In the third episode of the latest season, the boys head into Sephora and eventually the Backrooms in a story that makes fun of app-mutated self-care

Trey Parker and Matt Stone have always been pretty upfront about how South Park, like all animated sitcoms from the past 35 years, lives in the shadow of The Simpsons. There are plenty of ways that The Simpsons, even in its more uneven recent seasons, still outshines South Park: greater depth of ensemble, stronger emotional moments, even in the sheer number of episodes.

Something that South Park often does better, though, is react to contemporary social trends. Kyle, Stan, Cartman, Kenny and the rest are more or less the same age as Bart (and have been for decades); but The Simpsons has never been as adept at riffing on trends, tech and social issues as South Park, which has always been more immediate and responsive. Perhaps this is why it doesn’t feel like a betrayal to see the boys dealing with, say, looksmaxxing and aura farming, which is exactly what the third episode of South Park’s 29th season addresses.

South Park is streaming on Paramount+ in the US, UK and Australia.

After 37 years, the staunchly silent dog will speak for the first time in the audiobook of his autobiography – and it turns out he sounds like a hobbit

He has been on screen for 37 years, but he has never uttered a word. Now, Gromit will speak for the first time – with the voice of the Hobbit star Martin Freeman.

The claymation dog, who has partnered with his eccentric inventor-owner Wallace in a series of Oscar-winning films including The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, is releasing an autobiography this month – including an audiobook edition.