Topical HBO show proved too ambitious

Jon Stewart has scrapped his planned topical animation show.

The former Daily Show host had intended to make a series of online shorts for HBO, originally to be released once a day.

But 18 months after the project was announced, both sides have agreed to shelve it – saying it was more ambitious than they ever  expected. 

The broadcaster said in a statement: ‘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.’

The project had been long delayed, with the New York Times reporting that the original aim was to release the shorts to coincide with the presidential election, which ended in November.

Stewart had set up an animation studio to make the shorts, which he intended to voice.

Published: 24 May 2017