The Birthday Boys quit their IFC TV Show [UPDATE]
January 23, 2015 Matt Features, News, Television
This morning, the sketch comedy troupe, The Birthday Boys announced that they are stepping down as hosts and not returning for a third season of their sketch comedy show on IFC. In a taped message to their fans, the crew stated that putting together the show was a lot of work and they’re really proud of what they did, but are not continuing. They also said they’re not sure of the status of the show’s future, offering up scenarios that maybe they’ll be replaced if IFC didn’t simply cancel the show. The pessimist in us believes maybe it’s a preemptive move to save face ahead of cancellation? But the optimist in us knows that sketch comedy is difficult and The Birthday Boys are by no means the first to end a sketch show because of the grind of creating it (see Nick Swardson or Nick Kroll).
UPDATE: IFC has confirmed they are not renewing the sketch series for a third season via the following statement:
“IFC was proud to be the home of The Birthday Boys and their unique and inventive comedy for two seasons. We thank these talented creators and wish them nothing but the best. We will miss the laughs, the farce and the pixilated male nudity.”
Shortly after posting the video announcement, The Birthday Boys issued the additional statement:
“We are surprised and saddened to hear that IFC had already chosen to cancel #TheBirthdayBoys series before our resignation as hosts. But we are relieved we conveniently announced our resignation as hosts minutes before IFC publicly announced their decision. We are smart.
Huge thanks to #TheBirthdayBoys fans for watching and huge thanks to IFC for 2 wonderful seasons! We’ll keep at it. Season 2 is slated to hit Netflix this year and the DVD will be packed with special features!”
So in other words, we were right in our initial pessimist thinking and that the video was simply a gag. While it’s a shame the show won’t get a third season on IFC, at least they had fun while getting the boot.
Their mentor Bob Odenkirk even weighed in.
I respectfully disagree with their decision here, and as a result will be stepping down as EP. #thebirthdayboys http://t.co/PTr0f5leNn”
— Mr. Bob Odenkirk (@mrbobodenkirk) January 23, 2015
