Here are 8 moments that helped define Denver’s pop culture profile this year.

Andrea Gibson, memorialized

Former Colorado Poet Laureate Andrea Gibson finally received some of the mainstream acclaim they deserved thanks to the documentary “Come See Me in the Good Light,” a nuanced look at terminal illness produced in part by former Denver resident, comedian and actor Tig Notaro. While Gibson collaborated on the award-winning doc, they died on July 14 — exactly four months before the film hit streaming services. It stands as a testament to hope and love in the face of staggering suffering and loss. — John Wenzel

‘South Park’ redux owns the airwaves

After more than 25 years on the air, comedy cartoon “South Park” debuted its latest season in July, generating headlines and increased viewership in the U.S. and beyond for its skewering of the Trump administration — which even responded to some of the show’s barbs. Created by Colorado natives Trey Parker and Matt Stone (owners of Casa Bonita and creators of “The Book of Mormon”), the Colorado-set “South Park” also featured Denver as the backdrop for some of the federal government’s recent actions, including immigration enforcement and deportations. — Tiney Ricciardi

Denver’s ‘Love is Blind’ makes history — in a bad way

The Mile High City got its moment on Netflix’s national stage when the popular reality dating show “Love is Blind” came to town, although it wasn’t all sunshine and wedding bells. Denver made history as the series’ first franchise to produce zero successful marriages. —����.��.

Colorado-shot movies

This year included the family drama with a $15 million budget, “The Man Who Changed the World” (which was shot along the Front Range), and the already-released “Rebuilding,” a drama starring in-demand actor Josh O’Connor that was shot in the San Luis Valley, and which examines the complicated aftermath of a wildfire. That follows late 2024’s “Elevation,” shot in Boulder and Golden and starring Anthony Mackie (the MCU’s new Captain America), plus several other titles that bode well for the future of Colorado’s still-developing film industry. —����.��.

The Oscars, and Colorado creatives

Colorado-reared filmmakers and subjects helped fuel some of 2025’s most visible titles, including Scott Derrickson’s sci-fi-romance hybrid “The Gorge,” Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery,” screenwriter Nora Garrett’s “After the Hunt,” and the John Elway documentary which just premiered on Netflix. At the Academy Awards, the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Animated Feature nominees were led by Colorado natives, with former Glenwood Springs native Brady Corbet and partner Mona Fastvold winning for Best Original Screenplay for “The Brutalist,” and even more acclaimed, Oscar-nominated titles making a splash at festivals and on streaming (such as “Porcelain War,” “The Wild Robot,” and “Anjua” — all of which were also Oscar nominated but didn’t win). —����.��.

Sundance Film Fest chooses Boulder

A gaggle of grinning politicians and Sundance Film Fest officials in March said the tastemaking industry event would relocate from Park City, Utah, to Boulder starting in 2027. That’s led to lots of preparation and private/public fundraising on Boulder’s part, but also global attention and projected spending that will lift the Front Range city in the lean months of January. —����.��.

Farewell, Bowen Yang

Aurora comedian Bowen Yang’s run on “Saturday Night Live” ended this year on a Dec. 20 episode hosted by Ariana Grande, Yang’s pal and the co-star of the “Wicked” film series in which Yang has a supporting role. The 35-year-old had broken ground in 2019 when he became SNL’s first-ever Chinese-American cast member, and the first-ever Chinese-American nominated for an acting Emmy. His sharp yet malleable presence will be sorely missed on a show that’s going through a major cast transition. —����.��.

Concerts writ large

The Front Range has long been a top concert market, and it only got bigger during this up-and-down year for the industry. As ticket prices and fees continued to rile fans, Empower Field at Mile High hosted massive events such as a two-night run from Metallica, and Denver’s own The Lumineers with Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. In Boulder, Folsom Field welcomed its first July 4 run from Phish, and Paul McCartney played a shockingly great set at Coors Field. With Red Rocks Amphitheatre’s calendar already filling up and new venues such as Project 70 debuting in Denver, there’s plenty to look forward to in 2026. —����.��.

The duo recently spoke with The New York Times about the , which has reflected many events in the news cycle through a comedic cartoon lens. That includes the Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainments happening across the country, statements from the Federal Communications Commission chairman, and most recently, the .

The show’s creators said part of that is simply due to the fact that the line between politics and pop culture has never been blurrier.

“It����ap not that we got all political,” Parker told the Times. “It����ap that politics became pop culture.”

The show’s skewering of the Trump administration has turned “South Park” into “a surprising voice of the resistance and catapulted the show back into relevance,” the publication said. Though its ratings may be higher for this season than previous ones, it����ap worth noting this is nothing new for Parker and Stone, who grew up in Colorado and now own the legendary Casa Bonita restaurant.

