Garry Whitta explains why Animal Talking is going on hiatus

Gary Whitta, creator of the Animal Crossing: New Horizons talk show 'Animal Talking,' announced a few days back that the show was going on hiatus. With the show doing so well and landing huge guests, why is Whitta putting the show on the shelf? He explained in a video feature shared at the Changing Channels event.

"I think I'm at a point where I'm gonna take a little hiatus from it -- in terms of weekly shows for the rest of the year, I might be done. The two or three hours that I'm actually doing the show, I love it. When we're actually on the air, and I'm talking with our guests and having fun, I love it. But the 15 to 20 hours I have to put in before that, with sound checks and previews and animation and technical issues and booking guests and clearing music, that's not fun for me. I always said that if we got to the point where the show was more stress than it was fun to do, I'd stop doing it. We're right at that point now -- 50/50 stress and fun, and I don't want that equation to fall out of balance.

Animal Talking will continue through the end of the year, but probably on a less regular basis, and we'll see where we are after that. I don't know that it can last forever. Animal Crossing won't be in the zeitgeist forever; it's just super popular right now... My appetite for the show hasn't waned, and I still really enjoy doing it. I just need to find a way to do it that doesn't stress me out and kill me every week."

Whitta has said that there will be a Halloween special for sure, and it does seem that politician Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez will pop in for an episode, but outside of that, the calendar is very much up in the air.