Another stroke of the axe
Over the weekend, executives at Prime Video and Hulu were busy since both streaming services announced the postponement of one of their most anticipated premieres of 2022.
Paper Girls, a sci-fi drama that just started airing on August 4, has been cancelled by Prime Video’s executive team. The programme, which had a certain Stranger Things vibe, was set in 1988 and featured four ladies who were involved in a struggle between rival time-traveling factions while delivering newspapers the morning after Halloween.
The show features a largely unknown cast, with the only established presence coming from comedian Ali Wong. Set over eight episodes, Paper Girls was adapted from the comics by Y: The Last Man and Marvel’s Runaways creator Brian K. Vaughan.
The premiere of the studio’s massive new release, The Rings Of Power, may have masked the show’s failure to attract viewers on Prime Video despite favourable reviews and a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 90%.
Deadline reports that following Prime Video’s decision, Legendary Television’s show will now be pitched to other networks and streaming platforms in the hopes that it may continue.
It wouldn’t be the first time a rival had revived a show. Netflix intervened to preserve Manifest and Lucifer from cancellation, albeit those actions were taken when money seemed to be more easily accessible. It will be interesting to see if Paper Girls can relocate.
What was the other cancelation?
Maggie, Hulu’s slick new comedy. It launched on July 6 and won’t be back for a second season.
Led by Rebecca Rittenhouse, best known for her roles in The Mindy Project and the TV spin-off of Four Weddings and a Funeral, Maggie followed the titular character, a psychic who is suddenly given a glimpse of her own future when David Del Rio’s Ben comes to her for a reading and she sees herself married to him in years to come.
When Ben then moves into the house next door, with his current girlfriend, Maggie is left in something of a bind.
Based on Tim Curcio’s short film, the show was supposed to debut on ABC, but ABC’s owners Disney ended up moving the show to Hulu, where sadly it didn’t pick up enough of an audience to earn a second run.
The ratings for Maggie on Rotten Tomatoes were less favourable than those for Paper Girls, at 62%, but the first trailer had over 10 million views, suggesting that the programme had a possibility of succeeding when all episodes debuted on July 6. Sadly, things didn’t work out like that.
There is no indication that the show’s production crew is seeking for a new home, unlike Paper Girls.
Analysis: Two shows stuck in the shadows
Traditionally, summer is a dustbowl for prestige television. Families are either away on holiday or taking their children to see the array of blockbusters stuffing movie theaters. Often, you’re competing with a big summer sporting event like the World Cup or the Olympics, and schedulers tend to keep their powder dry.
but not this year. The Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon, the critically acclaimed Predator prequel Prey, Neil Gaiman’s epic The Sandman, and the newest MCU hero, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, all had their streaming service debuts in August alone.
Even if July was a tad quieter than June, you still got the thrilling Stranger Things fourth season finale, the incredibly costly action film The Gray Man, and Only Murders In The Building’s comeback on Hulu on June 28. That is a lot of huge TV, and Maggie and Paper Girls will have a lot of competition.
In the end, it appears that the rivalry simply proved to be too great, and neither was able to generate enough buzz or interest to warrant a second attempt.