It has all the makings of a new and disturbing trend in television — companies taking fully produced, unaired series and moving them off their books — but insiders are hesitant to say whether cancellations like what we saw today at Showtime, as well as what has happened at Warner Bros.
Discovery, AMC, Netflix and Peacock over the last few months, is becoming the new normal. Consider it more of a one-time “right-sizing,” they say. “I don’t think those companies are going to want to make a practice of this on an ongoing basis,” a partner at a talent agency tells Deadline. “They’ve done it and they weren’t burned to the ground by the town, but the reaction was really, really strong.
So barring any further kind of financial apocalypse or whatever, I think they’re going to want to reassure people this is a one-of-a-kind thing is based around this unique moment of interest rates shift leading to a change in perception from Wall Street around streaming.” “To spend that kind of money and to not air it, believe me, we’re all scratching our heads,” added another high-ranking TV agent at a competing agency.
He was speaking specifically about HBO Max’s decision to yank Minx, the Lionsgate-produced series that was just about to wrap production on its second season.
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