Seeso is finito: NBCUniversal comedy streaming platform announces it’s shutting down later in 2017

Closed before it even really had a chance to catch on, NBCUniversal announced today via Facebook that Seeso is shutting down later this year.

The memo:

Dear Seeso-ers,

We’re writing to let you know that later this year, Seeso will be shutting its comedy doors.

Though we will be departing, much of our comedy will live on – and some of your favorite Seeso Originals have already found a new home.

You can now find HarmonQuest, My Brother, My Brother and Me, Hidden America with Jonah Ray and The Cyanide and Happiness Show on VRV: https://www.vrv.co/watchnow
We’ll let you know as soon as we have further information, including where to find the exciting project “There’s…Johnny!” and other Seeso Originals in the future (in the meantime, please note that There’s…Johnny! will no longer premiere this month as previously announced. We love this show and can’t wait for everyone to see it).

If you have questions, please visit https://www.seeso.com/faq

Stay tuned for more information!

As my Decider colleague Scott Porch reported yesterday, Seeso had agreed to sell four of its original series to the VRV platform.

The service charged $3.99 for a massive library of classic comedy, from ALL of Saturday Night Live, Monty Python and several NBC sitcoms, to an array of new original programming and stand-up specials.

But a little more than a year after its January 2016 launch, founding chief Evan Shapiro parted ways with Seeso. Earlier this summer, NBCUniversal gutted the rest of the original programming unit — and all of them, Shapiro included, were representing themselves as free agents last month at Montreal’s Just For Laughs festival.

I already spoke some of my peace about Seeso, but I’ll have more as the story develops and we find out what happens to the rest of the original programming.