It’s a sad week in TV world, especially for people who like cool shit that’s been on for over a decade. On Monday, we received confirmation that Adult Swim had chosen to bring an untimely end to The Venture Bros. after only 17 years and almost half as many seasons, a decision that seems pretty dumb and frustrating (even if Adult Swim says it wants to keep the story going in some other way). Now, as if things couldn’t get any worse, another similarly brilliant show is also coming to a premature end.
As announced on Twitter, Keeping Up With The Kardashians will end its 14-year run on E! in early 2021, gutting the TV landscape and robbing the medium of one of the most highly regarded and influential programs of all time. In a statement, Kim Kardashian West explains that her and her family are all finally as famous as they could possibly be and have more money than they could ever possibly need, so they’ve decided to stop doing the reality show and instead focus on… some other thing that they’re able to do? Actually, the statement doesn’t say any of that, it’s just the same hollow stuff about appreciating the viewers and the network and all the great memories, but it’s heavily implied.
One important thing that the statement doesn’t clarify, though, is who among the Kardashians will be getting spin-offs out of this. Will it be all of them, breaking off into their own shows with an annual crossover like on The CW? Yeah, probably. What else is this family going to do? Count their money and just revel in their own famousness? Actually, that also sounds pretty reasonable. Either way, we should know at some point next year—unless Adult Swim steps in and manages to find a new way to continue this story.