‘The Venture Bros.’ canceled at Adult Swim after 17 years, 7 seasons

“The Venture Bros.” has been canceled by Adult Swim after seven seasons, creator Christopher McCulloch announced on Twitter on Monday.

McCulloch said he and the writers had been in the middle of writing season 8 when they received the news a few months ago that the show would not be returning to air.

“Unfortunately, it’s true: ‘Venture Bros.’ 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,” wrote McCulloch, who uses the pseudonym Jackson Publick on the show and on Twitter.

When contacted by Variety, Adult Swim said it was looking for a way to continue the story with McCulloch and co-writer Doc Hammer.

“We also want more Venture Bros. and have been working with Jackson [Publick] and Doc [Hammer] to find another way to continue the Venture Bros. story,” Adult Swim said in a statement.

Sources tell Variety that one possible avenue to continue the series would be moving it to HBO Max. That possibility is being discussed, but is still far from becoming a reality, sources say.

The show was one of the longest-running original series on Adult Swim, spanning seven seasons over 17 years. The pilot episode aired on Adult Swim in 2003, and the first season premiered in 2004. Fans typically had to wait between two and three years between seasons, and the final one ended in 2018.

The adult animated cartoon spoofed many superhero and pop culture tropes, and the main characters were a riff on the “Johnny Quest” crew. The show followed the Venture family, made up of incompetent teen brothers Dean and Hank, their insecure scientist father Rusty, their family bodyguard Brock Sampson and a colorful cast of supervillains, like The Monarch, Dr. Girlfriend, Sergeant Hatred and Phantom Limb.

McCulloch and Hammer voiced several of the characters along with Michael Sinterniklaas, James Urbaniak, Patrick Warburton, Steven Rattazzi and Dana Snyder.

Urbaniak also said farewell to the series on Twitter, calling it “one of the great gifts” of his life.

“So, as it must to all, cancellation has come for ‘The Venture Bros.’ The pilot aired 17 years ago, which means the show was almost old enough to vote,” he wrote. “It was one of the great gifts of my life & career. The fans were, quite simply, the best. Thank you, everybody. Go. Team. Venture!”

Will Thorne contributed to this report.