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A surprising bit of news came yesterday when Netflix announced it had axed its recent all-star sci-fi series “The Boroughs” less than a month after its release.
The project was created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews who served as showrunners, and was executive-produced by the Duffer Brothers (“Stranger Things”). It followed a group of retirees who figure out something is up when people around their community start dying.
The cancellation news took many by surprise. Reviews were very good, the series catered to a demographic that was underserved, and the initial numbers were good, even though third and fourth week numbers from Netflix indicated a drop that suggested not a lot of buzz.
Earlier today, the title debuted on Nielsen’s charts (which are delayed four weeks) in second place. Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters and Bill Pullman starred in the series, and there has been some awards talk – especially for Woodard.
So why was it given the chop? THR has done a feature piece on the cancellation, indicating it came down to two things – cost and executive regime change.
Regarding the former, the series reportedly cost around $10 million per episode, with one source claiming the real budget was “materially higher”. Economic factors play a part in pickup and cancellation decisions these days far more than back in the days of ‘Peak TV’.
Adding to the complications was the Duffer Brothers ditching Netflix for a four-year deal at Paramount. The trade’s sources indicate that apparently rankled some high-ranking Netflix executives, though a Netflix source denied that characterisation and indicated the Duffers still have multiple projects in development there.
What is certain is that the current executive regime there is not the one that greenlit the series, and the deadline for Netflix to extend the options on the cast was coming on June 15th – so the decision was made. As the show was made in-house, the streamer has full ownership of the series and is highly unlikely to sell it on.
Geena Davis has responded to the cancellation, telling the trade: “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.”
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