Summary
- Shining Vale, a Courteney Cox-led horror-comedy series, has been canceled by Starz after two seasons due to low viewership.
- The series, which had a reasonable viewership of 228,000 for its premiere, experienced a significant drop in viewership for its second season.
- Despite the cancelation, co-creator Jeff Astrof expressed hope that another streaming platform may pick up the show, as he has already started working on scripts for a potential third season.
Courteney Cox-led horror-comedy series Shining Vale has had its light extinguished as Starz canceled the series after just two seasons. Produced by Warner Bros. TV, the series was expected to be renewed for a third season, with co-creator Jeff Astrof having already started working on new scripts, but according to sources, viewership of the series was not high enough to warrant another season.
Shining Vale premiered on March 6, 2022, to generally positive reviews and a reasonable viewership of 228,000 on Starz. Centering on the Phelps family, the series finds the family moving to a small town after Patricia (Cox) is caught having an affair. However, the house that the family move to has a history of terrible events taking place within its walls. Soon, Pat begins to feel disillusioned with life, and the demons haunting the house become much more real as she struggles to find fulfillment. The first season won the Saturn Award for Best Fantasy Television Series: Network/Cable, and gained nominations for Cox and Gus Birney in acting categories.
However, the second season suffered a huge drop in viewer numbers, with later episodes dropping as low as 43000, leading to the decision to put the show out of its misery. Additionally, both seasons of the series will be removed from the platform by the end of the year. In response to the cancelation, Astrof shared a message on his Instagram account suggesting anyone wanting to see the show should do so quickly before it vanishes. In an exclusive statement obtained by Variety, Astrof said:
“Given all the real heart-breaking news going on in the world right now, it would be inappropriate for me to say I’m heartbroken about Starz not picking up ‘Shining Vale’ for a Season 3. However, I have no problem saying I am crushed and deeply saddened by the news. For the actors, it has been a year since we wrapped, but I have been working on writing Season 3 up until I heard the news last week.”
Could Shining Vale Be Saved By Another Streamer?
It is not uncommon for popular TV shows to be saved by other streaming platforms if it is believed there is enough of an audience to warrant it. In his statement, Astrof shared his hopes that this could be the case for Shining Vale. He added:
“Okay, maybe I am heartbroken — dammit! Of course, I’m hoping another streamer picks the show up as we still have lots of story to tell — and Season 3 has already been partially written. In any case, I am beyond grateful to have been able to tell the saga of the Phelps for the past two seasons.”
Whether the future of Shining Vale is bright or permanently dimmed is yet to be seen, but the viewing figures may not be enough for anyone else to be interested in carrying on with the Phelps’ story. With a mix of horror and comedy, the series was always going to appeal to a select audience, and it could certainly find that on another platform if given the chance, but for the moment, fans will have to be quick to rewatch the two available seasons on Starz before the show is exorcised from the platform on December 31.