The franchise may have started more than 25 years ago by chronicling the hilarious and often crass journey of four elementary school students from Parker and Stone’s home state. But it has also long played on current events to offer viewers the chance to laugh at what����ap actually happening in the world.

In 2004, for example, “South Park” featured a hot political debate between as the show’s main characters sought to make the case for why the candidate they backed was the better choice. The episode aired the week before the 2004 U.S. presidential election, in a not-so-subtle nod to the match-up between George W. Bush and John Kerry.

Giant Douche and Turd Sandwich were again revived in 2016 as nicknames for two presidential candidates running for election: Mr. Garrison, whose spray tan and demeanor seemed a whole lot like Donald Trump, and Hilary Clinton.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, “South Park” released “The Pandemic Special” that reflected what was happening in the news, such as the struggles of virtual and in-person education, the reckoning around police brutality, and the cannabis industry’s banner sales year.

Parker and Stone said that they thought about avoiding the recent MAGA movement, but ultimately couldn’t.

“It����ap like the government is just in your face everywhere you look,” Parker told the Times. “Whether it����ap the actual government or whether it is all the podcasters and the TikToks and the YouTubes and all of that, and it����ap just all political and political because it����ap more than political. It����ap pop culture.”

That was even true within the walls of their workplace. Comedy Central, the network that airs “South Park,” is owned by Paramount, which earlier this year merged with Skydance Media in a deal that both impacted the show’s ability to air and needed approval from the Trump administration. Paramount also owns CBS, which canceled “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” in a move that many believe was executed to appease regulators.

That inspired Parker and Stone to make the season 27 premiere show explicitly that they maintained independence, they said. For those who missed it, the storyline revolved around Trump and his “teeny tiny” manhood. It also mentioned Colbert and the Paramount-Skydance deal.

“South Park” is in the midst of airing new episodes. The next is expected to drop on Nov. 12, but if recent history is any indication, that could change – and not because Parker and Stone are getting censored. Read the .

The strike ended after both the actors union and the restaurant����ap management agreed to enter mediation and hash out the details of the union’s first contract, according to a statement by the Actors’ Equity Association, which represents the actors. The bargaining unit includes 57 performers who serve as roving actors, puppeteers, cliff divers, magicians and more at the pink palace.

“Casa Bonita is pleased that Actors Equity members will be returning to work as scheduled,” the restaurant����ap management said in a statement to The Denver Post.

Casa Bonita workers voted to unionize in November 2024 as they sought better pay and to establish workplace protections. Casa Bonita serves thousands of diners each week and actors previously detailed several incidents involving guests that had staff concerned for their safety. In September, the union filed an unfair labor practices charge after performers’ hours were cut to accommodate a Halloween pop-up event.

“We never wanted to strike to begin with, but Casa Bonita management forced our hand,” said Sam Bishop, a puppeteer at Casa Bonita who serves on the negotiating team, in a statement. “We can’t wait to return to work so we can resume bringing our guests the unique experience they expect and deserve from their visits.”

Casa Bonita is a beloved Lakewood restaurant and entertainment venue, as well as a historic landmark. It originally opened in 1974, but ownership filed for bankruptcy in 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic. The venue was later purchased by “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who were both raised on the Front Range. The duo spent a reported $40 million to renovate the restaurant, which reopened to much fanfare in 2023.

There will be no cliff divers entertaining guests at Casa Bonita on Halloween as the restaurant����ap cast of performers initiates a three-day strike.

On Wednesday, the Actors’ Equity Association announced that Casa Bonita’s divers, magicians, roving actors and other unionized performers would picket outside the pink palace, at 6715 W. Colfax Ave. in Lakewood, following unsuccessful efforts to bargain their first contract. The strike is scheduled to take place from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 30 through Nov. 1.

Casa Bonita workers voted to unionize in November 2024 as they sought better pay and to establish workplace protections. The restaurant and entertainment venue is a beloved historic landmark and in 2023, reopened under the ownership of locally raised celebrities Matt Stone and Trey Parker. The creators of the “South Park” TV show reportedly spent $40 million reviving the restaurant after purchasing it out of bankruptcy.

Casa Bonita serves thousands of diners each week and actors previously told The Denver Post there have been numerous incidents involving guests that had staff concerned for their safety.

The bargaining unit of 57 people has been engaged in negotiations since April, according to the Actors’ Equity Association, and last month, it filed an unfair labor practices charge after performers’ hours were cut to accommodate a Halloween pop-up event.

Now, the union says management failed to deliver responses to key proposals that would move toward a contract. In a statement, Casa Bonita management said, “We value all of our team members and their well-being. As a policy we do not comment on ongoing labor negotiations.”

