While Matt Reeves is making headlines this weekend for his new movie , which is alreayd on its way to huge box office numbers, the TV series Ordinary Joe that he created for NBC has been given the axe. Variety brings word that the series has been cancelled by the network after just thirteen episodes. The show brought in mixed reviews upon release and averaged a 0.5 rating and 3.3 million viewers per episode, leading to the swift conclusion of the show. James Wolk of Watchmen and Mad Men starred in the series as the titular Joe, which featured a pretty comic book premise, exploring alternate universes where Joe made different decisions, leading to drastically different results for his life.
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Considering the time he’s been working on The Batman, it shouldn’t surprise fans to learn that Reeves’ involvement in the show was limited. The Planet of the Apes filmmaker originally pitched and sold the series to NBC back in 2006, a few years after the conclusion of his other TV series, Felicity. Executive producers Russel Friend & Garrett Lerner of House developed the project further however, leading to actually getting made. The series somewhat had the deck stacked against it from the beginning though as a pilot was ordered in February of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic forced it to delay production start until the 2021-2022 season.
NBC’s previously released description for hte series reads as follows: “Life is all about the choices you make – and sometimes, what you do in a single moment can change everything. This new heartfelt, life-affirming drama follows Joe Kimbreau, who faces one of these decisions at his college graduation. The three parallel stories that diverge from that night find Joe and the people around him with different careers, relationships and family lives, showing the unexpected ways that things change – and stay the same. But when it comes down to it, there is no “right” choice; no matter what happens, Joe’s life is always messy, exciting, tough, unpredictable… and beautiful.”
Though best known for his feature film work including the recent Planet of the Apes movies and Cloverfield, Reeves has an extensive history in television as well. In addition to co-creating Felicity with J.J. Abrams, Reeves directed episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street, Miracles, and Conviction. He also executive produced the Netflix original series Away and the Amazon Prime Video series Tales From the Loop.
