Editing South Park (section)

===Writing===
[[File:Elianandkenny.jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Montage: On top, an armored man with a rifle reaches for a scared young boy being held in the arms of an adult male in an open closet. On bottom, a frame from an animated show mimicking the picture above, with an adult female instead holding a young boy.|The Border Patrol raid during the [[Elián González]] affair is referenced in "[[Quintuplets 2000]]", which aired within the same week the event occurred.]]
Scripts are not written before a season begins.<ref name="lear">{{cite news|author=Jesse McKinley|title=Norman Lear Discovers Soul Mates in 'South Park'|work=The New York Times|date=April 10, 2003|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/movies/norman-lear-discovers-soul-mates-in-south-park.html|access-date=May 9, 2009|archive-date=December 10, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210110153/https://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/10/movies/norman-lear-discovers-soul-mates-in-south-park.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Production of an episode begins on a Thursday, with the show's writing consultants [[brainstorming]] with Parker and Stone. Former staff writers include [[Pam Brady]], who has since written scripts for the films ''[[Hot Rod (2007 film)|Hot Rod]]'', ''[[Hamlet 2]]'' and ''[[Team America: World Police]]'' (with Parker and Stone), and [[Nancy Pimental]], who served as co-host of ''[[Win Ben Stein's Money]]'' and wrote the film ''[[The Sweetest Thing (film)|The Sweetest Thing]]'' after her tenure with the show during its first three seasons.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/news/weather/orl-hamlet-2-movie-review-roger-moore,1,3124350.story|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529124530/http://www.latimes.com/news/weather/orl-hamlet-2-movie-review-roger-moore,1,3124350.story|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 29, 2010|title=Movie Review: 'Hamlet 2' – 3 stars out of 5|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=August 20, 2008|access-date=June 25, 2009|last=Moore|first=Roger}}</ref><ref>
{{cite web
 |url=http://www.esquire.com/features/man-at-his-best/ESQ0602-JUN_OPENER?click=main_sr 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305211503/http://www.esquire.com/features/man-at-his-best/ESQ0602-JUN_OPENER?click=main_sr 
 |archive-date=March 5, 2012 |title=A Fun Woman: Nancy Pimental 
 |date=June 1, 2002 |work=Esquire 
 |access-date=June 25, 2009 |last=Sellers 
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}}</ref> Television producer and writer [[Norman Lear]], an idol of both Parker and Stone, served as a guest writing consultant for the [[South Park (season 7)|season seven]] (2003) episodes "[[Cancelled (South Park)|Cancelled]]" and "[[I'm a Little Bit Country]]".<ref name="lear" /><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-03-17-south-park_x.htm|title=TV icon Norman Lear is goin' down to 'South Park'|date=March 17, 2003|publisher=USA Today|access-date=May 22, 2009|last=Keveney|first=Bill|archive-date=July 19, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090719105656/http://www.usatoday.com/life/television/news/2003-03-17-south-park_x.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.awn.com/news/south-park-boys-hit-100-episodes-norman-lear-collaborate-new-season|title=South Park Boys Hit 100 Episodes; Norman Lear To Collaborate On New Season|date=March 13, 2003|publisher=Animation World Network|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221185243/https://www.awn.com/news/south-park-boys-hit-100-episodes-norman-lear-collaborate-new-season|url-status=live}}</ref> During the 12th and 13th seasons, ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' actor and writer [[Bill Hader]] served as a [[creative consultant]] and co-producer.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/Scene/article.aspx?subjectid=283&articleid=20091016_283_D2_Cnrtlt351746 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110830002636/http://www.tulsaworld.com/Scene/article.aspx?subjectid=283&articleid=20091016_283_D2_Cnrtlt351746 |archive-date=August 30, 2011 |title=Hader and Harjo: Tulsa talents keep on making must-sees |last=Smith |first=Michael |date=October 16, 2009 |work=Tulsa World |access-date=October 21, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://ew.com/article/2009/04/03/bill-hader-adve/|title=Bill Hader: The EW Pop Culture Personality Test|last=Bierly|first=Mandi|date=April 3, 2009|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=February 21, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221185233/https://ew.com/article/2009/04/03/bill-hader-adve/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2009/09/thursdays_riffs_5.html|title=The 'Riffs Interview: 'SNL's' Bill Hader Embraces His Inner Nerd for 'Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs'|last=Cavna|first=Michael|date=September 2009|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=October 21, 2009|archive-date=June 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624095318/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/comic-riffs/2009/09/thursdays_riffs_5.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

