Jon Stewart’s Animated HBO Show Has Been Canned

Yesterday in a joint statement, HBO and Jon Stewart announced that Stewart’s animation project with HBO is dead.

If you’re wondering, what animation project? Way back in November 2015, it was announced that Jon Stewart had inked a four-year deal with HBO to produce short-form digital content for the network. It later came out that one of the projects Stewart and HBO had in the works was an animated cable news network parody that was “Onion-like” in nature. The idea was that the show would be released sometime in September or October of last year, providing the show with plenty of fodder leading into the November election. That deadline was obviously missed, and it’s now been revealed that the project has been canned altogether.

Deadline is reporting that due to issues surrounding the production and distribution of the show, both Stewart and the HBO team have decided not to move forward with it. The show planned to use a style of animation that would “allow Stewart to comment on events in real time,” but the time it took to produce such animation on a day-to-day basis just wasn’t practical in today’s breakneck paced news cycle. The technology being used for the show is owned by HBO, and considering the amount of time and money that was poured into developing it, we’re likely to see the technology used in other HBO projects in the future.

While this particular project is now defunct, Stewart is still under contract with HBO and the two parties do plan to continue collaborating on new ventures in the future. In addition to short-form content, the deal also gives HBO a first look at any film or TV show ideas that Stewart comes up with. On that note, here’s what HBO and Stewart had to say in a joint statement following the recent news:

“HBO and Jon Stewart have decided not to proceed with a short form digital animated project. We all thought the project had great potential, but there were technical issues in terms of production and distribution that proved too difficult given the quick turnaround and topical nature of the material. We’re excited to report that we have some future projects together which you will be hearing about in the near future.”

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Bill Tressler

Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.
Bill Tressler
Bill Tressler
Bill is a writer and comedy enthusiast from New York. An avid gamer and podcast fan, he strives to always toe the line between charming irreverence and grating honesty.