“Casa management came to the table today offering an additional 11 cents over their last unfair wage offer, and very little for future layoff protections,” said lead negotiator Andrea Hoeschen, assistant executive director and general counsel for Actors’ Equity Association, in a statement. “Despite that insult, the negotiating team responded with major compromises to try to get a deal. And then Casa Bonita walked away from the table without responding.”

Casa Bonita addressed the dispute in an email to people with reservations, confirming the restaurant would remain open and offering a free drink or arcade credit to guests.

CORRECTION at 6:57 p.m. on Oct. 29: An earlier version of this story misstated the dates for the proposed strike.

Every episode of “South Park” opens with a disclaimer: “All characters and events in this show — even those based on real people — are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated … poorly. The following program contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by anyone.”

While some of that language must be required by an exhausted legal team behind the scenes, the long-running satirical cartoon is known for pressing hot-button topics and rapidly churning out searing parodies. Season 27, which premiered in July, is no exception, focusing on President Donald Trump, his associates, policies and other current events. Some members of Trump’s Cabinet have been outspoken about their likeness appearing in “South Park,” but others have shrugged it off. Over the years, the animated series has depicted conservatives and liberals alike, leaving almost no public figure, politician or activist shielded from critique or crude depiction.

‘South Park’ lays into FCC chair over freedom of speech in new episode

This season has had an unusual cadence of episodes, with the first two arriving on a weekly schedule, then biweekly before the arrival of Episode 5, which aired three weeks later on Wednesday. The delayed episode arrived after the shooting death of conservative activist , whose debate style was depicted in the Episode 2. However, “South Park” creators Matt Parker and Trey Stone told the Denver Post the delay was unrelated to recent events, like Jimmy Kimmel’s suspension, or the content: “No one pulled the episode, no one censored us, and you know we’d say so if true.” The pair had  on Sept. 17 saying the episode wasn’t finished in time. Future episodes will air every two weeks through Dec. 10.

Here is a guide to every parody and reference so far on this season of “South Park.”

‘Sermon on the ‘Mount,’ Episode 1

Cutting funding to the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

Cartman is dismayed to find out National Public Radio has lost its federal funding after he tunes in to hear static — an NPR program is his “favorite show,” he says, where “all the liberals b— and whine about stuff.” He rants to his friends about how the government “can’t cancel a show” and wonders what might be next on the chopping block.

In July, the Senate voted to approve the Trump White House’s proposal to  previously allocated for public broadcasting. NPR and PBS are  despite the funding cuts, but layoffs and reduced programming are expected.

Christianity in public schools

Head of South Park Elementary PC Principal, whose name was a play on the initialism for politically correct, announces to the school that his name now stands for “Power Christian Principal.” He holds an assembly where he says that “our Lord and savior Jesus Christ” is the only thing that can bring back some normalcy to these “corrupt times.” He proceeds to welcome Jesus to the assembly as a guest speaker. When the students go back home, their parents and the people of South Park are alarmed to hear about the emphasis on Christianity — and the presence of Jesus — in the town’s public school.

Trump has previously endorsed  in classrooms amid a push to incorporate .

‘Woke is dead’

The phrase frequently used by Trump was inscribed on a T-shirt Cartman wears after he realizes the concept of  is no longer prominent. “Everyone hates the Jews, everyone’s fine with using gay slurs,” he says, lamenting that he no longer feels purpose if there’s no wokeness to contest.

Karoline Leavitt

�ճ����White House press secretary is depicted corralling the president, sporting a large cross necklace, as she often does during press briefings. Leavitt tells Trump a lot of his supporters are starting to turn against him and begs him to talk to them, adding that they’re “really riled up.” Trump’s base has  over the administration’s approach to sharing information about the Jeffery Epstein case after he promised more transparency about the convicted sex offender, who died by suicide in 2019, and the sex trafficking investigation involving the late financier.

President Trump

Trump appears this season with an image of his face over an animated body, frequently repeating the phrase “Relax, guy” and threatening lawsuits against anyone who’s in his way. He is shown berating a White House portrait painter for an unflattering depiction of him and there are references to the size of the president����ap genitalia. He’s also depicted as being in an abusive relationship with Satan — in which Trump is the abuser. “South Park” has previously depicted Satan as being the victim in an abusive relationship with Saddam Hussein.

The Epstein list

Satan laments the speculation that Trump’s name is on the “Epstein list,” a purported list of his alleged clients. In reality, the Justice Department has said no such list exists, walking back comments Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi made in a Fox News interview earlier this year that the list was  in preparation for release. When the list is brought up in the series, fictional Trump says, “Are we still talking about that?,”  he made in real life.

