The Venture Bros. Never Had A Writer's Room For The Show
Sometimes great things come from humble beginnings. For instance, despite being largely inspired by mostly forgotten adventure serials like "Jonny Quest," "The Venture Bros." was able to run successfully for seven seasons before being unceremoniously canceled and even has an upcoming prequel movie in the works to satiate the hunger of fans.
While many fans would've preferred an eighth season, "The Venture Bros." has such an intense following that they will no doubt be happy just to see their favorite characters return after five years, even if only for a couple of hours. However, considering how long the Adult Swim series was around, viewers might be surprised to know that the show never had an official writer's room.
As co-creator Doc Hammer told NPR, he and Jackson Publick pretty much knew what they wanted from the show as a unit. As such, this made it hard to bring others into the fold. "If we let anybody else in, Jackson and I would just stand up and go, 'Well, what show are you even watching?!'" Hammer recalled. "They don't know exactly what we're thinking. We know what each other's thinking because we're thinking the same thing; we have very similar responses to who these characters are."
Hammer and Publick have an impenetrable shorthand
Of course, the fact that the co-creators had such a strong vision for what each installment of "The Venture Bros." would come to be about made it almost impossible to have a traditional writer's room for the show. "We didn't have a writer's room; we didn't develop one early enough; we didn't know enough people," Doc Hammer explained.
Naturally, this led to the duo relying on each other more and more in how the series would come to develop its characters and themes. In the end, though, Hammer looks at this as a net gain for the series, as "The Venture Bros." was able to stay as close as possible to the vision that he and Jackson Publick had for the show. "Now that we're done, I look back on it as the coolest thing we actually did," he says.
Hammer went on to compare their creative synergy to something like how "The Muppets" came together. "I mean, these are the moments in television that are truly unique, that Frank Oz, Jim Henson kind of thing, where two people are so in tune they create a universe that is absolutely like nobody else's," Hammer concluded. "So I'm glad we didn't have a writer's room."