Rob McElhenney Says ‘Mythic Quest’ Team Knew There Was A Decent Chance They Wouldn’t Get Renewed

Although Mythic Quest’s sudden cancellation — and re-imagined now-series finale — came as a surprise to some fans of the Apple TV+ show, Rob McElhenney might have had a hunch that network higher-ups would demand production “just stop” — to paraphrase his character’s livestream — following Season Four. 

McElhenney, who co-created, executive-produced, wrote and starred in the series, recently opened up about revamping the show’s finale, hinting that he and his team may have been prepared to reel that cliffhanger ending back from the edge long before they were given their official walking papers. 

“We weren’t 100 percent sure that the show was gonna be coming back,” the sitcom icon explained while attending the Alliance for Children’s Rights Gala with wife and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-star, Kaitlin Olson. Considering this uncertainty, McElhenney and the Mythic Quest team added another — non-shovel — tool to their arsenal: an alternate ending.

“We thought maybe if we just had an option that we could slide in there and end the show the way that we would want,” he told the Associated Press of his contingency plan, one he touted as “a testament to working with Apple.” 

Thrown together in a matter of days, the series’ revamped finale wasn’t just shoehorned into the episode, per the star: It was speeding along the inevitable. “It felt like the kiss would’ve been something that we would write to next season,” McElhenney confirmed, referencing the passionate moment between his character Ian Grimm and his co-creative director, Poppy Li. “This was a way to actually put a nice bow on a good story.” 

In the end, though, Apple execs provided the show’s true kiss goodbye.