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Hey everyone, the podcast embedded in this post provides an audio version of this update, but if you want a text-based version that's easier to reference, we're more than happy to provide it below.

Starting in July of 2021, we're changing the What A Cartoon schedule a bit—and don't worry, the PTA has not disbanded. As we did at the start of 2020, we're scaling back What A Cartoon a bit to better suit our production pipeline, and because of that we'll soon be producing two episodes of What A Cartoon every month. (And the What A Cartoon Movie schedule will remain unchanged.)

There's a much more detailed explanation of our decision in the podcast, but to make a long story short, our What A Cartoon episodes take a lot of work—often three to four times as much as an episode of Talking Simpsons or an episode of one of our miniseries. And for the sake of transparency, What A Cartoon isn't the most popular podcast we produce, so while we would never want to end it, we've decided it would be a better idea to shift some of our limited resources to content that's more in-demand (and give ourselves more time to produce each WAC episode).

So how will this change our podcast output? Not much, actually. So we don't have too many gaps in content, the first and third Monday of every month will feature a new episode of What A Cartoon, while the second Monday of every month will be the new home of Talking Futurama. And we'll still be posting What A Cartoon Movie on the final Monday of every month. 

Of course, a handful of months out of the year feature five Mondays, and in that case, the fourth Monday will just be an off week. (This schedule, of course, is for our Patreon listeners on the $5 and up level, so if you're listening to this as a non-Patron, shift our new schedule forward one week and remove Talking Futurama from the equation.)

Because this new schedule means there will be fewer episodes of What A Cartoon per year, we're also winding down the $50 episode request tier and currently working with those patrons to get their final selections in. But this doesn't mean your input on What A Cartoon is over, and in the future we may have some ways for our listeners to choose the subject matter of certain episodes.

So, to wrap things up:

Our new What A Cartoon schedule begins in July.

What A Cartoon will now release on the first and third Monday of every month.

Talking Futurama will now release on the second Monday of every month.

What A Cartoon Movie will continue to release on the final Monday of every month.

For the months of the year that feature five Mondays, the fourth Monday of the month will be an off week with no new episode.

Thanks for understanding, and once again, we couldn't do any of this without our great listeners. Scaling back on What A Cartoon will allow us to be more productive and also give us the opportunity to spend more time on every WAC episode without taking too many resources away from our other podcast series. If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section below and we'll get back to you ASAP.

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Comments

Tyler The Destroyer

You guys deserve a break and I have a feeling the two WAC episodes will be way more deep conversationally now with the extra time to produce!

Rhomega

Perfectly fine with me. I listen to every WAC I can, but as a visually-oriented person, if I haven't seen the series/movie, I tend to skip it.

Tashmon Dimps

I’m definitely a bit bummed that WAC will be scaled back bc it is by far my favorite show you guys do, but I understand and look forward to high quality work every month, regardless!

Neil L

This makes a lot of sense to me.

tiny crow

perfectly understandable! you two work so hard and produce the best and most in-depth animation-focused podcasts ever. I’m totally fine with losing one extra episode a month if it means you two can take a breather and spend time with your loved ones. y’all definitely deserve that break. as always, looking forward to what’s coming next!

rubber cat

A bit disappointing but certainly understandable given the sheer amount of podcasts you guys produce

Talking Simpsons

Thanks for understanding, everyone! We were feeling a little burned out with our current schedule and were worried it would be worse when the world opens up and we can do something other than podcast. (Seriously, there were a few times in the past few months when I recorded eight in a week!) Also, I didn't include this in the podcast, but right now I'm going through the lengthy immigration process and should be moving in a year. This new schedule will give me more wiggle room to prep and make an international move, as well as set up a studio for myself in Canada to record. And before that, it would be nice to take a week off here and there to see my wife when Canada allows it, because seeing her every six months or so has been a huge bummer. Henry and I would also love to start taking LA trips once again to record locally with all of our friends there. - Bob

Sabrina

I think this is great! I like the idea of getting Talking Futurama on a Monday.

Jarryd Brackett

Don't burn yourselves out, and we'll be here :)

Kiaayo

Disappointing but understandable.

Alex Irish

I can’t believe What a Cartoon isn’t more popular, cause it should be. Having it share the same feed as Talking Simpsons for the Patreon subscriber RSS really helps ensure I never miss an episode. I did indeed submit my final selection as one of the $50 patrons last week, am awaiting the fatal news of approval. It’s bittersweet but I’m proud I was able to stick to that level of support for the last three years

CitizenMeh

I subscribe exclusively for WaC so this is a bit of a shame, but I'd rather fewer episodes than burnt-out hosts. There's more to life than podcasts after all!

Professor Tony

I'm sure I'm in the minority but I really don't like this change. I come here only for WaC. I don't like the Simpsons, Futurama is fine, and I cannot stand King of the Hill or Mission Hill. I'm a business owner and father of four, so I totally get needing a work life balance. I don't want to come across as a tone deaf internet a-hole saying "work more!" Would you guys consider bumping down the monthly movie to the $5 tier, or not doing a movie if that time could be spent making weekly episodes? It's not worth it for me to stick around at $10 while getting less of the only thing I want. Honestly, I would bump up my tier to $20 or $30 if it meant keeping WaC the same. I know you're making the best decision based on the numbers and to keep mentally sound. I find this change disheartening. Thank you for all you've done so far.

Mike Mariano

Lots of scary phrases in this podcast. (“We aren’t canceling the show.”—we didn’t think you were!) This schedule change is totally justifiable but I hope What a Cartoon isn’t super unpopular—your research really is terrific.

crystalhearts

Ah, bummer. Well, do what you've got to! Work life balance is important.

Matthew

Completely understandable. You guys are excellent content creators and deserve work life balance. Nothing but support over here. Also, I think Nina would support submitting the first season of Clone High as one of the options for the fall bonus series.

Jon

WaC is like my favorite thing! All the work is greatly appreciated regardless of the new schedule, take care of yourselves 👍

Greg Zervos

Two WACs a month is still a lot of work for you guys. I’d rather have fewer shows than burn you guys out.

Thad Komorowski

Wow so instead of like 12 episodes a month we get 10. Still an insane workload, guys, I salute you.

Chris Tar

I mean I wouldn't volunteer less episodes but you do what you have to do. I'd rather you guys maintain a spark and desire leading to quality podcasts that we enjoying listening and you like makimg then burn yourself out and just have it be an awful death march to fill numbers

Fatamatician

WAC is the reason I joined the patreon, but I feel you guys crank out an insane volume of content. I think for your well-being alone this is a good move. Thank you for all the work that you do.

Dayken

WAC is my favorite non-Simpsons feature of yours, but you put out so, so much quality content on a steady basis that I don't blame you in the slightest for wanting to lighten your workload. Less episodes is a hell of a lot more preferable than seeing you guys burn yourselves out.

Bob Jerry

Just joining the chorus to say WAC is the reason I joined the Patreon. But all makes sense / not planning on changing my subscription based on this change. Thank you!

Matthew Nash

Unfortunate for me, since WAC is the only podcast I'm subscribed for. It's primarily the history half that I listen for, but I'm guessing that's also the part that takes the most work since it's a new history to research for every new show covered.

Joe Hodgson

I feel like you're missing an opportunity by making that random fifth Monday a dead zone when Louie has been waiting in the wings for years now for his chance to host his own podcast. Great job on all the content, fellas. Keep up the good work!

Kyle

With the King Size Homer Tier going away is there any chance you might occasionally put up a poll for a listener voted What A Cartoon Episode, similar to how you put the monthly movie selection to a vote?