Venture Bros No More: Adult Swim Cancels Series After 7 Seasons

The Venture Bros has to have had one of the strangest release patterns of any animated series. The show consisted of seven seasons over the course of 17 years, with infamously long waits between series. It always stood out amongst Adult Swim's line-up- its 22-minute episodes were tonally and artistically very different from the rest of the network's productions. Long before Rick and Morty it was seen as Adult Swim's prestige show, with its higher production values and more sophisticated humour making it a critical darling and built it up a devoted fan-base. But unlike Rick and Morty, Venture Bros didn't have the massive ratings to go with it. It was always more of a cult hit and seemed to be in constant danger of cancellation. The fact that Adult Swim kept commissioning it was something of a surprise.

Now it has been confirmed that the Venture Brothers' luck has finally run out, and 2018's seventh season will officially be the last. The news was confirmed by the show's co-creator Christopher McCulloch aka Jackson Publick via Twitter. It seems that they were expecting the series to continue and had been working on season eight when the news came.

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

It's hard not to connect the cancellation at least partially to the success of a certain Rick Sanchez.  Following the massive 70 episode order handed out to Rick and Morty, the rescuing of Tuca & Bertie and the anime co-productions for Toonami, it might have left little room for Team Venture. Venture Bros is clearly a more expensive show than the more typical Adult Swim show.

According to Variety though, Adult Swim say they "want more Venture Bros" and are talking with the creators to find ways the story can continue. One thing supposedly being discussed would be a move to HBO Max, (whether as a series or a movie/special) although any possible continuation is far from certain.  Alternatively "more Venture Bros" could mean something like a graphic novel or even a podcast to continue the story.

For now, at least, it seems that the show has finally come to the end of the road. And if this is really is the end, then 17 years is a heck of a run. Go Team Venture!