Santa Clarita Diet Officially Canceled After Three Seasons, Netflix Confirms

Sheila and Joels undead-ever-after just got that much shorter. Netflix dropped the axe on yet another of its original series, as Santa Clarita Diet becomes the latest show canceled by what appears to be an increasingly cutthroat model.

“The world had never known a zom-com until Santa Clarita Diet, and were indebted to creator Victor Fresco for bringing this idea to Netflix,” the streaming service stated of its latest cancellation. “To their endless credit, the incredible Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant were totally game, with an uncanny knack for comedy that brought Sheila and Joel Hammond to vibrant life, even though one of them was undead. Were grateful to Victor, Drew, and Timothy, along with fellow executive producers Tracy Katsky, Aaron Kaplan, Chris Miller and Ember Truesdell and the terrific cast, including Liv Hewson and Skyler Gisondo, and crew for three hilarious seasons for Netflix members to discover for years to come.”

The series—whose initially guarded premise featured Barrymore as a realtor stricken by an eccentric version of a zombie virus—is the latest Netflix series to be given its walking papers after three seasons. The recent cancellation of rebooted critical darling One Day At A Time drew attention to Netflixs apparent habit of greenlighting just enough seasons of a given series to attract new subscribers, before pulling the plug. According to Deadline, the three-season model is no accident: the trade writes that Netflixs typical deal to pay a given series production costs up front grows increasingly expensive after a third season—often making future episodes unsustainable unless a show is a major breakout success. Netflix famously declines to release official viewership data, though Santa Clarita Diets recent third season ranks at 100 percent on Read More – Source

Vanity Fair