CBS’ ’60 Minutes’ and Paramount drama

The stopwatch featured in the introduction to “60 Minutes” is strapped to a bomb when it appears on “South Park.” The hosts of the show are visibly nervous and continue praising the president while covering his lawsuit against the town of South Park, adding that they don’t agree with Trump’s detractors.

The scene references the legal tussle between Trump and Paramount Global, the parent company of CBS, which airs “60 Minutes.” The president sued over edits to a “60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala Harris, which led to Paramount agreeing to pay  the lawsuit in July; shortly after, the Federal Communications Commission, led by a Trump appointee, approved .

Between the settlement and merger approval, CBS announced it is canceling  Colbert frequently skewers the president on his show, and Trump . Paramount also recently bought the global streaming rights to “South Park” in a  for Parker and Stone.

During the episode’s fictitious “60 Minutes” segment over Trump’s lawsuit against the town, Jesus comes to visit the townspeople. Through whispers, he tells them, “I didn’t want to come back and be in the school, but I had to because it was part of a lawsuit and the agreement with Paramount.”

“The president����ap suing you?” a protester asks.

Jesus, through clenched teeth, explains: “The guy can do what he wants now that someone backed down. … You guys saw what happened to CBS? Well, guess who owns CBS? Paramount! You really want to end up like Colbert? You guys gotta stop being stupid. … If someone has the power of the presidency and also has the power to sue and take bribes, then he can do anything to anyone.”

“All of you, shut the f— up or South Park is over!” Jesus says.

The people of South Park end up settling their lawsuit with the president for $3.5 million, saying it will be fine as long as they cut some funding for their schools, hospitals and roads. And as part of the settlement, they have to agree to “pro-Trump messaging.” Cut to a live-action deepfake video of Trump trekking through the desert in a show of loyalty to his supporters before he strips naked.

‘Got a Nut,’ Episode 2

[Note: This episode aired on Aug. 6, more than a month before political commentator Charlie Kirk, who is parodied throughout the episode, was shot and killed.]

ICE recruitment and immigration raids

This episode is focused on the ongoing raids carried out across the country by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Department of Homeland Security officials since earlier this year.

When South Park Elementary counselor Mr. Mackey is fired — the government is doing away with needless spending in schools, he’s told — he signs up for a job with ICE, enticed by a generous signing bonus and a higher salary. Mackey watches a promotional video, complete with animations of officers wearing gaiters and a theme song: “We don’t ask for experience, just show up/ We don’t care if you’ve read a book or grown up/ If you’re crazy or fat and lazy, we don’t care at all … If you need a job, it����ap a job to have.”

Mackey is hired with alarming speed and proceeds to go on his first raid, targeting a “Dora the Explorer” live show, which has a not-so-intimidating audience of young children and abuelitas. After ICE agents hear from protesters that there are “many Latinos in heaven,” they make the pearly gates their next stop.

Kristi Noem

�ճ����Department of Homeland Security secretary leads ICE agents through a series of raids this episode, but she first appears in an orientation video. She tells the new recruits, “A few years ago, I had to put my puppy down by shooting it in the face because sometimes doing what����ap important means doing what����ap hard,” and she proceeds to going on a shooting spree targeting yelping puppies (including Krypto the ) throughout the episode. In her 2024 book, Noem wrote about how she  for exhibiting aggressive behavior.

She’s also seen rounding up as many immigrants as possible in raids, shouting orders like, “If it����ap brown, it goes down.”

And in a running gag, her face periodically melts off, requiring a glam squad equivalent to a pit crew, and at one point, it seems to take on a life of its own. Trump also says her face “freaks me out” during the episode.

Noem responded to the depiction on , calling it “lazy” to target her looks. “If they wanted to criticize my job, go ahead and do that, but clearly they can’t, they just pick something petty like that,” she said.

Right-wing debate podcasts

While conservative political commentator Charlie Kirk does not appear as a character in this episode, his style of debate content — and his name — are featured.

Loudmouthed Cartman is frustrated that so many others, namely his classmate Clyde Donovan, are profiting off of “his shtick” of arguing against liberal views.

Clyde has a debate podcast, inviting viewers to watch as he “totally destroys these woke liberal students.” He’s set up in a tent on a college campus where he waits as a line of students come to speak with him, and he challenges them to “prove me wrong.” Cartman eventually takes over, saying that he is the “master debater” and sporting a haircut similar to Kirk’s. He shuts down his opponents’ arguments with phrases like, “You just hate America and you love abortions.”

Clyde and Cartman’s content replicates Kirk’s well-known style. The founder of the conservative organization Turning Point USA frequently toured college campuses and hosted events just like the one depicted in the episode. The phrase “prove me wrong” was used frequently by Kirk to promote his events, inviting students to challenge his political and cultural views.

