The First Lady is one and done at Showtime.
The premium cabler has canceled the Viola Davis, Gillian Anderson, and Michelle Pfeiffer anthology after one season, according to Deadline.
“Showtime can confirm that the anthology series The First Lady will not be moving forward with another season,” a network spokesperson said in a statement.
“We would like to applaud the artistry and commitment of our showrunner Cathy Schulman, director Susanne Bier, their fellow executive producers, our amazing cast, led by executive producer Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson, and our studio partner Lionsgate for their dedicated work in telling the unique stories of three remarkable leaders.”
News of the cancellation is somewhat surprising.
While the show premiered to a tepid response from critics and viewers, it was thought that a renewal with a new story and cast would have been a slam dunk.
Created by Aaron Cooley, the series also featured Kiefer Sutherland, O-T Fagbenle, Aaron Eckhart, Dakota Fanning, and more.
Creatives were vocal about wanting to continue the series as an anthology.
Anderson previously said there is the hope that the series will represent a lot of First Ladies.
“I think the hope is that there’s going to be future seasons so they’ll have the opportunity to have more First Ladies represented. So maybe not just four but maybe 104.”
Showtime had much success with the debuts of Yellowjackets and Dexter: New Blood, so the cabler will be looking ahead to the future with new shows.
The network canceled American Rust after a single season, despite having higher ratings than The First Lady.
Ultimately, that show moved to Amazon’s Freevee.
It’s unclear whether a move to another outlet could step in to pick up The First Lady.
Time will tell.
What are your thoughts on the cancellation?
Hit the comments below.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.
