Question: I am so sorry that Penny Dreadful: City of Angels was canceled. Are there not enough subscribers to Showtime? —Gloria
Matt Roush: Showtime has yet to elaborate on this decision, but I doubt it has anything to do with the size of its subscriber base as much as the size of the audience that chose to tune in. You’d think during a time of quarantine that more subscribers would be inclined to watch new shows on premium services, so it’s possible this new version was just too different from the original Penny Dreadful. I often found the supernatural elements to be an uneasy fit with the social-realism crime stories. I would have liked to see this get another shot as well, but it’s also possible that economic factors during the pandemic played a part in this. At least the original Penny got to end on its own terms, even if it was a surprise to the viewer.
Question: Do you think there’s any way Netflix could reverse its cancellation of Greenhouse Academy, or maybe another network could pick it up? —Joe
Matt Roush: Highly doubtful. It usually works the other way, for Netflix to come to the rescue of a prematurely canceled series. Netflix has a history of dropping shows after three or four seasons, and they’re less in the habit of reversing course.
To submit questions to TV Critic Matt Roush, go to: tvinsider.com