On Sept. 10, Kirk was shot and killed while hosting such an event at Utah Valley University, the first stop of his “American Comeback” tour. Weeks before he was killed, Kirk responded to the episode with a , finding it humorous.

“I think a lot of it was hilarious towards me,” he said. “Some of it was very funny and I don’t think we should have too thick of skin.”

He also touched on the reach of his organization and events, noting that his name is enshrined in “The Charlie Kirk Award for Young Masterdebaters” that Cartman and Clyde compete for in the episode. “So a campus thing I’ve been doing for 13 years to debate random college kids has now been so important that it gets prominent prime-time placement on Comedy Central?” he asked through laughs. “I think the whole thing is just awesome and hilarious.”

Mar-a-Lago

When Mr. Mackey is rewarded for good work as an ICE agent, he’s flown to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where he frequently stays and hosts events.

He’s greeted by giggling women who hand him a drink and put flower leis around his neck before the president meets him and gives him a brief tour of Mar-a-Lago. While there, Mackey accidentally walks in on two older men receiving massages from younger women, one of whom is a tearful Dora, detained in the raid that took place earlier in the episode. The scene is likely a reference to Epstein and accounts from survivors who say they were forced to give massages to him and his associates. Trump said this summer that Epstein  who worked at the Mar-a-Lago spa, which caused them to have a falling-out.

JD Vance

The vice president is depicted as a version of Tattoo, the character from late-’70s drama “Fantasy Island,” and is animated similarly as Trump, except the photo used for his face is lifted directly from  He often does the president����ap bidding, calling him “boss.” In turn, Trump frequently calls Vance “stupid.” Acknowledging the caricature, Vance , “Well, I’ve finally made it.”

‘Sickofancy,’ Episode 3

Immigration raid at cannabis farm

Randy’s hemp farm business, Tegridy Farms, is the site of an immigration raid at the the beginning of this episode. While Randy is shooting a commercial, complete with calming guitar music and a trite script, ICE officers interrupt by detaining almost all the workers. “You sons of b—,” Randy screams after the vans as they drive away. “Those are my Mexicans!”

In July, chaotic  growing site and greenhouse in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties drew national attention after a man who was fleeing immigration officials .

Microdosing ketamine

With his business in shambles, Randy rethinks his strategy with the help of an over-complimentary AI chatbot. Perhaps in a nod to Trump’s former ally and onetime “special government employee” Elon Musk, the billionaire businessman behind Tesla, SpaceX and X, Randy turns to ketamine. Randy insists a slew of “tech guys” are taking small doses of ketamine and the drug “gives their minds the edge to work with AI.” Ketamine “bolsters our focus and creativity,” he tells his partner Towelie. Under the influence of the drug, Randy transforms Tegridy Farms from a “quaint farm” into an “AI-powered marijuana platform for global solutions.”

 of ketamine and other drugs has been previously reported, with the tech leader saying in a  that ketamine has been prescribed to him and is “helpful for getting one out of a negative frame of mind.” He has denied abusing it. “If you use too much ketamine, you can’t really get work done. I have a lot of work, I’m typically putting in 16-hour days,” he said. “So I don’t really have a situation where I can be not mentally acute for an extended period of time.”

Musk supported Trump’s campaign and served as an advisor to the president, helming the Department of Government Efficiency earlier this year with the goal of slashing spending.

Mark Zuckerberg and Tim Cook

Meta and Apple chief executives  and Tim Cook, who were both present at Trump’s inauguration and have maintained  with him, are both portrayed in this episode as members of a long line outside of the Oval Office waiting to bestow a gift on the president.

“Mr. President, your ideas for the tech industry are so innovative,” Cook says to Trump. Cook gives the president a gift on behalf of Apple, which  this summer. Zuckerberg is later seen giving the president a gift that appears to be a gold and bejeweled Meta virtual reality headset.

Luxury jet from Qatar

Qatar’s leader is also seen in line holding a model gold plane with a tag that says “Air Force One.” Like everyone else, the leader compliments the president and insists his genitalia is not small before giving him the gift. Trump and the Defense Department accepted a  from Qatar for President Trump to use as Air Force One this summer, despite ongoing questions about the ethics and legality of taking the expensive gift from a foreign nation.

Washington, D.C.

When Towelie takes a trip to the capital in this episode, he sees armed troops guarding monuments like the Washington and Lincoln memorials and the Capitol surrounded by tanks and jets. In the episode, the Lincoln Memorial has been replaced by a statue of a stern-faced Trump with exposed genitalia.

