Warner Bros. Discovery Sues Paramount Global Over ‘South Park’ Deal; Where Can You Stream All of Show’s Episodes, Movies?
For 26 seasons, viewers have watched “South Park” as it follows the antics of four boys in the titular quiet mountain town. The iconic animated sitcom is famous for its coarse language and for satirizing a wide range of pop culture topics, but it is still a bit of a surprise when the show’s drama jumped from the screen to real life.
In a lawsuit brought by Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global is accused of breaking certain terms of the $500 million licensing agreement made for the streaming rights of “South Park” episodes in 2019. By directing “South Park” specials and other material to its own Paramount+ streaming platform, the lawsuit alleges that Paramount violated the contract.
According to the lawsuit, Paramount committed “multiple and flagrant duplicitous contortions of fact and breaches of contract” and “blatantly meant to prop up Paramount+ at the expense of Warner/HBO.” Paramount is the parent company for “South Park’s” longtime cable home Comedy Central.
WBD paid a reported $1.6 million for more than 300 episodes in a deal with South Park Digital Studios in 2019, however, the company — which is a partnership between Paramount and South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone — allegedly broke this contract by airing a number of South Park specials.
The agreement was to bring the complete show’s back catalog to HBO Max through June 2025, along with the 30 upcoming new episodes for Seasons 24 through 26. After its contract with HBO Max expires, “South Park” will solely stream on Paramount Plus as part of the agreement. Despite this, WBD alleges that it did not get what it paid for, asserting that South Park Digital Studios overcharged the business for the 50-minute Pandemic Special and broke its promise to deliver 10 new episodes for each season.
The complaint also criticizes the sizable $900 million agreement Paramount struck with South Park’s creators in August 2021, just months after Paramount+ debuted. After that, the studio produced a number of Paramount+-only specials. The lawsuit claims that in order to get out of its responsibilities under the 2019 agreement, Paramount used “verbal trickery” and “grammatical sleight-of-hand,” referring to the new content as “movies,” “films,” or “events” instead of as “episodes.”
In 2021, Paramount+ streamed a pair of COVID-focused specials — “South Park: Post COVID” and “South Park: Post COVID: The Return of COVID” — and then last year, almost anticipating the forthcoming lawsuit, the service aired “South Park the Streaming Wars” and “South Park the Streaming Wars Part 2.”
Warner Bros. Discovery maintains that despite their running time, those specials should have been included in their agreement and even if not, Paramount was circumventing the spirit of the deal to undermine its value.
In response, Paramount denied the allegations. “We believe these claims are without merit and look forward to demonstrating so through the legal process,” Paramount Global said. “We also note that Paramount continues to adhere to the parties’ contract by delivering new South Park episodes to HBO Max, despite the fact that Warner Bros. Discovery has failed and refused to pay license fees that it owes to Paramount for episodes that have already been delivered, and which HBO Max continues to stream.”
With the future of “South Park” streaming in doubt, we’ve put together a list of where you can find all of the show’s content, as well as other titles from the team of Parker and Stone.
Where Can You Stream All of the “South Park” TV Episodes, Movies, Specials?
“South Park” episodes
South Park
This vulgar animated series follows the misadventures of four irreverent grade-schoolers in the quiet, dysfunctional town of South Park, Colorado.
“South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut” is a must-see movie if you enjoy this series. It shows off the musical inclinations that would later lead the creators to make “The Book of Mormon.” You’ll also enjoy the behind-the-scenes documentary, “6 Days to Air: The Making of South Park.”
“South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut”
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
When the four boys see an R-rated movie featuring Canadians Terrance and Philip, they are pronounced “corrupted”, and their parents pressure the United States to wage war against Canada.
The Paramount+ exclusive specials
-
South Park: Post COVID Movies
A series of South Park films depicting a future after the COVID-19 pandemic.
-
South Park the Streaming Wars Movies
The town of South Park experiences a streaming service boon due to a large drought in the city of Denver, Colorado.
Where Can You Stream Other Movies by the “South Park” Team?
“Team America: World Police”
Team America: World Police
When North Korean ruler Kim Jong-il orchestrates a global terrorist plot, it’s up to the heavily armed, highly specialized Team America unit to stop his dastardly scheme. The group, which has recruited troubled Broadway actor Gary Johnston, not only has to face off against Jong-il, but they must also contend with the Film Actors Guild, a cadre of Hollywood liberals at odds with Team America’s “policing the world” tactics.
“Orgazmo”
Orgazmo
A devout Mormon living in L.A. becomes a pornographic actor after his martial arts moves impress a big-time director.
BASEketball
BASEketball
Two losers from Milwaukee, Coop & Remer, invent a new game playing basketball, using baseball rules. When the game becomes a huge success, they, along with a billionaire’s help, form the Professional Baseketball League where everyone gets the same pay and no team can change cities. Theirs is the only team standing in the way of major rule changes that the owner of a rival team wants to institute.
This forgotten late-90s movie is a bit ragged, but you can see the budding genius of its stars - “South Park” creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Also, Bob Costas is pretty phenomenal with his deadpan delivery.