Netflix has pulled the plug on the series less than a month after its debut. The streaming giant made the decision to cancel one of the Duffer Brothers' sci-fi series less than a month after it made its debut.
Dubbed as Stranger Things with a senior cast, Netflix's The Boroughs garnered an impressive 5.6 million views in its opening weekend, according to Deadline. However, viewership declined after the first week and there was an indication that long-tail growth would be unlikely.
First released on May 21, the show was met with high praise from viewers who took to IMDb reviews to share their thoughts. One fan said: 'This is outstanding and it's everything that I want in a show and I can't wait for season two... this was just a ton of fun so once again outstanding, outstanding, outstanding.'
Another viewer shared: 'I sat down expecting to watch just one or two episodes, but I ended up binge-watching the entire season in a single day. To me, that's the ultimate sign of a great show. A series doesn't have to be deep, artistic, or ground-breaking to be good—it just has to keep you interested and leave you wanting more.'
A third fan commented: 'A masterpiece! The Boroughs is television gold. A supernatural thriller set in a New Mexico retirement community, it boasts an extraordinary cast. The atmosphere is gorgeous, the writing razor-sharp, and the stakes feel impossibly high.'
Despite the initial rave reviews, the cost of production did not seem to justify the viewership ratings, as Deadline explained: 'Being a spiritual successor to Stranger Things, The Boroughs also involves special effects. The elaborate production, along with its all-star cast, made for a high price tag, something Netflix weighs against viewing when making renewal decisions.'
The Boroughs was the second Duffers-produced paranormal series to launch this year, following Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen. As Something Very Bad Is Going to Happen was considered a limited series, it leaves Netflix with just one new Duffer Brothers series — the animated Stranger Things: Tales from ’85.
The Boroughs is set in a seemingly picturesque retirement community where a group of unlikely heroes are forced to come together to stop an otherworldly threat. Work had already started in the Season 2 writers room before the streamer pulled the plug. Reach has contacted Netflix for comment. The Boroughs season 1 is on Netflix.
