South Park has been renewed. After the phenomenal critical success of the satirical religious musical “The Book of Mormon” penned by series creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker (alongside Robert Lopez), many fans of the show fell into speculation surrounding the future of South Park, when its renewal wasn’t announced alongside the usual crop of Comedy Central shows. Although Stone and Parker were quick to dismiss the suggestion that they were leaving the show behind for further ventures onto Broadway, it did little to calm the waters.
The June mid-season finale of the show “You’re Getting Old” helped not one bit with the speculation, with its content and premise essentially suggesting that Stone and Parker were getting bored of the show. Following increased speculation with the episode out in the public domain, Parker, whilst appearing on The Daily Show to big-up the musical said “We love South Park, that’s still our thing” in response.
Finally quelling fans’ thirst for information about the show’s future, Comedy Central announced today that the long-running animated program has been renewed through 2013 - taking the show’s run to 17 seasons so far.