Bad news today for the producers and various guest stars of Comedy Central’s Drunk History—although potentially good news for their livers—as Deadline reports that the series has now ended after 6 seasons on the air. The show aired what will now be its final episode in August of 2019.
Created by Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner, the Funny Or Die series operated on a blend of comedy, rubbernecking, and pure, booze-fueled historical indifference, as the show’s various guest lecturers recounted soused iterations of famous historical events, which were then recreated with painstaking accuracy by various funny folk. It was a winning combination, even if it had to give the network’s lawyers the occasional conniption from a medical point of view. And now, sadly, it’s been forced to sober up.
Drunk History appears to be yet another casualty of the COVID-19 lockdowns, which have contributed to a general cutting-down of Comedy Central’s live-action slate. (Including the shunting of shows like The Other Two and South Side over to HBO Max.) It didn’t help that each episode of the show required at least one, and usually several, expensive period recreations of historical settings, which made it a pricey prospect for a network facing a present pinch. All of which presumably contributed to the show being canceled, even though its 7th season had already begun preliminary filming when the lockdowns hit. Meanwhile, the series is currently nominated for three Emmys for the sixth season, which could make for a very bittersweet, boozy evening when this year’s ceremony rolls around.