Last fall, Warner Bros. Discovery made a shocking move when it unexpectedly cancelled the critically acclaimed series Minx just one week shy of the series wrapping production on its second season. The move was part of WBD’s controversial cost-cutting efforts, with Minx being pulled as part of a tax write down strategy. Fortunately for Minx, the series found a new home on STARZ but while things worked out — Season 2 debuts July 21st — series star Jake Johnson says how HBO and Max handled things is “f—cking gross”.
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“I found out with everybody else when the. news broke,” Johnson, who is also a producer on the series, told The Hollywood Reporter. “It was more of an existential hit, for me. It wasn’t creative or personal. It was just a huge corporation doing a snaky numbers move. The more these people keep pushing, the less it’s about art and creativity and the more it’s about data. F-cking gross.”
Even with the news that HBO Max (now Max) had cancelled them, Johnson explained that there were already streamers showing interest in the series — and Johnson said the question early on wasn’t if they’d end up somewhere else, but where that somewhere would be.
“Our cast is so sweet, so new generation. On New Girl, which will always be my base, that was my generation and we were rattier. No one acted vulnerable. If we’d been cancelled, we all would’ve been sailors about it. ‘OK, well, then f-ck Fox!’” Johnson said. “With this group, there was just a sadness in the air. I’ve become a veteran, so I contacted a friend at Lionsgate and he explained that we weren’t dead. This show was lucrative for the studio domestically and internationally. There were already three streamers showing interest. The question wasn’t if we’d find a home. It was, ‘Who wants us the most and why?’”
Johnson Also Revealed What Would Have Happened in Season 2 of Another “Un-Renewed” Series, Stumptown
Interestingly enough, Minx isn’t the only series that Johnson has been part of in recent years that was renewed only to be “un-renewed”. Johnson also starred in ABC’s Stumptown alongside Cobie Smulders and Michael Ealy, but unlike Minx, Stumptown was cancelled largely due to issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and didn’t end up finding a new home. Johnson also explained that had the show come back for Season 2, it would have looked very different, particularly for Smulders’ Dex.
“It was going to be a totally different show in a very exciting way,” Johnson said. “Everything was building. Every single episode [would have had] a new love interest for Cobie, kissing and fight scenes every week.”
What is Minx About?
Set in 1970s Los Angeles, Minx centers around Joyce (Ophelia Lovibond), an earnest young feminist who joins forces with a low-rent publisher (Jake Johnson) to create the first erotic magazine for women. In Season 2, Doug, Joyce, and the entire Bottom Dollar crew grapple with Minx’s explosive success, which takes them all to thrilling new places and brings more money, fame, and temptation than anyone knows how to handle.
“I actually feel like Doug, Season 2, gets fed his medicine a lot,” Johnson shared with ComicBook.com about his character embracing the spirit of the ’70s while also remaining grounded. “I feel like Joyce gets a little bit crazy Season 2, and I think Doug gets punished a little. And my question was because I don’t think Doug did anything wrong in Season 1. I know we battled a little bit on set, who was doing things right, who wasn’t. But at the end of Season 1, Doug gives a very earnest apology and gives things away. So, I thought he had received his medicine.”
He continued, “In Season 2, part of the reason why Doug will get big and he’s struggling, and seems like a fish out of water, was because he was pulled out of water a lot. So, I felt like my question was more like Doug got punished, and if there’s a Season 3, I think it’s time where maybe Joyce gets punished a little bit. So does the rest of the Bottom Dollar group gets punished for not having loyalty to the brand.”
Minx stars Ophelia Lovibond (Guardians of the Galaxy, Rocketman) as Joyce Prigger, Jake Johnson (New Girl, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse) as Doug Renetti, Idara Victor (Shameless, Turn) as Tina, Jessica Lowe (Righteous Gemstones, Miracle Workers) as Bambi, Lennon Parham (Bless This Mess, Better Things) as Shelly, Oscar Montoya (Dimension 20, Bless the Hearts) as Richie, and Elizabeth Perkins (The Afterparty, Barry) as Constance.
Minx was created by Ellen Rapoport, who also serves as showrunner and executive producer, alongside Paul Feig and Dan Magnante for Feigco Entertainment, Ben Karlin and Rachel Lee Goldenberg, who also directed the pilot. Jake Johnson serves as a co-executive producer. Minx is produced by Lionsgate Television.
Minx Season 2 premieres on STARZ on July 21st.
