The twenty-third season of the Americananimated sitcom series South Park premiered on Comedy Central on September 25, 2019, and concluded on December 11, 2019; after 10 episodes aired. This season contained the 300th episode of the long-running TV show; the milestone was reached on October 9, 2019, when the third episode of the season premiered. Like previous seasons, this season also had dark weeks, after episodes four and seven. Trey Parker and Matt Stone continued to write, direct, and edit every episode the week prior to air, as the duo has done since the series debuted in 1997. Similar to previous seasons, the season features continuing elements and a recurring storyline, from episodes 1 through 6, without adhering to a linear story arc, while lampooning ICE detention centers, the 2019 film Joker, media censorship in China, the antivaccine movement, plant based food, the Trump Administration, transgenderism in athletics, and the competition between traditional cable television and media streaming.
Production
On July 8, 2015, two months prior to the season 19 premiere, Comedy Central announced they had renewed South Park for an additional 30 episodes over three seasons. This renewal was in addition to the two-year contract already in place with Parker and Stone, guaranteeing South Park would air until at least 2019. On September 12, 2019, the show was renewed for seasons 24 through 26 until 2022.
Main theme
This season had multiple changes to the traditional theme song from the show. For the first six episodes of the season, an overall story arc focusing on Randy Marsh's marijuana farm named Tegridy Farms was featured. During these episodes, the theme song's lyrics and graphics were changed to focus on Tegridy Farms and also featured vocals by Randy Marsh and Towelie. In the episode "Board Girls", the regular theme was completely abandoned and replaced with a theme about the PC Babies, the politically correct children of PC Principal and Vice PrincipalStrong Woman. In the "Turd Burglars" episode, the theme returned to the show, but starring the women of South Park, in a fictional show titled "One for the Ladies". In the "Basic Cable" episode, the theme was abandoned again and replaced with a faux intro titled "The Scott Malkinson Show". The traditional theme song was put back in on the final episode "Christmas Snow".
