HBO Cancels Wyatt Cenac’s ‘Problem Areas’ After Two Seasons

HBO has canceled Problem Areas with Wyatt Cenac after just two seasons.

Cenac, a comedian an activist, announced the cancellation on Friday in a good-humored Twitter post. The Season 2 finale aired on Friday night, and Cenac let fans know that it would the last episode of the show ever.

“Tonight is the series finale of [Problem Areas]. I guess we were another casualty of that dragon fire at King’s Landing?” he joked, referencing the network’s smash hit Game of Thrones. “Sad there won’t be season 3 or 17, but appreciate everything and everyone who made seasons 1 & 2 possible, whether that was working on it or watching it.”

Cenac went on to reiterate the show’s ethos and goals in a thread, noting the ways in which they accomplished what they set out to do.

“At a time when it feels like public discourse is toxic and change is a thing that only happens with elections or impeachments, it was cool to meet folks working to create change in their cities,” he wrote. “Not definitive solutions, but ideas to build from that could be replicated.”

Cenac’s show focused on small, localized activism and organizing that can have ripple effects, and times even make a bigger difference than federal governance can. In that, he felt he and his co-workers were successful.

“We made a show to highlight that change can happen a lot closer than we sometimes realize. But it also needs support to grow and take root,” he wrote.

Cenac also took comfort in the fact that, thanks to streaming, his show will remain available for HBO Go and HBO Now subscribers for years to come. He even joked that piracy would help spread his work, for better or worse.

“All the episodes should probably be available online at HBOGo or HBONow. And who knows, maybe somebody will figure out how to toss them all onto YouTube, where they can find a new audience of Russian viewbots and house cats who secretly know how to type better than they let on,” he tweeted.

“Thank you,” the comedian concluded.

Problem Areas premiered just last year, and it quickly became a hit. The show ran for 10 episodes in each season, and rolled from one right into the next. Season 2 began on HBO this April, and covered such issues as teacher salaries, union labor and tech industry practices.

Problem Areas is available to stream now on HBO Go and HBO Now.