In August, Trump called up  to assist federal law enforcement in his bid to “reestablish law and order” by targeting criminals — though crime has been down in the city — and the homeless. Although troops were not initially armed, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth later ordered them to .

Reclassifying marijuana

Randy sends Towelie to meet with Trump and give him a gift in hopes of persuading him to reclassify marijuana on the national level. (The gift is Towelie himself.) Randy, in the form of a hologram, tells Trump he thinks they can work out a mutually beneficial arrangement.

Trump said in an August press conference that his administration was considering , which would be a significant change in policy but would not make the drug legal across the country.

‘Wok is Dead,’ Episode 4

Tariffs and Labubus

The clerk at the City Pop-Up — rebranded from City Wok — the lone purveyor of  in the area, says the popular dolls are hard to keep in stock, and they’re very expensive because of tariffs. The “mystery box” that Butters has to purchase for the chance of getting the exact Labubu his girlfriend wants sets him back $85, and later, the price shoots up to $120 to offset a rise in tariffs. (The real-life dolls often fetch much more than that on resale sites, especially if they are rare.) When Butters balks at the price, the store owner explains that the cost of tariffs is passed onto the customer.

Fox News

This episode shows a clip from a Fox News segment where an anchor is overly complimentary of the president. The anchor says the president will take questions from a “diverse crowd of reporters” after returning to the U.S. from a historic tariff summit, only to reveal all of the reporters are from Fox.

�ճ����Fox News reporters also fixate on President Trump’s relationship with his wife, Melania, and his increasingly frequent appearances with Satan. There’s a heavy use of wordplay that suggests the anchors could be asking about the affair between the president and Satan or about whether Trump is actually the devil himself.

Kid Rock

Fox News reporters check in with Trump ally Kid Rock after breaking the news that — buckle up — Trump has impregnated Satan. A sobbing Kid Rock tells the reporters, “I’m just so happy.” The musician is a , having performed at his inaugural rally in January and spoken many times publicly about his support of the president.

‘Conflict of Interest,’ Episode 5

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Kyle becomes irate when his classmates place bets on a popular market prediction app that his mother would “strike Gaza and destroy a Palestinian hospital.”

This episode marks the first time this season that the show has touched on the current conflict in Gaza, and it referenced real-life  in the area.

Donald Trump Jr.

Trump’s eldest son appears in this episode as someone with many roles — he’s a strategic adviser for predictive markets, he answers the phone for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and also acts as a special adviser to Israel. Although he wears all those hats, the series doesn’t portray him as particularly bright — he has a complete conversation over the phone with himself.

He’s also animated to look as if he’s had extensive plastic surgery and he speaks with a strained voice, as if he can’t move his face.

Trump Jr. holds several key roles in his family’s business and his father’s political sphere in real life, and he serves as an adviser to both Polymart and Kalshi, two prediction market apps that are named and spoofed in this episode.

Trump’s stance on abortion

Less keen on the baby he’s expecting with Satan, Trump looks for different ways to harm the pregnancy in hopes of terminating it. He asks Satan if he wants to smoke and hang out in a hot tub, holds up a wire hanger, tries to get him to trip down the stairs or fall under a pile of cat feces, and even makes Satan a soup full of emergency contraceptive pills.

In reality, Trump has repeatedly shifted his  but has most recently said he believes specific abortion policies and access should be decided not by federal law but by individual states.

Brendan Carr

�ճ���� comes into the fold this episode when Kyle goes through several hoops to try to file a complaint over the bet involving his mom, which he finds offensive. �ճ����FCC is “dealing with all the offensive stuff now,” Kyle is told.

Carr says he needs to speak with the president after learning about the offensive content, but he ends up falling victim to all of Trump’s antics in his attempt to terminate Satan’s pregnancy, which send him to the hospital. The doctors say they’re “afraid he may lose his freedom of speech.”

Vance later threatens Carr, who keeps interfering with Trump’s attempts to end Satan’s pregnancy (Vance doesn’t want anything to mess with his proximity to the presidency). “We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the hard way,” Vance says to Carr.

Those words match the phrase Carr said in real life a week before this episode aired in reference to his call on ABC to act on comments late-night host Jimmy Kimmel made about Kirk’s suspected killer and his death. Carr has remained in the headlines since then as backlash grew against the .

Benjamin Netanyahu

Frustrated by the bet about her and the ongoing conflict in Gaza, Kyle’s mom storms into the office of the Israeli prime minister. “Just who do you think you are, killing thousands and flattening neighborhoods, then wrapping yourself in Judaism like it����ap some shield from criticism?” she says. “You’re making life for Jews miserable and life for American Jews impossible.” She continues to berate him and a group of officials while the credits roll. Netanyahu does not say anything in response.

