AMC has cancelled pop culture-centric reality TV series Comic Book Men after seven seasons and 96 episodes, Kevin Smith confirmed in SModcast episode ‘AMC-Ya! Comic Book Men Gets Canceled.’
The series, hosted and typically filmed in Smith’s New Jersey comic book and collectibles shop Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, launched in 2012 and starred Walt Flanagan, Bryan Johnson, Ming Chen, and Mike Zapcic.
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Smith eulogized the fan-favorite series on SModcast, dubbing the cancellation “the moment that every Comic Book Men fan dreaded.”
SMITH: When you got a TV show, you live in fear of the moment that our little TV show just faced. Comic Book Men — our series that has been on AMC for seven seasons, 96 episodes, shot at Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey, starring Walter, Bryan, Ming, and Mike, and occasionally myself, and a host of people that came through the doors from the world of comic books, comic book media, movies, TV, pop culture in general, a celebration of all things geek, a show that, when it aired, we all felt like, ‘Oh, lord, the reviews are so bad, it will never run past this one run of six episodes,’ or whatever it was, and yet, wound up going seven seasons — the little show that could has finally… couldn’t. [Laughs] Unfortunately. AMC let me know they won’t be renewing Comic Book Men for an eighth season.”
“The show became a nostalgia engine. I don’t know if that was the intention or if it’s just how it shaped up to be,” Smith said.
“But everything that came through the door — this makes sense, when you break it down logically — people aren’t gonna sell you new sh-t, so what are they gonna sell you? Old sh-t. And old sh-t is valuable, why? Because, well, it’s old, and also there’s sentimental value to it. Sh-t coming through the doors that we would see was mostly old and it generated a lot of conversation about old things, things that hadn’t happened in 10, 20 years and sh-t like that, and hence it becomes a nostalgia show.”
The series initially immediately followed hit AMC zombie drama The Walking Dead before later following live Walking Dead-centric aftershow Talking Dead.
Featured guests included Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee, View Askewniverse star Jason Mewes, Star Wars legends Peter Mayhew and Billy Dee Williams, Ghostbusters star Ernie Hudson, Star Trek icons Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner, Batman stars Adam West and Burt Ward, Luke Cage stars Mike Colter and Rosario Dawson, and a host of comic book writers and artists.
