Howard Stern spent years complaining about the media’s coverage of him. And for good reason. Journalists loathed Stern’s shock jock shtick.

And then, slowly, the media began affording Stern a Strange New Respect around the same time he went woke and embraced the Democratic party.

Does that explain the stunning shift happening over at “South Park?”

The irreverent series debuted in 1997 and is still going strong, while kindred comic spirits like “The Simpsons” and “Bob’s Burgers” lack the snap of their early years. “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone just signed a $1.5 billion deal with Paramount+ to keep the misadventures of Cartman and co. going.

Not bad for a crudely animated show featuring a talking piece of excrement.

The show’s willingness to mock both sides of the aisle has been one of its selling points over its nearly 30-year run. The show has made fun of smug EV drivers, Catholicism, Mormons and more.

The series tweaked transgender athletes dominating biological women in sports years before Riley Gaines called foul on Lia Thomas’ “stunning and brave” swimming victories.

Fair? Balanced? Pretty darn close for most viewers, and a rare example of a comic institution unwilling to become yet another DNC platform. It was all about the funny, and Parker and Stone didn’t care whose toes they stepped on along the way.

That not only forged the show’s fame but also generated keen interest from the Right. We’ll take our lumps if our liberal friends share in the honor.

Until now, perhaps.

Credit: Trey Parker. Matt Stone. “South Park, Members Only.” IMDB.

The first three episodes of “South Park’s” current season have hammered President Donald Trump, Director of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Vice President JD Vance and other GOP targets. It’s been crude and, gasp, atypically one-sided. 

Recent shows have also attacked ICE agents rounding up illegal immigrants and suggested Christians are trying to swarm public education with a cameo from Jesus himself.

While most animated shows take months, or even a year, to complete, the turnaround time for new “South Park” episodes is shockingly fast. That allows them to cover recent ICE raids, for example, even as the headlines were mere days old.

It’s been relentless. And, in many ways, less funny than usual. Showing a cartoon Trump threatening to sue everyone on sight is funny because he has been litigious, even if one agrees with his legal strategies.

Satire stings when it has a kernel of truth. Other bits, though, feel desperate and clapter-adjacent.

Even more curious? The show is missing so much comic material. What about prominent Democrats siding with accused wife beaters and gang bangers, a la Kilmar Abrego Garcia? Or progressive mayors insisting their crime-infested cities aren’t crime-infested cities?

What’s going on?

The Stern theory is in play, no doubt. The media has been moderately kind to “South Park” over the years, but the adulation shown to “South Park” in recent weeks has been eye-opening.

• Why ‘South Park’ Hurt Trump When No One Else Could: Consequence of Sound
• Satire at its finest: ‘South Park’ takes on Trump’s martial takeover, AI and tech bros: The Guardian
• ‘South Park’ mocks Trump all the way to the bank: The Hill

Even the Associated Press has begun chronicling the new episodes as if they were suddenly newsworthy. That’s how reporters have treated anti-Trump “Saturday Night Live” sketches over the years and many late-night monologues.

It’s Strange New Respect, The Sequel. Here’s betting liberal Hollywood, Inc. is warming up to Parker and Stone in ways they haven’t felt for some time, too. After all, they can’t keep “South Park” going forever, and they’ll need to pivot to new projects soon.

CHRIS DELMAS/AFP via Getty Images

The recent shift also runs counter to the show’s original take on Trump. “South Park” hasn’t hammered the real estate mogul as consistently as other pop culture institutions over the past decade.

“Saturday Night Live” trolls Trump on a weekly basis.

Parker and Stone are self-described Libertarians, which has helped explain their equal opportunity skewerings up until now. Have their political leanings shifted of late? Note that they left President Joe Biden alone for four years despite enough comic material to flesh out an entire season. Maybe two.

Another possibility, one in line with the duo’s brand, is the Trump attacks are making a larger point. The Left and the Media insist, without evidence, that President Trump helped get Stephen Colbert fired from “The Late Show.”

He’s silencing dissent, the Left collectively cries, citing Colbert’s cancellation. This could be the duo’s attempt to mock that fear-mongering. Just try to censor us! We’re willing to mock Trump, but not eager to cost our employers’ $40 million a year.

“South Park” is no stranger to censorship, so any real sign of it from Team Trump would draw its ire. The show’s willingness to show a comic likeness of Muhammad caused a kerfuffle earlier in the show’s run. Comedy Central ended up censoring the visuals, not Parker or Stone.

If the “South Park” pranksters do a heel turn and start smiting the Left again, expect a vastly different media reaction to future episodes. The disappointment will be palpable.

Even the best shows run out of fresh ideas. That may happen to “South Park” sooner or later. Abandoning the show’s bipartisan spirit could be the quickest path to just that fate.

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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at HollywoodInToto.com.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.