Apple TV+ Cancels ‘Dark Knight’ Alum’s New Series After Only 1 Season

It is difficult for any new streaming show to break through and gain attention, even if it does feature a well-known star. Apple TV+’s Mr. Corman, which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt, learned that the hard way, and the show was canceled after just one season on Friday. The show’s 10th and final episode debuted just hours before the cancellation news.

Although Mr. Corman earned decent reviews, the show never attracted attention like other Apple TV+ shows did this summer, like Ted Lasso, Schmigadoon!, Physical, Mythic Quest, and Trying, reports Deadline. All of those shows have either been renewed or are about to be. In the case of Ted Lasso, the show was such a hit with critics and the Television Academy that its first season won Outstanding Comedy Series and won three of the four comedy acting Emmys at last month’s Primetime Emmy Awards.

Mr. Corman was created by Gordon-Levitt, who also wrote or co-wrote four of the show’s 10 episodes. The 3rd Rock from the Sun star played the title character, a fifth-grade teacher in the San Fernando Valley who questions his own life after giving up on his music career. The cast also featured Debra Winger as his on-screen mother, Shannon Woodward as his sister, and Arturo Castor as his friend. Other members of the cast included Logic, Juno Temple, Lucy Lawless, and Hugo Weaving. The series was produced by A24 and Gordon-Levitt’s HitRecord Films. The decision to cancel the show is surprising since Apple TV+ has only canceled one other original scripted show so far, Little Voice.

Apple TV+ is still working with Gordon-Levitt, as he executive produced and voiced the lead character in the animated series Wolfboy and the Everything Factory. All 10 episodes of the show were released on Sept. 24. Gordon-Levitt established HitRecord with his brother, Dan Gordon-Levitt, in 2004.

Mr. Cordman served as Gordon-Levitt’s return to television after 3rd Rock from the Sun ended in 2001. He recently starred in Aaron Sorkin’s Oscar-nominated Netflix movie The Trial of the Chicago 7. He provides the voice of Jiminy Chricket in Disney’s upcoming live-action Pinocchio, starring Tom Hanks as Geppetto. Gordon-Levitt also starred in two Christopher Nolan movies, Inception and the director’s third Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. The a wctor on Emmys for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media – Social TV Experience for HitRECord on TV in 2014 and Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Programming for Create Together in 2020.