Peacock Exec Defends Recent Young Adult Series Cancellations

02/03/2023 11:27 pm EST

Peacock has made headlines for a number of surprising cancellations lately, with the relatively-new streaming service axing some surprising high-profile shows. Among them are two projects from The Vampire Diaries alum Julie Plec — a new take on the YA franchise Vampire Academy, which wrapped its first season last year, as well as an in-development adaptation of Aftershock Comics' Dead Day. In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter's TV's Top 5 podcast, Susan Rovner, the chairman of entertainment content at NBCUniversal TV and streaming, spoke about the cancellation of both shows, and attributed the decision to an inability to capture their target young adult demographics.

"I have a history with Julie and Kevin from my Warner days," Rovner explained. "Both One of Us Is Lying and Vampire Academy, the takeaway was that it was too soon to put those shows up on the platform. What we realized is we have to get the parents before we get the teens. And I'm hoping that once we get the parents with shows like Poker Face and shows like Traitors, that we will be able to do a show like Vampire Academy a few years from now. The timing wasn't right. We didn't have the skill yet to support bringing in a young adult audience."

"It was more of a creative decision," Rovner said of the Dead Day decision. "We ultimately didn't think that completely fit the platform. I'm hoping we can figure out another project that will work for the platform; I want to work with them forever."

What is Dead Day about?

Dead Day follows an ensemble of characters as they navigate the annual 'dead day,' when for one night the dead come back to complete unfinished business, be that to celebrate a night back on earth or to torment the living. 

Parrott was set to serve as a consulting producer on the series, with executive producers also including Ben Fast, Emily Cummins and Lee Kramer as well as AfterShock Media's Jon Kramer and David Sigurani.

What is Vampire Academy about?

From executive producers Julie Plec & Marguerite MacIntyre comes a story of friendship, romance, and danger. In a world of privilege and glamour, two young women's friendship transcends their strikingly different classes as they prepare to complete their education and enter vampire society. One as a powerful Royal, the other a half-vampire Guardian trained to protect against the savage "Strigoi" who threaten to tear their society apart. That is, if Royal infighting doesn't do the job first. The series starred Sisi Stringer, Daniela Nieves, Kieron Moore, Andre Dae Kim, J. August Richards, Anita-Joy Uwajeh, Mia Mckenna-Bruce, Rhian Blundell, Jonetta Kaiser and Andrew Liner.

"I don't think we really left anything out because what was great about nine was nine sort of feels like a finale. I think if we had ended at nine it could have been a good finale," MacIntyre previously told ComicBook.com. "So, it felt like it allowed 10 to be the thing that tees up season two and pay some things off and tees some things up. Like the goal is to finish the episode and be like, 'I cannot wait to see where all these stories go.'"

What do you think of Peacock cancelling Vampire Academy and Dead Day? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!

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