-watched late-night programs, CBS said it was “purely a financial decision against a challenging backdrop in late night.” However, over the last week, many have become convinced that it had to do with Colbert’s comedic takes against Donald Trump (specifically his commentary on his parent company and their 60 Minutes settlement with the president) and the government’s review of Paramount’s merger with Skydance.

Colbert’s isn’t the only anti-Trump content making waves for Paramount. South Park dedicated its 27th season premiere to mocking Trump. While South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone revealed that they received notes on the episode from the network, the episode comes after a $1.5 billion deal between the show’s creators and Paramount.

These two news stories raise questions about political comedy, profitability and the role of comedians during a second Trump presidency. Comedy has long been a tool against unpopular regimes. From Charlie Chaplin’s 1940s send up of Adolph Hitler The Great Dictator to Egyptian comedian Abu Zaid’s 2018 arrest after working on a satirical news show, comedy and politics have often overlapped in important ways. Many have championed comedy as a means of political commentary.

During the first Trump presidency, satire was not only popular but profitable (or at least it drove ratings for many tv shows.) However, as the second Trump presidency loomed, questions circled over the place of political comedy. Furthermore, many saw comedy as part of the reason Trump was reelected.

Many comedians including Jon Stewart, John Oliver and Jimmy Fallon have spoken out in support of Colbert. Stewart and Oliver with their history with Colbert and political comedy more generally feel like obvious boosters; however, Fallon is more surprising. The NBC host isn’t known for political commentary and his vocal support may even reach viewers not usually looking for political comedy content.

Similarly, while South Park has a long history of skewering politicians, it hasn’t been as synonymous with satire as it was earlier in its run. Millennials of a certain age may remember South Park for its take downs of George W. Bush regime, but it hasn’t made political waves in recent years. In 2018, The Washington Post even called South Park “the ultimate #bothsides show” and mentioned its ties to the Alt-Right and right-of-center politics.

Leftist comedians haven’t gone away or stopped talking politics; however, their reach has ebbed and flowed over multiple presidencies. The reality of this moment has more to do with a-political or not specifically-vocally-left comedians and their reactions.

For many years Colbert was synonymous with political comedy. With nine seasons of The Colbert Report, he became one of America’s most recognized satirists. However, since the show ended in 2014 and he took the reins of The Late Show in 2015, while still at times political, the focus of his comedy has shifted.

It is hard to say if Colbert’s cancellation or even South Park’s reentry into the political comedy conversation will shift political comedy left or lead to more anti-Trump comedy. However, the closeness of these events to each other and to an essential time between Paramount and the administration seems like a step towards a return to a reinvigorated era of political comedy.