With big fans around the world calling for the show's return for months, South Park is finally coming back in just over two weeks time with a surprise one-hour special focusing specifically on the coronavirus pandemic. For the past several years, new seasons of South Park had been premiering at the tail end of September, but there had still been no word from the network about when their flagship series would return in 2020. As revealed in a new trailer for the hour-long South Park episode, dubbed "The Pandemic Special," the episode will premiere on Wednesday, Sept. 30 on Comedy Central.

The trailer teases that the episode will address "2020 problems," and some additional details about the hour-long special have also been revealed. According to the official logline, "Randy comes to terms with his role in the outbreak as the on-going pandemic presents continued challenges to the citizens of South Park. The kids happily head back to school but nothing resembles the normal that they once knew; not their teachers, not their homeroom, not even Eric Cartman."

On social media, fans had been calling for the return of South Park in recent months, given just how much the world has changed since the show aired its last episode in 2019. From the controversy over wearing face masks to toilet paper hoarding and grocery store brawls, it would certainly be difficult for South Park to tackle the pandemic in a single 30-minute episode. Still, even an hour focused on the pandemic just barely scratches the surface of everything that's happened in 2020, and it will be interesting to see how else the series addresses recent real-world events.

Since 1997, South Park has aired for 23 seasons on Comedy Central. Created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone, the crude animated series follows a group of foul-mouthed elementary schoolchildren and their misadventures in and around the titular town. Although often vulgar and offensive to many, South Park has become one of television's most popular shows, winning multiple Emmy awards in the process. As the show is still going strong, Comedy Central previously renewed South Park through 2022, guaranteeing Stan and his pals will be on the air for some time to come.

The South Park Pandemic Special will premiere on Comedy Central on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 30 at 8/7c. It's still unclear when the series will begin airing weekly episodes with season 24. If you're looking to catch up on older episodes of South Park, you can also find the show streaming on HBO Max. The new streamer picked up the exclusive streaming rights to the series earlier this year after an intense bidding war. All 23 seasons of the show are currently streaming.

In any case, the return of South Park is very badly needed, so the one-hour special comes at a great time. Let's hope the network will soon reveal when season 24 will follow with more new episodes. The South Park Pandemic Special trailer comes to us from Comedy Central on YouTube.