The TF TV Show - Near Final Script

Back in 2013, Adult Swim ran some advertisements made in SFM to talk about a new season of the Venture Brothers. These spots were decent enough, and most were excited to know that this promotion also included some exclusive Adult Swim themed hats, remember when people would joke about hats? What hasn’t been told, publicly, is the story behind these advertisements, and the partnership they signaled. Valve was working on a TF2 television show for Adult swim in in 2012 and 2013, and due to Valve’s inability to work with third parties, meet deadlines, and have adverse reactions to limits and guidelines, this never happened, however the results are still floating around the internet, in surprising locations. 

In 2010 or 2011, a writer at Valve started work on a TF screenplay then meant to be feature length. The original topics, themes and directions are unknown currently, however what’s known is that a few artists at Valve took interest, and this project was officially being worked on by 2012. Around this time, Adult Swim, the nighttime block of mature animated televisions shows, along with surreal comedies and dubbed anime, approached Valve with a pitch for a 15 minute SFM animated show themed around the mercs of Team Fortress, in the style of the incredibly popular Meet the Team shorts, of which, many Valve fans would agree, were in very scares quantity.

When Adult Swim approached Valve, it ended up being opportune timing, as it was decided to use a cutdown version of the screenplay for a pilot episode, which Adult Swim wanted by mid-2013. What happened however, was that this professional relationship was still subject to the ever present Valve time, and the first deadline was missed, as was the second, and many future deadlines. By late 2013 or early 2014, a rough animation of the pilot was submitted to Adult Swim, and did not fit the guidelines Adult Swim required. 

For one, with this being a 15 minute show, the actual runtime has to be 11 minutes to make room for an ad break, which Valve did not want. Valve initially submitted a short closer to 20 minutes, which has to be rejected as the network could not afford this amount of time. The network repeatedly requested an 11 minute cut of this pilot. Valve never followed the rules, reportedly thinking that, since they were the ones being pitched this idea, they would have more wiggle room. The fact that production wasn’t completely completely, with some temp voice work by the actors not known for parts, and the animation not being completed or finalized. 

This back and forth lasted months, and in early 2014, Adult Swim had enough of Valve. Adult Swim reportedly ordered 12 episodes of this series, but thought that since this was incredibly difficult just for the first episode, the entire series would take years to complete. Adult Swim pulled the plug on Valve. 

Now that isn’t to say Valve didn’t have plans, or didn’t like this idea. During this time, there were writers working on the first episodes, and also outlining for the future episodes. It’s also fairly obvious that this pilot eventually did get pretty much finished, and released in the early summer of 2014 with the Love and War update, called Expiration Date. While it’s known that certain scenes were cut from the initial cut originally submitted to Adult Swim, such as a scene with the Heavy and Strawberries, the original, feature length screenplay has yet to be released to this day. It’s also widely known that Nathan Vetterlein, the voice of scout, and Ashly Burch, the voice of Ms. Pauling, were contracted at Valve to write for this show, of which their work only went as far as this sole episode. 

What’s only slightly known, are the outlines and script parts written for the other 11 or so episodes, and this is where we get into foggy territory. There is evidence to suggest, along with some rumblings that have been around in the community for years, that the TF Comics are using a plot outline originally intended for this television show. Meaning, if everything has gone according to plan, and if Valve was capable of working under deadlines, and working within Adult Swim's guidelines, the entire arc of the comics would have been finished in a single season of television, not five plus years and counting. 

I want you to think of the potential of something like this, updates could have been created and set to release around the time of episodes. A second season could have happened. Team Fortress 2 would be something you could watch an entire season of on Hulu. In an alternate universe this is the case, but now, we still are waiting for the conclusion to the comics, and as the lead artist on the project said, they are not even working on it. Have a good day. Adios.