Will This Season Be the Last for 'South Park?'

If you missed last night's "South Park," you missed one of the more surreal episodes of the entire series. Not because it was particularly strange (though it was pretty strange), but because for once the show got a little bit depressing.

I'll do my best not to spoil too much, but if you plan on watching the episode you might want to stop here, watch it, then come back. So, SPOILER ALERT!

The episode was all about Stan become cynical about the world after his 10th birthday, which lead him to start seeing and hearing everything as a big pile of crap. Literally. That (skewering pop culture and making poop jokes) is normal for "South Park," but the ending wasn't: Stan's parents got a divorce after a lengthy argument about doing the "same s*** every week."

Sounds like Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of "South Park," are trying to say something, aren't they? The message of the episode seemed to be that they were tired with the show, and they feel like they're getting too old for it.

When a show gets to be as long-running as this one ("South Park" is in its 15th season), there are always questions as to when it's going to go. But with last night's episode sending such a clear message of fatigue from the show's creators, could it be that this is really the last season?

It's possible: Parker and Stone signed a contract extension in 2007 for three years, meaning that this season is the last one that they're currently contractually obligated to produce. Additionally, with the huge success of Parker and Stone's musical, "The Book of Mormon," the boys might be realizing that there's a whole world out there outside of TV for them. The Tony Awards air this Sunday, and "Book of Mormon" leads the field in nominations.

However, there's also the fact that "South Park" is a consistent top performer for cable network Comedy Central in the ratings, usually pulling in about 3.2 million viewers. Though it seems like Trey and Matt want out, Comedy Central certainly won't want to let them go.