The Future of the Show

Dear atypical fam,

As you all know, we’re currently on our mid-season hiatus and will be back with Episode 49 in one month. But before we get there, I want to talk a bit about the future of the show in general. Based on how many questions I’ve been getting about a fifth season, I have a feeling a lot of you know where this is going, but…we are coming to the end of The Bright Sessions.

When we come back in March, we’ll be releasing 8 more episodes, concluding the season - and the series - with Episode 56. The arc of the story we’ve been telling since Episode 1 is coming to its natural close and I want these 56 episodes to stand on their own as a complete series that people can discover and listen to for years to come.

But we’ve still got a lot more story to tell. Thanks to our incredible Patreon supporters, we’ll be doing 9 bonus therapy episodes that explore Dr. Bright’s other patients. These will start in July, with one being released every single month for nine months. For our patrons, there will be a bonus to the bonus - a special 10th therapy session that you definitely don’t want to miss. To become a patron, go to patreon.com/thebrightsessions.

But why do you still need a Patreon, Lauren? Well, The Bright Sessions has only ever been possible because of our strange and unusual family on Patreon and we’ll need that support more than ever moving forward. Not only do we need to fund the production of these ten bonus episodes, but we also have two spin-offs coming in 2019 and 2020 that are going to be bigger and more ambitious than anything we’ve ever done before.

These spin-off series will be limited run, but they will take place post-Season 4 and involve many familiar faces as well as a whole bunch of new characters. The first spin-off will be out in March of 2019 - I can’t tell you too much about it because the summary alone spoils the end of Season 4, but I think you guys will like it. The second spin-off will come out fall of 2020 and will involve a fan favorite character - and a favorite character of mine - Caleb, in an entirely new phase of his life. These series will expand the story and the universe of The Bright Sessions for listeners who have been with us since the start, but also stand on their own for people just dropping in to our atypical world.

You also may have heard some news about Bright Sessions books - the rumors are true! I’m writing three YA novels that focus on different characters. The first is about Caleb and Adam, the second about Damien, and the third about our newest character, Rose. The first will be out in the summer of 2019.

So…yeah. Even though we’re closing a chapter, we have a lot ahead of us. In fact, with the bonus episodes, there’s going to be even more content than ever before in the next eighteen months. So stay tuned and stay subscribed to our podcast feed - all future shows and any important announcements will be right there.

Making this show has been one of the greatest joys of my life and I’m so excited about what’s ahead for us. We never would have gotten this far without our amazing actors - Julia Morizawa, Briggon Snow, Anna Lore, Charlie Ian, Alex Gallner, Ian McQuown, Andrew Nowak, Alex Marshall-Brown, Phillip Jordan, and Alanna Fox - or without the incredibly folks behind the scenes - Mischa Stanton, Evan Cunningham, and Elizabeth Laird. I am so lucky to get to work with all of these people and so thankful that so many of them are coming along on this next phase (can’t tell you who though - that would be spoiling). Not to mention, my family and friends who have supported us in making this show.

But most of all, I want to thank you, our listeners. I cannot begin to express how grateful I am - how grateful we all are - for the emails, the fanart, the theorizing, the all-caps tweets, the meet-ups, the personal stories, and the love you’ve shared with us these past two and half years. This story means a lot to us and I can’t tell you how much joy we get from the fact that it means a lot to you as well. You have all made me laugh, made me cry, and made me feel less alone in this world. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

So: keep listening and, as always, stay strange.



(note: a version of this was released in our podcast feed on 2/7/18)