Comedy Central has given us our last inebriated history lesson, as the network has axed the popular comedy seriesDrunk Historyafter six seasons. The news comes as a bit of a surprise, as the network previously renewed the show for season 7 last year. Although pre-production on the new season had begun, the shutdown of all television and movie productions this year put the new season on hold at the time. Now, it has been reported that Comedy Central chose to cut the series completely rather than move forward with the seventh season.
Created by Derek Waters,Drunk Historywas just as educational as it was hilarious. Each episode featured a special guest narrating the stories of actual historical events while getting increasingly inebriated on alcohol. Simultaneously, actors would recreate the stories as told by the drunk narrators, lip syncing the bizarre dialogue in humorous fashion. Many big name stars had appeared on the series over the years to take part in the reenactments, such as Seth Rogen, Winona Ryder, Will Ferrell, Tessa Thompson, Vanessa Hudgens, Tiffany Haddish, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Kirsten Dunst, and “Weird Al” Yankovic.
The series originallybegan as an online web show for Funny or Die, as created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konnor. When the series went to television, both would come on board as executive producers alongside Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Airing between 2013 and 2019,Drunk Historyhad also earned great critical acclaim during its run. This includes 17 Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning one in 2015 for its costumes. Although the show has now been canceled, it will have the chance to go out with a bang, as it is again up for three Emmys at this year’s ceremony. Among them is a nomination for Outstanding Variety Sketch Series. Additionally, the episode “Are You Afraid of the Drunk” won the honor at the Art Directors Guild Awards.
CancelingDrunk Historyalso seems to be a part of Comedy Central’s new creative direction, shifting away from live-action scripted shows with a heavier focus on adult animation. This also leavesAwkwafina Is Nora From Queensas the final remaining live-action show for the network. WithSouth Parkremaining the network’s flagship series, it has since been announced that Comedy Central will host upcoming reboots of the cult classic cartoonsBeavis and Butt-HeadandThe Ren and Stimpy Show. Also in the works isJodie, aDariaspin-off following an older version of Daria’s pal, Jodie Landon, as now voiced by Tracee Ellis Ross.
While we shouldn’t expect new episodes, reruns ofDrunk Historywill continue to air around the world. Meanwhile, creator Derek Waters will still beworking with Comedy Centralon other projects after previously signing a first-look deal with the network. It’s unclear at this time if we’ll ever see any of the footage from the canceled seventh season, or which stories were planned to be covered in the new episodes. In any case, it’s certainly sad to see this one go, especially when fans were already looking forward to season 7. This news was first reported byDeadline.
