There is no shortage of great shows that get the ax long before then they should. It really doesn't matter if the show is on a network, cable, or a streamer. Anyone can cancel a show too early. Netflix is notorious for this. They even spent a whopping $120 on a show they canceled after the first season. Of course, that's not to say that many shows aren't deserving of being cut from the slate. But some shows aren't meant for massive success. Some should be allowed to keep their dedicated cult-like fanbase and keep going until the creator finds a rewarding ending. This is definitely the case with Bored To Death.
The Jason Schwartzman, Ted Danson, and Zach Galifianakis comedy, which was very, very, very loosely based on creator Jonathan Ames' life, followed a comedy writer who moonlights as a private investigator. Critics liked it but didn't love it. The show didn't find a huge audience, even though it aired on HBO on 2009 - 2011 right after Larry David's wildly successful Curb Your Enthusiasm. But people did gravitate to it. Very dedicated people, in fact. So much so that fans tried (and failed) to get HBO to go back on their decision to cancel the series.
In an interview with Vulture, creator Jonathan Ames shed some light on why HBO decided to cancel his show and how he really feels about it ending before he felt it should've...
Where Can You Watch Bored To Death?
HBO Max subscribers will be able to watch Bored to Death for free on the streamer. Basic HBO Max plans are available for $10/month or $100/year, and ad-free packages are available for $15/month or $150/year.
Did Jonathan Ames Know Bored To Death Would Get Canceled?
Not long after Bored To Death was canceled, Jonathan Ames told Vulture that he was in "a numb state". And a lot of this was due to the fact that it was no surprise that HBO was going to end his series.
"In years past, I’d be told to get to work on the next season by mid-November, so I knew for a while it wasn’t looking great," Jonathan admitted. "I kind of feel like I’ve been in the stages of mourning: denial, teeth gnashing, acceptance, confusion — wait, that’s not one of the stages, is it? The show was like a Summer Stock theater group to me. We’d all get together for three months and get incredibly close. It was sort of like the circus life. And our friendship was somewhat based on this shared purpose, so it’s sad to lose that. When I told Ted Danson the news, he said, 'I can’t believe we’re not going to get together and laugh for three months.'"
Why Was Bored To Death Canceled?
One of the main reasons why people believed HBO canceled Bored To Death had to do with its subject matter. Mainly bits about uncomfortably close relationships between siblings. However, Jonathan claimed that this had nothing to do with the show getting canceled. And certainly, anyone who has seen Game of Thrones knows that HBO doesn't care about delving into this taboo subject.
"The in*est didn’t have anything to do with it. HBO said they were pleased with the show, creatively, so I always had hope there was room in the budget for us. But Sunday night is their night. They don’t have a lot of room for their original programming on the schedule, and being on Monday nights was a problem. That’s never a good night for HBO, in the sense of traditional live viewership, since you’re going up against Two and a Half Men and Monday Night Football. And I totally understand the whole thing of not wanting to sit down when someone tells you to. But if you count all the DVR, HBO Go [now HBO Max], replay viewership, we were in the millions. That’s one of the things that’s annoyed me a little bit about the coverage of the cancellation — the numbers were not weak. We’ve done extremely well in nontraditional viewership, and we’ve had a very generous critical response. Maybe we need to change the model."
Jonathan Ames On Petitions To Save The Show
Despite multiple petitions to save the show, HBO stuck with the decision to end Bored To Death. While Jonathan Ames said he was touched by the petition, he simply didn't think they'd do much. But he does hope that his characters live on in some capacity.
"Hopefully no matter what happens, they’ll live in the audience’s minds, like they’re still out there, getting stoned and screwing up. Half seeing, half blind." Jonathan said before explaining how he wanted to turn his ideas for season four into a movie or a comic. But that doesn't exactly heal the wound of the cancelation.
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