While Netflix is well known for its often confusing cancellations of shows, usually it’s a debate over quality versus viewership. But when a series has both? A cancellation seems especially bizarre, which is what has happened with The Boroughs.
The Boroughs, produced by Stranger Things’ Duffer brothers, was canceled just weeks after it premiered with a 96% Rotten Tomatoes critic score, one of Netflix’s highest of the year. It planted itself at #1 on Netflix’s top 10 list, but now new data shows it was probably doing even more than that.
Nielsen streaming numbers are now in for The Boroughs, and while the show debuted at #2 on that list, which includes all streaming services, the following week it moved up to #1, ahead of Amazon’s Spider-Noir and HBO Max’s Euphoria. Netflix’s The Four Seasons, which put up 782 viewing minutes to The Boroughs’ 1.74 billion, was just renewed for a third season.
The Boroughs has a veteran cast playing retirees trying to track down a monstrous secret within their community, and stars the likes of Alfred Molina, Geena Davis and Alfre Woodard. The series was meant to have a three-season arc, now cut short, despite a cliffhanger tease of what was to come at the end of season 1. Even its own cast has seemed confused by the decision. Here’s Geena Davis speaking to THR:
“Fortunately, the creators, who became our dear, dear friends, were able to tell us before the news came out, and we’re all terribly disappointed. Honestly, I don’t know what happened. I think it’s probably rare for a show to not get picked up and to have it announced that it’s not being picked up while it’s still in the top 10. We didn’t expect that.”
THR had a report about a week ago saying that The Boroughs was expensive, reportedly around $10 million per episode, though they also claim that this was an anti-Duffer decision, as the two are on their way out, having chosen to leave for Paramount rather than stay with Netflix. A Netflix source, however, denied that claim.
Still, it’s all very strange. Putting up this level of viewership with this level of positive reception with this cast and this long-term plan? Even with Netflix, this is not something we see every day. If it really was its high cost, that seems to be a message to bring those budgets down, as while there was certainly some amount of monster CGI here, I really cannot fathom why a show like this cost $80 million. But that’s the entertainment business these days across movies, TV and video games, and it does not seem to be reversing any time soon.
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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.