Even as animation technology has improved and the “South Park” staff has grown exponentially, the show is still fundamentally the work of Mr. Parker, 46, and Mr. Stone, 45, who agonize over every installment. (Mr. Parker has had sole writing and directing credit on all but a few episodes since 2001.)

The mechanics of making the show haven’t changed much, but Mr. Stone and Mr. Parker have. The wild-haired punks who were on LSD at the 2000 Academy Awards have grown up: Mr. Stone telecommutes half the week to be with his wife and children in New York, while Mr. Parker’s office is strewn with the pastel-colored toys of his 3-year-old daughter.

In its 20th year, “South Park” offers a pointed and, surprisingly, still-potent platform for commentary on current events. New episodes typically draw around two million viewers, many of them the 18- to 49-year-olds that advertisers covet, a showing that Comedy Central decidedly needs while its late-night lineup is in flux and other signature franchises like “Inside Amy Schumer” are on hiatus.

“For a network that no longer has Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart, having ‘South Park’ is extremely important to us,” said Doug Herzog, the president of Viacom’s Music and Entertainment Group, which includes Comedy Central. “With all due respect to Jon and ‘The Daily Show,’ ‘South Park’ is the foundation on which Comedy Central is built.”

If the earliest “South Park” episodes reflected a juvenile desire to see what they could get away with on television, their later work suggests Mr. Parker and Mr. Stone have honed their ability to channel their growing exasperation with a polarized world into comedy.