Netflix got a worldwide hit show with Stranger Things, a series spawned from the creative vision of sibling team Matt and Ross Duffer. After putting in more than half a decade of work on Stranger Things, The Duffer Brothers have branched out into producing several new shows and giving other talented creators a chance for breakout success. One of those projects, the relationship-horror show, Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen, was a hit, but the other new series they’re attached to… not so much.
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The Boroughs premiered on Netflix on May 21st; the series was subsequently canceled on June 17th. It was a pretty shocking move by the streamer, as The Boroughs has one of the most star-studded casts of any Netflix series, in addition to having the Duffer Brothers’ name stamped on it. So what happened?
Netflix vs. Paramount: Why The Boroughs Got Cancelled in the Crossfire, Explained
If you don’t know, last summer the Duffer Brothers made a game-changing deal that will take them from Netflix over to Paramount. Allegedly, Paramount offered the Duffers the opportunity to make theatrical movies in addition to their TV/streaming content, something Netflix was unwilling to do. Fast-forward to a year later: Netflix and Paramount were engaged in a high-stakes bidding war to acquire Warner Bros. and its massive library of IPs and content, in what feels like a major consolidation of the entertainment industry. By leveraging some big money and assets, as well as political influence, Paramount (and its new partner, Skydance) ultimately won the bid, forcing Netflix to look at other acquisition strategies to compete.
THR’s write-up on the situation leaves no room for ambiguity, stating that “the Duffer Brothers ditching Netflix for a four-year deal at Paramount seems to have rubbed high-ranking Netflix executives the wrong way. The relationship there has been ‘tough’ since Matt and Ross ’embarrassed’ the streamer by leaving,” one source claimed. However, the trade also quotes another source that downplays there being any personal grievances involved, calling it purely a “business decision.”
The Boroughs always had moderate appeal as a niche ‘geriatric sci-fi/mystery’ series, largeley thanks to its impressive cast (Bill Pullman, Geena Davis, Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, Ed Begley Jr. and others). Critics were very pleased, with the show earning a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Similarly, viewership had been steady (if not initially huge), with The Boroughs racking up a billion minutes in one a week.
Ultimately, there is plenty of logical space for both of those claims about The Boroughs‘ cancellation to be true. The executive team at Netflix may not feel any great pain or ’embarrassment’ over the Duffer Brothers leaving for Paramount; At the same time, the company doesn’t have that much motivation (let alone obligation) to keep investing in Duffer Brothers series that aren’t major mainstream hits like Stranger Things.
If anything, Netflix is likely trying to close the books on all of its Duffer Brothers investments. Despite a promising future (including a writers room that had already been assembled to work on Season 2), it seems like The Boroughs will be one of the biggest causlities of that transition.
You can still stream the show on Netflix. And discuss TV Binge vs. Weekly with on the ComicBook Forum!
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Forum Conversation: Binge vs Weekly Episodes
Go to ForumWhat I really just want is for people to stop treating television as a movie they can break into episodes. That sort of storytelling only works in very, very specific circumstances (and I’m not even talking about shows designed to binge — there is a difference). You can’t just make one big story and chop it into sections effectively without a plan and it feels more often than not that a lot of tv shows are trying to do that even in a binge model.
Definitely weekly, I’m in agreement with TB, weekly needs a cool hook at the end of every episode where full drops have mostly seemed like a movie with “Let’s all go to the lobby” breaks.
You’re absolutely right that this decision is clearly being made one way and then the release pattern doesn’t reflect it later. Great call