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In their newest episode, entitled “Conflict of Interest,” co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone once again skewer the federal government for its recent actions, this time bringing Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, into the fold.

Carr made headlines last week after broadcast networks ABC and Disney suspended late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” for comments its titular host made about the death of media personality Charlie Kirk. (Kirk was notably featured in a previous episode of “South Park” this season.) Many believe the government official pressured the network to take action after an appearance on a conservative podcast, , “We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

“These companies can find ways to change conduct to take action on Kimmel or, you know, there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead,” Carr stated on the podcast.

In the “South Park” universe, President Donald Trump has knocked up Satan (yes, that Satan), and the satirical version of Carr keeps finding himself in the middle of the president����ap plans to secretly “get rid” of the baby. (“I don’t think your followers would be very happy if we got an abortion,” Satan tells the president, hence the need to do it seemingly unwittingly.)

Carr ends up tripping and falling down stairs, eating soup laced with Plan B One Step emergency contraceptive, and getting doused in cat feces, which leads to him contracting toxoplasmosis, a parasite that can be transferred to fetuses during pregnancy. Carr ends up in the hospital and the diagnosis doesn’t look good.

“If the toxoplasmosis parasite gets to his brain,” the doctor warns, “I’m afraid he may lose his freedom of speech.”

It����ap at that point, Vice President JD Vance comes to visit Carr and sinisterly asks him why he keeps foiling plans to get rid of the demon baby.

“I’m next in line to be president. That baby cannot be born,” Vance said. “And if you continue to interfere, I will make things very difficult for you. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”

That wasn’t the only topical event “South Park” touched on this week. “Conflict of Interest” also played on the rising popularity of prediction market apps and looped the conflict between Israel and Gaza, as well as its into the plot. The episode ends with Kyle’s mom chewing out Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his actions in the ongoing war.

The next episode of “South Park” is slated to air on Oct. 15 on Comedy Central, as long as Parker and Stone can get it done in time. It streams the following day on Paramount+.

But co-creator Matt Stone insists that is not the case, even as other shows like “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” are being pulled off the air.

“No one pulled the episode, no one censored us, and you know we’d say so if true,” Stone said in an interview with The Denver Post. “We just didn’t get it done. When you always cut it close, sometimes you mess up. That����ap the price of being a procrastinator.”

After two years off air, “South Park” is in the midst of its highly anticipated 27th season, which has generated buzz for satirical representations of President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, among other political figures.

Casa Bonita will host Halloween-themed pop-up in October

In one episode, entitled “Got A Nut,” character Eric Cartman impersonates MAGA activist Charlie Kirk as he “master debates” college students on women’s rights and other issues. That episode was pulled from the show’s cable rotation after Kirk was fatally shot on Sept. 10, though it is still available to stream on Paramount+.

Because “South Park” often reflects events from politics and pop culture, fans on social media suspected Kirk’s death played a role in the delay. (“It was definitely finished. Just not allowed to air,” one commenter said on .) The decision Wednesday by Disney and ABC to suspend comedian Jimmy Kimmel's late-night show because of comments he made about the incident only added to the speculation.

However, Stone and show co-creator Trey Parker have a famously hasty and chaotic process for developing each episode, chronicled in the aptly named 2011 documentary “6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park.” The newest episode is slated to air on Wednesday, Sept. 24. “It����ap gonna be great,” Stone said.

Stone and Parker, who are both Colorado natives, also own the famous Casa Bonita restaurant. Stone additionally shared details about an upcoming Halloween- and Dia de los Muertos-themed pop-up -- called Casa BOOnita -- that will take over the restaurant in October.

Starting Sept. 30, the iconic Lakewood restaurant will be known as Casa BOOnita, with festive decor and other surprises, co-owner Matt Stone told The Denver Post in an exclusive interview. Its spooky aesthetic is expected to stay up through Nov. 2 and guests don’t need to pay for anything extra beyond their meal to enjoy it.

While most of the changes are related to decor, certain roving performers will also be removed from the floor during the length of the pop-up, a move that’s triggered a dispute with the restaurant’s union.

Stone and Trey Parker, both creators of the TV series “South Park,” purchased the pink palace in 2021 and always envisioned doing something special to keep the experience fresh for guests. But as the two learned in reopening Casa Bonita — which ended up requiring two years and $40 million in renovations — executing the vision can be a massive undertaking.

‘No one censored us,’ says ‘South Park’ creator Matt Stone of episode delay

This pop-up is something of a test to see how they can activate the restaurant for future holidays and special occasions. The idea, Stone added, is to “do something fun so Casa Bonita doesn’t become stodgy and stale.”

