Cue the sad songs.
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist has been canceled after two seasons on NBC. Sources say talks between NBCUniversal and producers Lionsgate TV to move the Jane Levy-led musical dramedy to streamer Peacock fizzled. Lionsgate TV plans to shop the series.
“In a world where finding loyal and passionate audiences is never easy, we believe there must be a home for this great, award-winning show with a passionate and dedicated following,” Lionsgate said in a statement.
Season 2 of Zoey’s wrapped with a 0.6 rating among the all-important adults 18-49 demographic with seven days of delayed viewing. That was down 14 percent from its freshman season.
Lionsgate had been speaking with NBCUniversal about moving the series from its broadcast network, NBC, to its streaming platform, Peacock. Both the network and streamer are overseen by the same content group, headed by Susan Rovner and head of scripted Lisa Katz, with the latter having developed the series.
Unfortunately, the two sides could not come to terms that would have allowed the pricey series to move to the streamer. Such a move would have required new deals to be completed as things like streaming rights — the series runs on Hulu — likely factored heavily into the discussions.
Zoey’s remains a critical and awards hit, with the series currently certified fresh with a 76 percent among critics and 88 percent among viewers on aggregation site Rotten Tomatoes.
From creator Austin Winsberg, the series co-starred Skylar Austin, Alex Newell, Peter Gallagher, Mary Steenburgen and Lauren Graham, with the latter having had a reduced role in season 2 following scheduling issues that were a result of the pandemic.
NBC has a full slate of rookie series for the 2021-22 broadcast season with American Auto, Grand Crew, La Brea, Ordinary Joe and limited series The Thing About Pam on deck. Additional series are expected to be announced later for midseason as NBC, like other broadcasters, shifts to year-round development.
This article was originally published by The Hollywood Reporter.
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