Starz Cancels Brand New Drama After Just One Season

Starz decided to pull the plug on one of their newest dramas after just one season. Fans of Becoming Elizabeth will be sad to hear that the show will not continue. Deadline reported that Starz had a tricky situation on its hands. Numbers for the premiere episode in August were fine with 158,000 viewers, but every week the totals trickled downward. Another issue for the series was the lack of interest from younger viewership. (Something that every period drama has to worry about in this overcrowded streaming landscape!) Anya Reiss’ show did get to show off some of Alicia von Rittberg as Queen Elizabeth I. But, there will be an everlasting cliffhanger on their story and that’s a shame.

Here’s how the network described the show: “Becoming Elizabeth is the fascinating story of the early life of England’s most iconic Queen. Long before she ascended the throne, young Elizabeth Tudor was an orphaned teenager who became embroiled in the political and sexual politics of the English court. With no clear heir, the death of King Henry the VIII sets into motion a dangerous scramble for power. His surviving children find themselves pawns in a game between the great families of England and the powers of Europe who vie for control of the country.”

“Elizabeth struggles to control her own destiny and take real power as the men around her attempt to claim her sovereignty,” they continued. “Her fascinating and factual journey to secure the crown is filled with scheming, betrayal and illicit relationships that threaten to bring forth her demise at a time in which every man or woman of the court is on the wheel of fortune, which may take them to a position of great power one moment, or the executioner’s block the next.”

What Does the Future For Starz Look Like?

Earlier this year, Jon Feltheimer, the CEO of Starz’s parent company spoke about their path forward after the merger with Lionsgate. 

“When people refer to us like this morning in one of those M&A articles as having a niche service. We don’t think 30 million subs is a niche service. If we wanted to be in niche services, obviously, we wouldn’t have sold Pantaya,” he pondered. “So, we think 30 going to 60 are that’s a big business, we want to be the market leader in premium. And that’s how we’ll build our value. So obviously, we talked to everyone, we listened to everything. But our main job right now, as I say is to create outsized value in the way we’re going to do is by keeping our head down, having all of our businesses talk to each other 10 times a day, which is what they do. So that again, as Michael and I’ve said before, one plus one plus one is way more than three.”

Are you sad about the show ending? Let us know in the comments!