There are some big changes at Starz, and it’s bad news for four shows.
Variety reported Monday evening that the premium cabler has canceled Heels, Run the World, and Blindspotting and is scrapping The Venery of Samantha Bird ahead of its premiere.
Heels, Run the World, and Blindspotting lasted for two seasons on the premium cabler, but it seems that the trio didn’t have enough interest to sustain additional seasons.
The highest profile of the three shows was Heels, which starred Stephen Amell as Jack Spade, a man who inherited the league from his father.
However, he struggled to keep things running well, leading to plenty of drama across the two seasons.
The cast also included Alexander Ludwig, Chris Bauer, Mary McCormack, Kelli Berglund, Allen Maldonado, and Trey Tucker.
Rounding out the cast were Robby Ramos, Alice Barrett Mitchell, Roxton Garcia, David James Elliott, Joel Murray, and CM Punk.
Fans faced a grueling 19-month wait for Heels Season 2, which very likely dampened the buzz for the show.
Unfortunately, Heels Season 1 didn’t have much buzz, but there was certainly interest from those who watched in finding out what happened after the events of the freshman run.
Sadly, lengthy hiatuses rarely work shows not named Stranger Things or Game of Thrones.
Meanwhile, Blindspotting was a follow-up of the 2018 movie and starred Jasmine Cephas Jones, Jaylen Barron, Candace Nicholas-Lippman, Benjamin Earl Turner, Atticus Woodward, and Rafael Casal.
Run the World starred Amber Stevens West, Andrea Bordeaux, Bresha Webb, Corbin Reid, Tosin Morohunfola, and Stephen Bishop.
As for The Venery of Samantha Bird, it was picked up to series in 2022, with 13 Reasons Why’s Katherine Langford in the lead role.
“Visiting family in New England, Samantha Bird reconnects with her childhood sweetheart and falls headlong into a seemingly perfect storybook romance,” the logline reads.
“But underneath their fever dream lurks a more unsettling interpretation of this affair.”
“The Venery of Samantha Bird is a haunting portrayal of addictive love and the repercussions that a relationship has on the families in a small New England town.”
Deadline reported in May that the new drama had been shut down with two episodes left to shoot due to the WGA strike.
Unfortunately, there’s a good chance the episodes will not see the light of day.
Completed seasons of TV stand a better chance of being picked up by other outlets.
For example, Starz picked up Minx Season 2 when Max opted to scrap the season that was already in the can.
Starz also picked up Showtime’s Three Women drama series and plans to air it later this year.
The network’s strongest performing shows are the three shows in the Power universe, P-Valley, and BMF.
What are your thoughts on the cancellations?
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.