Netflix has reversed its Season 2 renewal decision for The Society. The YA drama, whose production was impacted by COVID-19, has been canceled and won’t film a second season. Additionally, Netflix has opted not to proceed with a second season of another coming-of-age series, I Am Not Okay With This.
While there had been no official renewal, I hear comedy-drama I Am Not Okay With This had been quietly picked up for a second season, scripts were written, and it was fully on track to go into production.
The Society was renewed last summer for a second season, which had been slated to premiere in late 2020. I hear the delayed season had been eyeing potential start of filming next month.
According to sources, uncertainty around production dates and balancing the availabilities of a large cast like The Society, coupled with unexpected budget increases due to COVID led to the decisions on The Society and I Am Not Okay With This, which had been both well received by critics and fans and had strong support at Netflix.
“We’ve made the difficult decision not to move forward with second seasons of The Society and I Am Not Okay With This,” Netflix said in a statement to Deadline. “We’re disappointed to have to make these decisions due to circumstances created by COVID, and we are grateful to these creators, including: Jonathan Entwistle, Christy Hall, Shawn Levy, Dan Levine, Dan Cohen and Josh Barry at 21 Laps Entertainment for I Am Not Okay With This; Chris Keyser, Marc Webb and Pavlina Hatoupis for The Society; and all the writers, casts and crews who worked tirelessly to make these shows for our members around the world.”
This is something we will likely see more of as the months-long Hollywood shutdown due to the pandemic will create a logjam when trying to ease all series impacted by the shutdown back into production while mitigating higher production costs due to strict COVID-19 safety protocols and losses from the pandemic. Streamers and tech companies in general have been better positioned than traditional media companies in navigating the financial impact from the pandemic.