All posts tagged: south park

Trey Parker Admits It’s Scarier to Do ‘South Park’ in the Trump Era

Trey Parker Admits It’s Scarier to Do ‘South Park’ in the Trump Era

Published by Daniella Wilson

While television stars and creators are busy campaigning ahead of the approaching Emmy voting window, the TV Academy spent an evening handing out awards to some special programs on Wednesday. This year’s Television Academy Honors ceremony recognized seven projects that have harnessed the power of TV to create positive change around the world, with Adolescence, Deaf President Now!, Dying for Sex, Heated Rivalry, Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television and South Park all being recognized. South Park co-creator Trey Parker made a rare Hollywood appearance to accept the award, teasing “after doing the show for 30 years, I just wanted to say to the Television Academy, like, what took you so fucking long?” He went on to explain how he’s often told that he and partner Matt Stone are fearless for these days devoting so much of their animated comedy to mocking Donald Trump, which has created a ratings bonanza and reinvigorated the show while also angering the White House. Parker shouted out his writing staff for being brave alongside them, “especially this year when …

Trump Was Not Going to Be Focus Until White House Pushback

Trump Was Not Going to Be Focus Until White House Pushback

Published by Daniella Wilson

Trey Parker and Matt Stone had only intended for one episode of South Park to focus on the show’s depiction of President Donald Trump, but the high-profile pushback led them to double down throughout the rest of the year. The co-creators of the Comedy Central program sat down with Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chair and CEO Mike De Luca for a conversation during the South Park Emmy Official FYC event in Los Angeles on Tuesday. A self-proclaimed South Park super fan, De Luca chatted with the pair about last year’s seasons 27 and 28, which marked record ratings and made national headlines for the show as it took aim at President Donald Trump and his cohorts. “We were just going to do that first show with the Trump stuff,” Parker said. “We laid into him so hard, and the thing became: ‘Well, who’s the bully now?’ It became this just totally juvenile joke of like, ‘We’re not gonna stop. We’re going to do it every single week.’ Even when everyone’s like, ‘OK, guys, move …

‘South Park’ Creators Bring Deepfake Trump Penis Out on ‘Kimmel’

‘South Park’ Creators Bring Deepfake Trump Penis Out on ‘Kimmel’

Published by Daniella Wilson

In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday, South Park creators and showrunners Trey Parker and Matt Stone produced the prosthetic they used to deepfake Donald Trump’s penis in the season 27 premiere last year and managed to get the host — a longtime foe of the president — to wear it on his pinky finger. Parker and Stone made a good amount of news in their rare television appearance, revealing that season 29 of South Park will premiere on Sept. 16 on Comedy Central. And, discussing the 15th anniversary celebration of The Book of Mormon, Parker said he would be playing Joseph Smith on Broadway with Stone also taking the stage. Parker and Stone are coming off a two-season run of South Park that ended in December and became a cultural milestone as they mercilessly spoofed the Trump administration, creating a ratings bonanza, angering the White House and reinvigorating the show. And, somehow, they got away with it, penis jokes and all. “We hide behind cartoons, Parker joked at the top of the …

In an Interview, Deep Voodoo’s Matt Stone Says AI Will Benefit TV

In an Interview, Deep Voodoo’s Matt Stone Says AI Will Benefit TV

Published by Daniella Wilson

In a professionally lighted brick-walled space in Venice, not different from many other professionally lighted brick-walled spaces all over Los Angeles, actors routinely come in to have their photos and video taken. The process is quick and unremarkable to anyone familiar with the studio-shoot culture of the city, where the backdrops change but the conventions stay the same. Yet the similarities with a typical Hollywood shoot end after the camera switches off at the offices of this boutique firm known as Deep Voodoo. The images and video are converted into data bits and sent to AI-model experts employed all over the world. One in Eastern Europe, another in Argentina, a third in Vancouver. They work their machine-training magic, relying on compute from a data center at an undisclosed location. Eventually all that data gets turned into the desired object: a de-aged actor or deepfake or other synthetic image that can used for various forms of entertainment. All of that would be intriguing even if the founders of Deep Voodoo weren’t South Park instigators Trey Parker and Matt …

A Former South Park Writer Gambled on Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center Renaming Plan—And Won

A Former South Park Writer Gambled on Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center Renaming Plan—And Won

Published by Sam Flores

At trumpkennedycenter.org, for example, one will find a site that suggests visitors “Ring in the New Year with a performance by The Epstein Dancers,” presumably a reference to Trump’s history with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. An altered logo for the center appears below, blackened by redactions similar to those found in the recently released files from the Department of Justice investigation into Epstein’s crimes. “Welcome to TrumpKennedyCenter.org,” a note on the site reads. “A national cultural center dedicated to legacy, loyalty, and the careful presentation of history. Here, tradition is preserved, narratives are curated, and performances are elevated beyond mere art. What is remembered matters. What is omitted matters more. We invite you to experience culture as authority, pageantry as truth, and excellence as defined by those in power.” It’s unclear how long that URL will be useful, however. On Monday, Democratic Representative Joyce Beatty of Ohio filed a lawsuit to force the removal of Trump’s name from the center, saying in her filing that the name change violates the Constitution. “Only Congress has …