EXCLUSIVE: It’s a one-and-done for The Boroughs as Netflix has opted not to proceed with a second season of the sci-fi TV series executive produced by Stranger Things creators, the Duffer Brothers.
The news comes as somewhat of a surprise, as we hear there had been talk about renewing the series starring Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters, and Bill Pullman, and a Season 2 writers room had been open, a standard practice for many high-profile series. According to sources, one of the ideas floated was to film Seasons 2 and 3 back-to-back.
But that was before The Boroughs, created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, debuted to strong reviews but soft ratings last month.
Dubbed as Stranger Things with seniors, The Boroughs tallied a modest 5.6M views in its opening weekend. Given the series was following on the heels of the behemoth final season of Stranger Things, expectations were that another sci-fi series from the Duffers would come out of the gate stronger. In its first full week, The Boroughs ballooned to 9.5M views, but then quickly sank to 3.7M views the next week, signaling that long-tail growth is unlikely.
It’s worth noting, as Deadline did when The Boroughs premiered, that this was the second Duffers-produced paranormal series to launch this year, following Something Very Bad is Going to Happen, so a bit of audience fatigue is possible after the emotional Stranger Things finale on New Year’s Eve. Netflix considers Something Very Bad is Going to Happen a limited series; it too will not be continuing, leaving Netflix with one Duffer Brothers series a month and a half after they left the streamer for a rich film and TV deal at Paramount, the animated Stranger Things: Tales from ’85.
Being a spiritual successor to Stranger Things, The Boroughs too involves special effects. The elaborate production, along with its all-star cast, made for a high price tag, something Netflix weighs against viewing when making renewal decisions.
The Boroughs is set in a seemingly picturesque retirement community where a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have… time.
The star-studded cast includes Molina, Davis, Woodard, O’Hare, Peters, Pullman, Jena Malone, Carlos Miranda, Seth Numrich, and Alice Kremelberg.
The Boroughs is executive produced by The Duffer Brothers and Hilary Leavitt on behalf of Upside Down Pictures, with Jeffrey Addiss, Will Matthews, and Ben Taylor. Taylor directs multiple installments, including the pilot.
Some recent Netflix freshman series that have scored Season 2 renewals include Big Mistakes, Little House On The Prairie, Free Bert, The Hunting Wives, Leanne, Untamed, Finding Her Edge and Stranger Things: Tales from ’85.
Katie Campione and Nellie Andreeva contributed to this story.