After exchanging ideas, Parker will write a script, and from there the entire team of animators, editors, technicians, and sound engineers will each typically work 100–120 hours in the ensuing week.<ref name="apple">{{cite web|url=https://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/southpark/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816021453/http://www.apple.com/pro/profiles/southpark/index.html |archive-date=August 16, 2011 |title=South Park Studios: No Walk in the Park |access-date=December 21, 2008 |author=Driver, Dustin |publisher=[[Apple Inc.]] |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since the show's [[South Park (season 4)|fourth season]] (2000), Parker has assumed most of the show's directorial duties, while Stone relinquished his share of the directing to focus on handling the coordination and business aspects of the production.<ref name="fortune" /><ref>
{{cite web|url=http://www.macleans.ca/culture/entertainment/article.jsp?content=20070423_104250_104250
|title=South Park has a silent partner|date=April 23, 2007|publisher=Maclean's|access-date=June 24, 2009|last=Weinman|first=Jaime J.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070706040238/http://www.macleans.ca/culture/entertainment/article.jsp?content=20070423_104250_104250|archive-date=July 6, 2007}}</ref> On Wednesday, a completed episode is sent to Comedy Central's headquarters via satellite uplink, sometimes just a few hours before its air time of 10&nbsp;PM [[Eastern Time Zone|Eastern Time]].<ref name="fortune" /><ref name="sps40">{{cite web|title=40 Questions|url=http://treyparker.info/archives_spstudios.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101129004417/http://treyparker.info/archives_spstudios.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 29, 2010|date=October 4, 2001|publisher=South Park Studios|access-date=January 30, 2009}}</ref>

Parker and Stone state that subjecting themselves to a one-week deadline creates more spontaneity amongst themselves in the creative process, which they feel results in a funnier show.<ref name="fortune" /> The schedule also allows ''South Park'' to both stay more topical and respond more quickly to specific current events than other satiric animated shows.<ref name="growsup2" /><ref name="abc3">{{cite web|author1=Jake Trapper|author2=Dan Morris|name-list-style=amp|title=Secrets of 'South Park'|publisher=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]]|date=September 22, 2006|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Entertainment/Story?id=2479197&page=3|access-date=April 18, 2009|archive-date=May 11, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511114130/http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/Entertainment/Story?id=2479197&page=3|url-status=live}}</ref> One of the earliest examples of this was in the [[South Park (season 4)|season four]] (2000) episode "[[Quintuplets 2000]]", which references the [[United States Border Patrol]]'s raid of a house during the [[Elián González affair]], an event which occurred only four days before the episode originally aired.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://people.com/celebrity/south-park-salutes-elian/|title='South Park' Salutes Elian|author=[[Stephen M. Silverman]]|year=2000|publisher=People|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=June 2, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602024729/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,617720,00.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[South Park (season 9)|season nine]] (2005) episode "[[Best Friends Forever (South Park)|Best Friends Forever]]" references the [[Terri Schiavo case]],<ref name="abc4" /><ref name="loudlewd2" /> and originally aired in the midst of the controversy and less than 12 hours before she died.<ref name="rs1" /><ref name="nytimesarts">{{cite news|author=Kate Aurthur|title='South Park' Echoes the Schiavo Case|work=The New York Times|date=April 2, 2005|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/02/arts/arts-briefly-south-park-echoes-the-schiavo-case.html|access-date=February 21, 2022|archive-date=March 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319084241/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/02/arts/arts-briefly-south-park-echoes-the-schiavo-case.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A scene in the [[South Park (season 7)|season seven]] (2003) finale "[[It's Christmas in Canada]]" references the discovery of dictator [[Saddam Hussein]] in a "spider hole" and his subsequent [[Operation Red Dawn|capture]], which happened a mere three days prior to the episode airing.<ref name="faq-19dec2003">{{cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/fans/faq/archives.php?month=12&year=2003 |title=FAQ: December 2003 |access-date=October 19, 2008 |date=December 19, 2003 |publisher=southparkstudios.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504055200/http://www.southparkstudios.com/fans/faq/archives.php?month=12&year=2003 |archive-date=May 4, 2008 }}</ref> The [[South Park (season 12)|season 12]] (2008) episode "[[About Last Night... (South Park)|About Last Night...]]" revolves around [[Barack Obama]]'s victory in the [[2008 United States presidential election|2008 presidential election]], and aired less than 24 hours after Obama was declared the winner, using segments of dialogue from Obama's real victory speech.<ref name="IGNobama">{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/11/07/how-south-park-pulled-off-about-last-night|title=How South Park Pulled off "About Last Night..."|website=IGN|date=November 6, 2008|author=Fickett, Travis|access-date=June 9, 2020|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611062117/https://www.ign.com/articles/2008/11/07/how-south-park-pulled-off-about-last-night|url-status=live}}</ref>

On October 16, 2013, the show failed to meet their production deadline for the first time ever, after a power outage on October 15 at the production studio prevented the episode, season 17's "[[Goth Kids 3: Dawn of the Posers]]", from being finished in time. The episode was rescheduled to air a week later on October 23, 2013.<ref name="Power Outage">{{cite web|url=https://southpark.cc.com/news/j2j34b/episode-1704-will-not-air-tonight?xrs=synd_facebook-sp-blackout|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131017051430/http://www.southparkstudios.com/news/j2j34b/episode-1704-will-not-air-tonight?xrs=synd_facebook-sp-blackout|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 17, 2013|title=Episode 1704 will not air tonight |publisher=Comedy Central |date=October 16, 2013|access-date=October 16, 2013}}</ref>