Sean Penn’s ‘The First’ Cancelled by Hulu

Hulu’s The First won’t be lifting off for a second season.

According to Deadline, the Sean Penn starring series followed the first human mission to Mars. Written and executive produced by Beau Willimon, the series focused not just on the astronauts’ challenges and experiences, but those of their families and the Earth-based ground team as well.

The series was picked up straight to series by Hulu in 2017. At the time, Willimon said that the series, which in addition to Penn also starred Natasha McElhone, LisaGay Hamilton, Keiko Agena, and Hanna Ware, was about “the human spirit.”

“It’s a story about the human spirit,” Willimon said. “About our indomitable need to reach for unknown horizons. About people working toward the greatest pioneering achievement in human history. And about the cost of that decision, the danger and sacrifice — emotional, psychological, and physical — that’s required to achieve it. How ordinary, imperfect people band together and overcome a myriad of obstacles to grasp the extraordinary.”

Unfortunately, while The First had big plans, the series’ first season was anything but extraordinary. The eight-episode first (and now only) season hit Hulu in September but got mostly middling reviews. The most common critique of the series was that it was too slowly paced with some critics feeling like the series really only gained any real traction at the end of the season. There was also some critique of Penn’s performance. In his first lead television series role, Penn’s Tom Haggerty being simply too oppressively sad, though Willimon previously told Metro.co.uk that drawing out the story was a way of showing just how much work would go into a mission to Mars.

“We wanted to dramatize the cost, sacrifice and determination required to accomplish something extraordinary,” Willimon said. “Our extraordinary thing happens to be the longest, most dangerous pioneering event in human history. In order to do that, we felt it was important to see how much work was required, how many obstacles had to be overcome whether externally or internally, just to get to the point at which you’re launching into space and on your way to the red planet.

The First is just the latest high-profile series Hulu has axed after one season. The service also notably axed Sarah Silverman’s I Love You, America last week.

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