Catfish Hosts Suggest The Canceled MTV Series Might Not Be Over

MTV pulled the plug on Catfish after nine seasons, but hosts Nev Schulman and Max Joseph are already hinting the docuseries isn’t done yet, teasing a possible return in a new social post.

MTV pulled the plug on Catfish after nine seasons, but Nev Schulman and Max Joseph are not treating it like a funeral. In a new Instagram video, the duo talks like the door might not be locked, just... lightly shut.

So, is Catfish actually over?

Nev and Max sat side by side on Nev's Instagram to address the cancellation. Nev confirmed the bad news, then Max immediately floated a little hope balloon.

"After 12 years, 300 episodes, and just a lot of traveling around this incredible country, Catfish has officially been cancelled. Sorry," Nev says. Max adds: "Maybe it's just on pause."

Max also gave Nev his flowers for holding down cable TV for more than a decade, calling it, in a very accurate bit of media eulogy, "the last decade in cable television." He says he was actually planning to come back to the show before the cancellation hit. Both guys thanked the crew and the fans, and Nev specifically thanked Max for being there from the jump.

What they shared, at a glance

• Catfish is cancelled at MTV after nine seasons.
• Nev says the run totaled roughly 12 years and 300 episodes.
• Max thinks the show might just be on pause and could return.
• He was planning a return before the shutdown.
• They thanked the crew and the audience, and Nev shouted out Max for day-one support.

Quick refresher on how we got here

Catfish the TV show launched on MTV on November 12, 2012, spun out of the 2010 documentary of the same name directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost. Nev and Max developed the series with Ariel, and the term 'catfish' itself comes from that doc. Nev has been the on-camera constant; Max stepped down as host back in Season 2 and later popped up as a guest host multiple times.

One last deep-cut nod

Nev capped the video with a very specific callback to one of the show's most viral moments (Season 3, Episode 2), which longtime viewers will clock immediately:

"If we leave you with one thing, it's this. No matter whatever happens in your life, how someone treats you, or how angry or upset you are. Never call someone a fat a-- Kelly Price."

Inside baseball or not, that line has basically lived rent-free on the internet since 2014. Whether Catfish really is just 'on pause' remains to be seen, but the guys are clearly not ready to bury it.