There's a good news/bad news situation involving tonight's episode of Shudder's The Last Drive-In

It’s been an emotional and agonizing week for fans of Shudder Original series The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs. First, Joe Bob posted a short video on social media, in which he implored everyone to watch the season finale, ending with a somewhat emotional “I love you guys.”

Of course, the Mutant Family was in a complete tizzy, theorizing that the series had been cancelled, and would not be renewed for an eighth season. Others (such as myself) didn’t think that would be the case, because the series has been hugely successful for Shudder.

Well, today, Bloody Disgusting broke the “bummer news” that tonight’s episode will indeed be the series finale.

As this article’s title states however, there is some good news attached to this very bad news. During the next year, there will still be four specials rolled out quarterly…so Joe Bob, Darcy, and their madcap crew will not be totally gone from Shudder as of yet!

The first special will be Joe Bob’s Wicked Witchy Wingding, and it will air live on Friday, April 24 at 9:00 p.m. ET as part of Shudder’s annual Halfway to Halloween celebration. We are promised a “double feature of occult flicks” tied in with Joe Bob and Darcy’s ongoing campaign to designate Walpurgisnacht an American holiday. The double-feature special will be available to watch on demand as of Sunday, April 26 on both Shudder and AMC+.

Shudder EVP, Linear and Streaming Products Courtney Thomasma praised Joe Bob and Darcy, who have “continued to delight Shudder fans with double features and seasonal specials tailored to horror buffs and cinephiles alike.”

There are some whisperings that the series may be moving elsewhere (backed up by a few social media comments from Darcy), but nothing has been formally announced as of yet. My suggestion is that we all tune in tonight to see if any more info will be given at that time.

And as I was writing this article, Joe Bob himself dropped another short video, apparently in response to his fans asking questions and speculating. He said, "OK, I'm going to answer all your questions, then this is the last thing I'm gonna have to say about it." He said his health is fine ("I'm spry as f**k"), that tonight is the last regular episode of TLDI, that Shudder has commissioned four specials, and that "none of this is my decision."

That last part is not going to set well with the Mutant Family, many of whom now plan to cancel their Shudder subscriptions. For the record, I am incredibly disappointed in Shudder, and cannot understand why this decision was made. But I do plan to continue my subscription, since I love their original films (and the other content they offer).

While fans wait for the upcoming specials, many full episodes of The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs are available to watch on Shudder, as are several of the past specials. So don’t cancel that Shudder subscription!