Canceled: Peacock junks its second 1990s reboot in 2022
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Peacock executives have canceled the streaming service’s reboot of drama Queer As Folk after just one season.
The new take on the drama didn’t debut until early June, with the entire first season dropping out in one go. Unfortunately, Deadline reports, it has now been canceled and there will be no second season. (opens in new tab)
Peacock’s take on the drama starring 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 found their lives turned upside down in the wake of a shooting at a nightclub called Babylon.
It debuted on June 9 with eight episodes in the first season. The season was well judged, with a rating of 84% on Rotten Tomatoes (opens in new tab).
The reboot is actually the third iteration of Queer As Folk. Created by Russell T. Davies, the man behind It’s A Sin and now back as Doctor Who showrunner, the original chronicles the lives of three gay men who live in Manchester’s gay village around Canal Street. It starred Game Of Thrones’ Aidan Gillen, a young Charlie Hunnam and Craig Kelly. It ran for 10 episodes between 1999 and 2000.
An American reboot, made by Showtime, that followed the lives of five gay men living in Pittsburgh, lasted for five seasons and 83 episodes before ending in 2005. The new reboot, with Davies being one of the executive producers, was overseen by Stephen. Dunn, who confirmed the end of the weekend.
Writing about the cancellation, Dunn wrote: (opens in new tab): “It is a rare gift in this day and age, and in this country, to be able to create a show as fearless and insolent as Queer As Folk. This experience has changed our lives forever and we are so grateful that we have found this incredible new family But today we got the disappointing news that we are not getting a second season!
He continued: “We know how much it means to the fans and although we are devastated we won’t be able to make more episodes, we want to thank everyone for watching and falling in love with Brodie, Mingus, Ruthie, Noah, Shar, Julian , Daddius, Bussey, Marvin, Judy and Brenda. We are so grateful for the opportunity to honor our community and are so proud of this show.”
The show is the second reboot of a classic ’90s show that ended on Peacock in recent months. The streaming giant had said goodbye to its new take on Saved By The Bell earlier in May.
Analysis: Are Peacock’s Wings Clipped?
Peacock, which is still well behind Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max in subscriber numbers, posted another huge run of losses at the end of July.
The service is owned by Comcast, Universal Pictures’ parent company, which means it can likely absorb the losses. However, like any player in the market, the executives will have to make some tough decisions about the shows they want to show.
Earlier in the summer, executives canceled Peacock’s planned TV adaptation of the best-selling and award-winning fantasy trilogy, The Green Bone Saga, while Rutherford Falls, the comedy headed by Ed Helms of The Office, was canceled in September.
Previous flagship shows like the Dan Brown adaptation The Lost Symbol and the expensive new take on the classic dystopian novel Brave New World ended after several seasons, and while executives will have high hopes for Vampire Academy, which brings to life Richelle Mead’s novel of the same name , and their new Pitch Perfect TV spinoff, it’s fair to say Peacock has yet to find his Stranger Things.
When Comcast chairman-CEO Brian Roberts talked about Peacock’s outlook for the fall, he even talked about movies like Jurassic World: Dominion and Jordan Peele’s new horror Nope and the Qatar World Cup, rather than any of the service’s shows.
Among the streamer’s future projects is a planned reboot of Battlestar Galactica, a high-budget adaptation of Victoria Aveyard’s young adult series Red Queen, overseen by Elizabeth Banks, and a take on Wild Cards, a science fiction series. superhero shared universe anthologies, overseen by George RR Martin. Perhaps one of these will bolster Peacock’s presence in the market and make it compete with the big boys, we’ll see.