'Gravity Falls' Season 2 News: Obsessed Fans and the Show's Demise?
Cult-favorite animated series "Gravity Falls" will end at the conclusion of the show's second season, which will close with an hour-long episode airing early next year.
Series creator and executive producer Alex Hirsch announced his decision to give the "Gravity Falls" mystery a finite ending via Tumblr post. In it, Hirsch says, "The first thing to know is that the show isn't being cancelled — it's being finished." The animator/producer went on to say, "This is 100% my choice, and its something I decided on a very long time ago."
Hirsch explained that he had always envisioned "Gravity Falls" to have a definite beginning, middle, and end. He said that he didn't want the show to end up like those that go on and on until they lose their "original spark" or those that are cancelled before getting a chance to pay off.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
But while Hirsch has stated that ending the show was a personal creative decision, some fans are left wondering why it is ending prematurely after Hirsch suggested in a 2013 Nerdist Writers Panel podcast that "Gravity Falls" will have a three-season run. Wired speculates that the demanding production cycle, coupled with the strain of multiple responsibilities behind the scenes, had taken its toll on Hirsch, as it did with Pendleton Ward of "Adventure Time." There is also speculation that obsessive fans had already gained too much insight on the show's big mystery, forcing Hirsch to cut the series short.
"Gravity Falls" follows 12-year-old twins Dipper and Mabel Pines as they spend one adventure-filled summer in a backwoods Oregon town helping out their great-uncle Stan, the proprietor of a roadside tourist trap called the Mystery Shack. There, Mabel and Dipper begin to unearth clues to a mystery involving "Grunkle Stan" and other peculiar characters. "Gravity Falls" comes to a close after airing 40 30-minute episodes and 17 shorts.
On Nov. 22, just two days after creator Alex Hirsch announced that "Gravity Falls" would end after Season 2, the animated show was named the top international series at this year's BAFTA Children's Awards.
