What South Park's Creators Think The Final Episode Will Look Like

28 seasons in, "South Park" feels like it'll go on forever. Logically, we know there must eventually be a finale, but it's hard to imagine that day ever arriving. In a 2018 interview with IGN, showrunners Matt Stone and Trey Parker offered their prediction for what the show's final episode will look like:

"I think it's going to end with a fizzle, for sure," Parker said. "I think it's just going to end with some dud, and we're gonna go, 'F*** this, man,' and walk away. ... Yeah, we've thought that for 18 years. We're like, 'Okay, well, they're going to cancel us, for sure!' We've been waiting to get canceled for 18 f***ing years."

Stone agreed, saying he envisioned the show's final chapter as "some sort of whimper. Either drop the mic, get sued, get thrown off television — something like that."

It's been seven years since that interview, and the show is still going strong. Not everyone's loved the new season's hyper-political anti-Trump bend, but no one can claim a lack of energy is a problem here. The show is full of life and brimming with surprises. If season 28 turns out to be the final season (unlikely given the show's $1.5 billion Paramount+ deal), it'll be more due to the controversy it's causing than any issue with its ratings. 

Part of what's made recent "South Park" so special lately is the widespread concerns that Comedy Central, now owned by a company that has famously suckered up to the second Trump administration, might cancel the show due to political pressure. The series' Comedy Central peer "The Daily Show" has enjoyed its own renaissance era lately, in part because its ability to do genuine, hard-hitting political commentary now feels less secure than ever. 

Although "South Park" is miraculously still thriving 28 seasons in, the fact remains that it will have to end at some point, as will all the other seemingly-immortal animated shows out there. "The Simpsons," now 38 seasons into its run, recently put out a fake series finale episode delving into this reality. The episode mocked a lot of common sitcom finale tropes, but showrunner Matt Selman clarified in an interview with Cracked that the show's real finale would never be so sappy. 

"It shouldn't be like what we just did," Selman explained. "There shouldn't be that closure with a story like 'The Simpsons are moving away' or somebody dying. It should just be a really funny 'Simpsons' episode."

Meanwhile, Seth MacFarlane, who still voices many "Family Guy" characters but no longer contributes to the scripts, said in a 2011 interview, "Part of me thinks that 'Family Guy' should have already ended. I think seven seasons is about right. ... I talk to the fans and in a way I'm kind of secretly hoping for them to say we're done with it." In recent years, he's changed his tune. In 2022, he said about the show, "We've reached escape velocity. I don't know that there's any reason to stop at this point unless people get sick of it."

This seems to be the mantra behind all three of these animated shows. "South Park," "The Simpsons," and "Family Guy" will continue having fun, playing around with their own formula, and just keeping the party going until the lights burn out. They know the end is inevitable, but in the meantime, they will not go gentle into that good night.