We hear from a source close to the production of Best Week Ever, which just went on summer hiatus, that the show’s future is in jeopardy. It will be off the air until 2010, which some employees are considering effectively the same as a cancellation, since Best Week Ever normally breaks for weeks at a time, not months. In fact, we’re told that recent New York City transplant Paul F. Tompkins is considering moving back to Los Angeles. When reached for comment, a spokesperson told us that “VH1’s Best Week Ever has actually gone on its scheduled production hiatus and will return in January 2010. Its companion piece Best Day Ever, which spoofs that day’s pop-culture news, will return this fall.†No reason was given for the extended time away, but apparently staffers were hopeful that the full 30-minute version would be back this fall.
The news is surprising, given that Best Week Ever recently underwent a major overhaul at the behest of VH1 executives. After creator Fred Graver left the network in late 2007, the show was reformatted and relaunched in October 2008 to be a star vehicle for the talented Tompkins, who had been part of the rotating circuit of talking heads since launch. That popular format was altered so that Tompkins could host in a similar manner to the role that Joel McHale plays on the E! Network’s hit pop-culture-roundup show, The Soup.