NETFLIX won’t give supernatural/seniors ‘THE BOROUGHS’ a sophomore season…

Despite positive reviews (including ours…) , it looks as if Netflix will not be returning to The Boroughs for a second season.  While there were rumours that it didn’t get the ratings to match the reviews, newly-released Nielsen ratings now suggest that the show did far better than first believed and was the second-most watched original series on the platform in the week of its release (May 18-24) with 1.2 billion minutes viewed.

“Honestly, I don’t know what happened. I think it’s probably rare for a show to not get picked up and to have it announced that it’s not being picked up while it’s still in the top 10,” one of the show’s veteran stars Geena Davis said in a Hollywood Reporter interview.

There are three factors that might explain the decision not to continue with the show – which was executively-produced by the Duffer Brothers of Stranger Things fame.

Firstly – the show was not inexpensive – needing a strong budget for its special-effects and with some of the start-up costs covering the creation of the ‘Boroughs’ complex itself. The cast were also big names and might well have been able to negotiate an increase in pay-packet for a another run.

Secondly – perhaps not surprisingly – the Nielsen ratings also suggest that around 57% of the audience was age 50 or older – perfectly understandable given the premise of the show, set in a troubled retirement complex. However, that’s often not a demographic that advertisers want to target – perhaps to their own chagrin.

Thirdly – the show was fairly self-contained. While there was talk of a second season and a writers’ room was in its first stages, the ten-episode season finished on a note that worked as either a season or series finale and so there was not a massive cliffhanger that needed to be resolved.

A possible fourth reason is that the Duffer Brothers ended their four-year partnership with Netflix earlier this year to move to a new deal with Paramount, though the Hollywood Reporter says its own sources deny there was any ‘retribution’ factor involved. (It was announced a few weeks ago that Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, also executive-produced by the Duffer Brothers for Netflix, would also not be back for a second run).