Since 2021, many have indulged in the American dramedy that was Netflix’s Sex/Life. After airing for two seasons, it was recently reported by Deadline that the streamer had canceled the show. This also comes almost five weeks after season two had concluded. With this most recent rise of audiences interested in the drama genre, many hypothesize there might be more to this than numbers alone.
Sex/Life was the work of Stacy Rukeyser (UnREAL, Standoff) who brought the idea to Netflix to create into a series. This is an adaptation of the memoir 44 Chapters About 4 Men by BB Easto (Praying for Rain, Suit) which tells the story of a love triangle between a woman, her husband, and her past that takes a provocative new look at female identity and desire. via. Deadline
Along with Rukeyser, J. Miles Dale (The Shape of Water, Harnold and Kumar go to White Castle) and Jordan Hawley (Smallville, A Million Little Things) work alongside her as executive producers. The series stars Sarah Shahi (Black Adam, Alias), Mike Vogel (The Help,The Brave), Adam Demos (Rescue Special Ops, Janet King), and Margaret Odette (Elementary, Step Up: High Water) amongst others.
The first season premiered on June 25th, 2021, and ran through September of that year. It had received enough attention to warrant a second season. However, it was reported by Deadline that there were many roadblocks and detours regarding the production and reception of the second season. Most of it stems from the availability of Shahi since she was cast as the lead in ABC’s Judgement.
She spoke with Deadline and mentioned that, “I definitely did not have the support that I did the first season…I’m not going to put it [the show] down, but I definitely did not have the support that I did the first season from the people involved in the show.” She also predicted that she was “never gonna work for Netflix again now after saying all this.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Demos did not see the final episode of season two as the finale for the entire series. He says, “The episode was never intended to be a series finale, that’s for sure…I know there are always more stories to tell with these characters in the Sex/Life universe, and I hope we get the chance to tell those stories. It was important that we get to a meaningful place with each character this season.”
Some also pointed out that the show had not received the ratings it had hoped. Looking on Rotten Tomatoes, the show has rating of 21% on the tomatometer and a 47% for its audience score as well as an overall rating of 5.5/10 on IMDb. Although recent episodes had been better received, many seem to be otherwise satisfied enough for the ending of Sex/Life season two.
From The Hollywood Reporter, they reference Netflix’s internal data and found that season two drew a global audience of 126.8 million hours of viewer time from March 2-26. After that, it fell from the top 10 English-language series for the streamer. Further analysis shows that’s down about 45 percent from season one’s 232.79 million hours over a similar time frame.
According to Deadline, they reference a Netflix spokesperson who mentions how the second season brought the series to a natural close, wrapping up the storylines for key characters whose relationships come to a happy conclusion. They proceed to go on and add that the streamer is proud of the show and the work put into it by the producers, cast and crew.
Meanwhile, Rukeyser is reportedly working with Netflix on another untitled project as of now. Shahi will continue her work with ABC on Judgement as well. Besides that, you can watch the trailer for Sex/Life season two down below.