South Park writers reveal the one rule that must be followed every episode

The creators behind long-running cartoon series South Park have revealed the surprising rules they follow when creating every episode.

First airing in 1998, South Park follows the lives and mishaps of four school friends - Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman and Kenny McCormick - in their fictional home town.

With around 350 episodes airing to date, the series is often considered to be one of the greatest television shows of all time, thanks to its blend of dark humour, profanity and risqué takes on pop culture – with several episodes even being banned.

Most recently, the series has been seen to court controversy with the Donald Trump administration, thanks to a number of polarising episodes.

But have you ever wondered how the show creators come up with their provocative storylines and skits?

With nearly three decades on air, South Park is one of the most recognisable cartoons (Comedy Central)

Series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone previously lifted the lid on the creative process behind South Park during a visit to Tisch School of the Arts in New York in 2017, revealing the surprisingly strict rules followed in the writers' room.

"Our whole writers' room, one whole wall is a whiteboard," Parker said.

"We have it split up into three acts, and I walk around with markers to create funny scenes."

He went on to reveal that each individual scene is required to work as a 'funny sketch' as well as following a very simple formula.

"We can take these beats of your outline, and if the words, 'And Then' belong between those beats, then you're f**ked," Parker continued.

"What should happen between every beat that you've written down is either 'therefore' or 'but'... So what I'm saying is, you come up with an idea and THEN this happens.

"No no no, it should be 'this happens' and 'therefore, this happens' BUT 'this happens' therefore 'this happens'. Sometimes, we'll literally write this out to make sure we're doing it."

Trey Parker and Matt Stone previously disclosed their rules for creating South Park episodes (Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Paramount+)

He went on to add that several writers often disregard this rule, adding: "There are so many scripts from new writers and things we see that break this rule."

So now you know how to write a hit episode of South Park.

The series once again took aim at President Trump and his government in the show's recent Thanksgiving episode.

The episode, titled 'Turkey Trot', saw the town of South Park lean on Saudi Arabia for sponsorship of their event, a perceived dig at the Riyadh Comedy Festival, which recently saw a number of high-profile comedians receive backlash for taking part.

However, the event is later interrupted by US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who then shuts the whole thing down after mistaking it for an Antifa demonstration.