South Park Takes on Cancel Culture in Show Open: ‘Like The Muppets, This Show Should Not Be Watched By Anyone’

South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone went all out in their hourlong Vaccination Special, lampooning QAnon, cancel culture, and the aftermath of Donald Trump’s presidency.

It isn’t clear whether South Park is gearing up for 10 episodes of a whole new season, but the Vaccination Special is a sequel to last year’s Pandemic Special showing how the coronavirus crisis rocked the cartoon town. Before the show began, however, they shared a revised opening disclaimer that pokes fun at Disney’s decision to add content warnings about “negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures” to old episodes of The Muppet Show.

This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and will still be wrong in the future. Rather than remove this content, we want to acknowledge its harmful impact, learn from it and spark conversation to create a more inclusive future together. Like The Muppets, this show should not be watched by anyone.

The all-new “#SouthParQ Vaccination Special” starts now on Comedy Central! pic.twitter.com/V6wi5eeXsx

— SOUTH PARQ (@SouthPark) March 11, 2021

The special itself was largely focused on South Park’s efforts to return to normal despite frustrations about how long it will take for everyone to get vaccinated. For Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick, the story follows the boys trying to make things right after a prank by stealing a case full of vaccines for their schoolteachers. Tensions arise, however, when Cartman wants to sell vaccines to whoever will pay the most, Stan wants to keep the vaccine for themselves, and Kyle is pressured by his parents to vaccinate them instead.

The other major storyline revolves around Mr. Garrison, who returns to South Park and tries to go back to teaching after years of functioning as the show’s representation of Trump. Garrison soon realizes that everyone in town hates him except for the White family, who also happen to be local QAnon leaders. Mr. White concocts a conspiracy theory out of Garrison’s remarks to him, which leads to him and his fellow acolytes becoming private tutors and indoctrinating a bunch of the town’s children into “Lil’ Qties.”

The storylines collide as the boys try to bring the vaccines to the school, but they are confronted by a mix of QAnon anti-vaxxers and others who want the vaccines for themselves.