Apple TV+ Cancels Series After 1 Season

Dear Edward, a new Apple TV+ series starring Nashville‘s Connie Britton and Orange Is The New Black star Taylor Schilling, was canceled after just one season. The series was based on the novel by Ann Napolitano and featured Colin O’Brien as the last survivor of a plane crash. Dear Edward reunited Britton with Friday Night Lights creator Jason Katims, whose Amazon Prime Video series As We See It also only lasted one season.

Dear Edward focused on Edward Adler, a young boy who is the only survivor of a plane crash. Schilling played Lacey Curtis, his aunt who becomes his guardian because his mother was among the crash victims. Britton played Dee Dee, a rich woman whose husband died in the same plane crash and learns he had a secret second life. Other members of the cast include Maxwell Jenkins, Amy Forsyth, and Ivan Shaw. Robin Tunney and Brian d’Arcy James had recurring roles.

The project was produced through an overall deal Katims signed with Apple Studios, reports Deadline. It was the only show that came to fruition though, as he has since signed a deal with Imagine Television. Katims wrote the first two episodes of Dear Edward and served as an executive producer alongside Napolitano, Fisher Stevens, and Jeni Mulein. Katims won an Emmy for writing the Friday Night Lights episode “Always” in 2011.

It’s not surprising that Dear Edward didn’t connect with many viewers. The show had a mixed 55% fresh rating from critics and 65% from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes. Some critics took aim at the show’s overwhelming focus on grief. Still, Katims told The Hollywood Reporter in March that Apple liked the show and hoped it would live on. The finale saw Edward find letters written to him by other victims’ families, including a letter written by a long-lost family member.

“[W]e wanted to show that there are many more stories to tell here,” Katims told THR after the finale was released. “One of the things I love about this show is the large ensemble and all these people who are connected over this tragic accident in ways they never would have been before. Season one was about this grief group and people coming together and making a huge impact on each other’s lives. The idea of Edward finding these letters and reaching out to people who reached out to him is something I’d love to explore in season two, especially with this character we set up with this uncle he never knew he had.”

Apple TV+ has only canceled a handful of scripted originals that were planned to run multiple seasons. Shantaram with Charlie Hunnam and the Sara Bareilles-created Little Voice were both canceled after one season. Apple TV+’s hit shows include For All Mankind, The Morning Show, Mythic Quest, and Shrinking.