And they are all wearing masks
Professional sports have attempted to fill the void caused by empty stadiums in many ways: pumped in crowd noise, video walls, and fans sending in photos of themselves. But the Denver Broncos have taken an unusual approach: filling the stands with South Park characters.
1800 standees of the show’s characters filled up Broncos Stadium stands on Sunday, to watch the Broncos lose 28-10 to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
You wanna get Mile High? pic.twitter.com/nzvjxmw9eF
— Tegridy Farms (@tegridyfarms) September 27, 2020
It was, as you might have guessed, a publicity stunt for the return of South Park to TV. An hour-long pandemic-themed special episode will air on Wednesday night on Comedy Central in the US.
Obviously, Stan Kyle, Keny and Cartman were there, but nearly every other character you can think of from South Park‘s history seemed to be in the stands as well. Satan, Chef’s parents, the goth kids, Terance and Philip, and plenty of other deep-cut characters turned up to watch the Broncos.
Jesus, Santa and Mr Hanky were all sat next to each other, as you might expect.
All the characters were wearing masks – even Satan – like respectable citizens, but they did not seem to be socially distancing. They are only cardboard though, so that doesn’t really matter too much.
Friendly faces everywhere, humble folks without temptation pic.twitter.com/f2ersnzQxd
— South Park (@SouthPark) September 27, 2020
The town of South Park is meant to be in Colorado, so it makes sense that the Broncos would be their local team.
5,700 socially distanced living human fans were also allowed into the game.
Ample parking day or night, people spouting “Howdy neighbor!” pic.twitter.com/uOWVWIoQs2
— South Park (@SouthPark) September 27, 2020
Come on down to Denver and meet some friends of mine pic.twitter.com/YOGCraqGyM
— South Park (@SouthPark) September 27, 2020
‘The Pandemic Special’ is due to be South Park‘s first-ever hour-long episode. It is set to be a one-off special and not the premiere of the 24th season, which has not yet been announced.
The official description for the episode reads: “Randy comes to terms with his role in the COVID-19 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.”
