Two Peacock Shows Just Got Canceled
This week, news broke of two major cancellations at Peacock, and fans are devastated. Sources at the streamer told reporters from Entertainment Weekly that both Vampire Academy and One of Us Is Lying are now finished. Vampire Academy got just one season, while One of Us is Lying aired for two seasons.
Vampire Academy star Jonetta Kaiser first broke the news of the cancellation on Instagram on Friday, and it was later confirmed by journalists. Kaiser played the magical vampire Sonya Karp, and she was clearly deeply invested in the story. She wrote: "If you're an actor, you know that although this is such an exciting time to be part of the industry because of all the countless streaming services a.k.a. opportunities, it's also scary because most shows now get the boot after just one season."
Kaiser left some hope that the show could be rescued at a different venue, writing: "Here's to hoping it's not totally the end but even if it is I'm grateful to have had the life-changing opportunity to play Sonya Karp and gain the support of so many kind fans all over the world. Thank you, love you all, and on to the next."
Meanwhile, reporters confirmed in the process that Peacock has canceled One of Us Is Lying as well. The murder mystery series aired its second season in October of 2022, and the reviews have been generally positive. It's not clear why the show was canceled, which is one of the pitfalls of the streaming era that Kaiser described in her post. Without publicly available viewing data, it's hard to say whether cancellation was justified or not.
Both shows were adaptations of popular novels. Vampire Academy was based on a novel series of the same name written by Richelle Mead. The five novels were published between 2007 and 2010, and a movie adaptation was made in 2014. The movie flopped, making the TV show all the more important to fans who wanted to see the story done right on the screen.
Meanwhile, One of Us Is Lying was based on the 2017 novel of the same name by Karen M. McManus. It told the story of five high schoolers who were in detention together when one of them mysteriously died. It turns out that the other four had a motive to murder him, leading to a drawn-out mystery. In Season 2 the show exceeded the material laid out in the book.
Both shows are still streaming now on Peacock, but there are no new episodes on the way. Fans on social media are rallying for the shows and calling on other streamers to save them.