"It's a really good example of what we've always wanted to do with Casa Bonita -- is have it change and evolve and be a live place and vibrant and full of new surprises," he said. “We've always believed in the possibility of what could be there, you know? That����ap always fun to talk about, but to pull it off takes a lot of planning and a lot of production."

Fans who snag a reservation are encouraged to get into the spirit by dressing up as their favorite characters. That����ap part of the reason why guests who visit won’t see roving entertainers playing Black Bart, the Sheriff, Amazon Ani and Captain Isabella during the pop-up. (Casa Bonita doesn't typically allow customers to wear costumes.)

“It would be confusing for patrons,” Stone said. “So we decided to do something different, right? And this is going to be something that goes on with Casa Bonita from now on. We always want it to be an evolving canvas of performers and patrons.”

That means possibly special activations for the Fourth of July or Christmas, he added.

On Thursday, the Actors’ Equity Association, which represents Casa Bonita’s unionized performers, filed an unfair labor practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board due to changes with the cast. Andrea Hoeschen, general counsel for the association, said the communication those workers received was open-ended and suggested that those characters may be sidelined again in the future.

"We were under the impression that positions were being eliminated at least through Nov. 2 and that there would be an evaluation of what happens next," she said. “By eliminating those positions, Casa Bonita is eliminating at least 1,000 hours of work for the performers we represent just in the month of October."

The people in those positions have had shifts cut already, Hoeschen added. "We do not understand what makes Casa think patrons don’t want to see these characters. We’re confused.”

Stone disputed the characterization that these roving performers would be nixed completely from the experience, calling it a "falsehood."

"Of course, we're not going to do that. Why would we do that?" he said. "We're going to change them, we're going to go with what works, eliminate what doesn't work, we're going to change it seasonally. We hope to program this place so Casa Bonita is this vibrant place. That's always been our intention."

"But obviously, Trey Parker is not going to eliminate Black Bart," Stone added.

Casa Bonita currently has reservations available in October. Book one at .

Comedy show “South Park” will not air a new episode this week as previously scheduled, but that decision appears unrelated to the shooting death of media personality Charlie Kirk, who the show parodied earlier this year.

“Apparently when you do everything at the last minute sometimes you don’t get it done,” show creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone said in a statement Wednesday. “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!”

Going forward, “South Park” plans to release new episodes on Comedy Central on Sept. 24, Oct. 15, Oct. 29, Nov. 12, Nov. 26 and Dec. 10. Each episode is available to stream the next day on Paramount+.

‘No one censored us,’ says ‘South Park’ creator Matt Stone of episode delay

“South Park” is the brainchild of Colorado natives (and Casa Bonita owners) Parker and Stone, who grew up on the Front Range, and it often pulls inspiration from current events to power the journey of its animated main characters – Kyle Broflovski, Stan Marsh, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick.

After more than two years off air, the new season was highly anticipated and has drawn significant viewership for its skewering of the Trump Administration. In August, an episode called “Got A Nut” featured Immigration and Customs Enforcement raiding Ball Arena in Denver. In that episode, Cartman mimics Kirk as he “master debates” college students on women’s rights and other issues.

Following Kirk’s murder at one of his signature “Prove Me Wrong” events in Utah on Sept. 10, Comedy Central is no longer showing “Got A Nut” in its regular rotation. The episode is, however, still available on demand via Paramount+.

A spokesperson for Paramount offered no comment on what prompted the decision to air upcoming episodes once every three weeks.

The latest installment on Comedy Central depicted the recurring character “Towelie” — a walking, talking towel — riding in a bus past landmarks like the Supreme Court building and the Capitol as armed troops marched in the streets. A tank rolled by in front of the White House.

The half-hour episode, which primarily satirized artificial intelligence, also roasted world leaders and tech CEOs for kowtowing to President Donald Trump. Eventually Towelie ended up with the president in the Oval Office.

“South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone recently with Paramount for new episodes and streaming rights to their series, which began its 27th season this summer.

Their second episode of the season depicted Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shooting puppies, a reference to a story from the former South Dakota governor’s biography where she said she killed the family dog because of its behavioral issues. Noem was also depicted being trailed by a team of beauticians having to reattach her face.

‘South Park’: ICE raids Denver’s Ball Arena in new episode

“It����ap so easy to make fun of women for how they look,” Noem told Glenn Beck in response to the episode.

The season premiere mocked Trump’s body in a raunchy manner and depicted him sharing a bed with Satan. That scenario reappeared in Wednesday’s episode.

The White House has dismissed “South Park” as a fourth-rate, no-longer-relevant show. But it has been attracting attention; Comedy Central said the Noem episode had the highest audience share in the show’s history, a reference to the percentage of people with televisions on watching the cartoon.

‘South Park’ premiere skewers Trump, prompting White House response