Even though we’re living through a time in which the production of television most live-action shows is being brought to a halt due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, a number of animated programs have been able to survive thanks to the way in which the work can be distributed and spread across distance, keeping people safe. Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to save The Venture Bros.
Last night, The Venture Bros. creator Jackson Publick announced on his Twitter page that after seven seasons, Adult Swim is finally bringing the series to an end — after it was previously announced that it was meant to come back for an eighth season.
Unfortunately, it’s true: #VentureBros has been canceled. We got the highly disappointing news a few months ago, while we were writing what would have been season 8. We thank you, our amazing fans, for 17 years of your kind (and patient) attention. And, as always, We Love You.
— Jackson Publick (@jacksonpublick) September 7, 2020
The cancellation comes at a time when The Venture Bros. story wasn’t at all really at a point where things could be considered as being tidied up and finished. That is, in part, something you could attribute to the fact that the series had been intermittently running on Adult Swim for 17 years at this point — with the gaps between seasons being rather substantial even by Cartoon Network’s standards.
It’s unclear just how far in advance Cartoon Network/Adult Swim made the decision to cancel The Venture Bros., and at present the series doesn’t really have all that much of a future on screen — but Adult Swim did tweet last night in the wake of the news to reveal that it’s working with the team to continue Venture Bros., albeit in “another way” rather than on TV.
We also want more Venture Bros. and have been working with Jackson and Doc to find another way to continue the Venture Bros. story.
— adultswim (@adultswim) September 8, 2020
In these extraordinary times where series are routinely brought back from the hereafter, one can never really be fully certain about a series’ fate in the long term.