After a serialized campaign that went in a number of fascinating directions, season 21 of South Park is being billed as a return to its previous style. If you’ve been reaching for the Member Berries in celebration of the switch, bless your nostalgia loving heart. Of course, series masterminds Trey Parker and Matt Stone concede that they’ve been one-upped in the Member Berries department now that a certain motion picture is on its way.

Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter about the new season, Parker and Stone noted that Steven Spielberg has them bet in terms of Member Berry culture.

“Now that Spielberg is doing Ready Player One — which is like the most Member Berry thing ever invented — we can’t out-Member Berry that,” conceded Parker in comparison to Spielberg’s pop culture stuffed adaptation of the film. “All the Member Berries left our show to go be on that.”

Speaking of season 20 elements and the evolution of the show, Stone explained their mindset about venturing down the serialized storytelling route.

“Last season we really tried to do a serialized thing, and it was just really hard. In some ways it was cool and in some ways it trapped us,” explained Stone. “The way we do that show is not compatible with full serialization. We’re going to do the first show (this season) and maybe don’t have to sitcom wrap it up at the end…. The first 18 seasons of the show, we spent so much time thinking how do we get this back to resolution. And no TV shows do that anymore. You’re so used to watching shows now where it doesn’t end at the end, it teases the next one.”

Parker told THR that he’s happy about the flexibility of going the old school approach.

“We would always talk about how great it is because on South Park, one week it can be about the kids and then the next week it is about Garrison and then the next week it is about Randy,” he said. “And that’s what I really miss.”

Season 21 of South Park makes its debut on September 13. Be sure to put up your Lorde posters in advance.

An all-new season of South Park drops, September 13 at 10/9c! pic.twitter.com/X8g6x8ZsDW — South Park (@SouthPark) August 30, 2017

(Via The Hollywood Reporter)