Showtime Cancels Two Fan-Favorite Series Before New Seasons

Amid restructuring at Showtime, the streamer has canceled a pair of fan-favorite series in lieu of offering them renewals for sophomore outings. Monday, Showtime announced both American Gigolo and Let the Right One In have been canceled after their debut seasons on the premium channel.

“We are extremely proud of this series and of the outstanding work by Demián Bichir, Madison Taylor Baez, Anika Noni Rose, our showrunner Andrew Hinderaker and his fellow executive producers, and the entire cast and crew,” a spokesperson for the channel told TVLine. “We would like to thank all of them and our partners at Tomorrow Studios, and we wish everyone the best going forward.”

Let the Right One In aired ten episodes last fall and had been awaiting a renewal since. Compared to the relatively smooth production process of that series, American Gigolo was mired in controversy throughout its development as the show lost two showrunners throughout principal photography.

First, David Hollander was fired from the series following a misconduct investigation last April, only for his replacement David Bar Katz to leave the series a month later. “We are grateful to our partners at Paramount Television Studios, the producing team, cast and crew for their tremendous efforts to bring this series to life,” the streamer said of American Gigolo.

According to American Gigolo star Jon Bernthal, it’s a role he had yet to play in his career.

“When you look at the entertainment industry, it’s amazing how doors are slammed in your face,” he explained last year. “I remember casting directors looking at my big nose and my giant ears and just being like, ‘What are you doing here?’ Feeling like you don’t belong, agents never returning your phone calls. You get so much rejection and people make you feel so small, and the second that things start to change for you, those same people all want something.”

“But you’ve got to remind yourself how lucky you are to be doing this, even when it’s not working out,” Bernthal added. “Look when I was starting out and I was going through really hard times, my wife was an I.C.U. trauma nurse, so there’d be plenty of times I would get home and I would have tears in my eyes of frustration and then my wife would talk about her day. The things she was encountering — holding somebody’s hand as they were passing, or letting somebody know that they weren’t ever going to see a family member again — just put it all in such clear perspective for me.”

Showtime also scrapped its Three Women adaptation, which was set to star Shailene Woodley, DeWanda Wise, Betty Gilpin, Gabrielle Creevy, Blair Underwood, and John Patrick Amedori. For TV fiends hoping to see that show come to light, there may be luck as it’s said the series will be shopped around to other outlets.