Starz Cancels 'Now Apocalypse' After Just 1 Season

One of Starz's strangest shows has been brought to an end after just one season. Now Apocalypse, [...]

By Andrew Roberts

One of Starz's strangest shows has been brought to an end after just one season. Now Apocalypse, the science fiction relationship comedy from filmmaker Gregg Araki, won't be returning to continue its strange journey featuring alien abduction, sexual encounters and much more.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Starz COO Jeffrey Hirsch announced at the Television Critics Association press tour that the network wouldn't bring the show back despite being satisfied with the show's quality.

The show got positive reviews and had a devoted fan base as one of the more sexually progressive series on TV, but its ratings left Starz looking for more. It averaged around 89,000 viewers for first showing with two episodes cracking into six figures according to THR. But Starz also released the entire season on their streaming platform following the television premiere, with a lot of viewers choosing to tune in that way or through DVR views.

Araki is best known for his films like The Living End, Smiley Face, Kaboom, and an adaptation of the novel Mysterious Skin. Many fans and critics online shared their thoughts on the cancellation and the unique place it occupied for a short period.

"Gregg Araki being able to do whatever the hell he wanted on television was never anything I could have anticipated," Scott Tobias wrote on Twitter.

"RIP Now Apocalypse. You were a beautiful summer fling of a show," writer Brandon T. Snider added.

"This was not really a show built for a 150-episode run. But I appreciated the hell out of its sexy weirdness," THR critic Daniel Fienberg wrote.

Some also made clear that losing a series with such great LGBTQ representation was a disappointment, even if the show may live on as a cult hit.

"[Now Apocalypse] has just been canceled, but I'm sure people will come back to it in the future as a cult classic," David Opie wrote on Twitter. "Just when I thought Gregg Araki's brilliance was finally being recognised by the mainstream, he's pushed right back out to the fringes. LGBTQ TV deserves better."

Some fans even threatened to cancel their Starz subscription due to the network's decision.

"In this climate, canceling one of the most sexually progressive shows on television and creating another black hole where that representation briefly was is...gross," a disappointed viewer shared.

"[Now Apocalypse] is the reason I got a Starz account and now they wanna cancel it??!!" another wrote.

Luckily fans can still tune in and stream the series on Starz, catching up with how fans are upset it won't return.

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