‘South Park’ Vaccination Special Mocks Disney+’s ‘Muppets’ Controversy

After 24 seasons, you don’t really expect South Park to change. The Comedy Central show is always going to be offensive. It’s always going to target anyone it feels like mocking, regardless of their political alliance. And it’s always going to be topical, for better or for worse. But the “South ParQ Vaccination Special” did include one major change for this decades-long show. For the first time in the show’s history its trademark disclaimer was altered to make a joke about The Muppets, of all things.

If you’ve ever seen an episode of South Park, you’re familiar with the disclaimer. The same message appears before almost every episode: “All characters and events in this show — even those based on real people — are entirely fictional. All celebrity voices are impersonated… poorly. The following language contains coarse language and due to its content it should not be viewed by everyone.” That disclaimer has always served the dual purpose of protecting Comedy Central from being sued to death and making fun of the show itself, its cast and crew, and the concept of disclaimers. Basically, it’s quintessential South Park.

But last night (March 10) that well-known block of text was replaced by a new message:

There’s a lot to unpack here, but let’s start with the big thing: The Muppets. That dig about how no one should watch South Park or The Muppets is a nod to the content disclaimer Disney+ put in front of certain episodes of the beloved Jim Henson show. In fact the disclaimer as a whole is mocking Disney+’s content warning.

Here’s the original disclaimer the streaming service added to The Muppets: “This program includes negative depictions and/or mistreatment of people or cultures. These stereotypes were wrong then and are wrong now. 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.”

Yeah, that’s basically word for word what South Park wrote. Disney+ added their disclaimer to 18 specific episodes all with different reasoning. For instance, Johnny Cash’s episode got the disclaimer treatment because it features Cash singing in front of a Confederate flag.

There’s another layer to South Park‘s disclaimer. As the comedy has gone on it has made repeated jokes about how it’s not allowed to be nuanced anymore. This copied disclaimer could be another jab at the show’s many critics.

It’s hard to determine exactly what South Park is trying to say with its copying of Disney+. Likely the team is making another joke about how ridiculous it thinks censorship is. South Park has always been outspoken in its belief that freedom of speech — and freedom to joke — is important above all else. The show has pushed the limits of censorship to the very extreme, even depicting the prophet Muhammad in Episode “201.” The line “These stereotypes were wrong then and will be wrong in the future” seems like a nod to that long-running argument, especially since it’s coming from a current episode of television.

It’s also possible that the South Park writers saw copying Disney+ as just another joke and threw it in there without trying to make a larger point. Or Matt Stone or Trey Parker could just genuinely dislike The Muppets. Muppet hatred would fit into their random list of odd obsessions like the Mormon religion. Who knows? Here’s how you can watch the “South ParQ Vaccination Special” and decide for yourself.

Where to stream South Park