Peacock executives have canceled the reboot of the streaming service's drama, Queer As Folk, after just one season.
The new version of the drama only debuted in early June, with the entire first season dropping in one go. Unfortunately, Deadline reports that it's now been cut and there won't be a second season. (opens in a new tab)
Peacock's version of the drama starred Fin Argus, CG, Jesse James Keitel, Ryan O'Connell, Johnny Sibilly, Devin Way, and Kim Cattrall. It followed a group of friends in New Orleans who have their lives turned upside down after a shooting at a nightclub called Babylon.
It debuted on June 9 with eight episodes in the first season. The season was well-reviewed, with a score of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes (opens in a new tab).
The reboot is actually the third iteration of Queer As Folk. The original, which was created by Russell T. Davies, the man behind It's A Sin and now back as Doctor Who showrunner, chronicles the lives of three gay men living in Manchester's gay village around Canal Street. Starring Aidan Gillen from Game Of Thrones, a young Charlie Hunnam and Craig Kelly. It ran for 10 episodes between 1999 and 2000.
An American reboot, made by Showtime, which followed the lives of five gay men living in Pittsburgh, ran for five seasons and 83 episodes before ending in 2005. The new reboot, which included Davies among its executive producers, was overseen by Stephen Dunn, which was confirmed to end this weekend.
Writing about the cancellation, Dunn wrote (opens in a new tab): "It's a rare gift in these times, and in this country, to be able to put on a show as fearless and shameless as Queer As Folk. This experience changed our lives forever. and we're so thankful to have found this amazing new family, but today we got the sad news that we won't be getting a second season!
He continued: "We know how much this means to the fans and while we're heartbroken we won't be able to make any more episodes, we want to thank everyone for watching and falling in love." by Brodie, Mingus, Ruthie, Noah, Shar, Julian, Daddius, Bussey, Marvin, Judy and Brenda. We are very grateful for the opportunity to honor our community and we are very proud of this show."
The show is the second reboot of a classic 1990s show that came to an end in recent months on Peacock. The streaming giant previously said goodbye to its remake of Saved by the Bell in May.
Analysis: Peacock has clipped wings?
Peacock, which still lags far behind Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max in terms of subscriber numbers, posted another big series of losses in late July.
The service is owned by Universal Pictures' parent company Comcast, which means it can likely absorb the losses. However, like all players in the market, its leaders will have to make tough decisions about which shows to push.
Earlier this summer, executives canceled Peacock's planned TV adaptation of the best-selling and award-winning fantasy trilogy, The Green Bone Saga, while The Office's Ed Helms-directed comedy Rutherford Falls was axed in September.
Previous flagship shows like Dan Brown's adaptation The Lost Symbol and the expensive remake of the classic dystopian novel Brave New World have come to an end after individual seasons and while executives have high hopes for Vampire Academy, which brings to life to Richelle Mead. novel of the same name and its new spin-off Pitch Perfect TV, it's fair to say that Peacock has yet to find the Stranger Things from him.
In fact, when Comcast Chairman and CEO Brian Roberts spoke about Peacock's prospects for the fall, he mentioned movies like Jurassic World: Dominion and Jordan Peele's new horror Nope and the FIFA World Cup. Qatar, instead of any of the transmissions of the service.
Among the streamer's future projects are a planned reboot of Battlestar Galactica, a big-budget adaptation of Victoria Aveyard's young adult series Red Queen, which is overseen by Elizabeth Banks, and a version of Wild Cards, a shared Universal series. of science fiction superheroes. anthologies, supervised by George RR Martin. Maybe one of them will strengthen Peacock's presence in the market and make it compete with the big boys, we'll see.