• by Joe Mandese , 4 hours ago

As luck would have it, one of "TVBlog" columnist Adam Buckman's personal days off coincides with me getting to fill in -- and weigh in -- on the start of the 27th season of "South Park," so I've got something to write about.

It's hard to imagine that creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone foresaw CBS' cancellation of "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert," but debuting "South Park's" 27th season just six days later felt like it restored the balance of power in TV's comedic universe -- if not in the cultural zeitgeist of contemporary America.

I've always marveled at what "South Park" has managed to get away with over the years, and have attributed it not just to the fact that it's a ridiculous animated cartoon, but that it has been relatively fair and balanced in the mores, values and personalities it skewers mercilessly. But this season's opener depicting Trump as a "tiny," sex-crazed maniac having coitus with none other than the devil himself was a form of comedic karmic retribution.

And then to double down with a ménage à trois by allusion with Trump, Vance and the devil wasn't just hilarious, but a proportionate level of social commentary befitting the times.

The fact that it's all happening within the same pre-/post-Skydance Paramount period which both canceled Colbert, yet allows "South Park" to explore new circles of parodic hell is just icing on the cake, as well as an important cultural check-and-balance at a time when conventional television -- especially news programming -- seems to have capitulated its responsibility to televise truth to power.