Similar to the recent content cancellations at HBO Max, AMC Networks has announced they will not proceed with the second season of the legal drama series, 61st Street, via Deadline. The network will also scrap the planned series Invitation To A Bonfire. AMC recently canceled the sci-fi drama Moonhaven under similar pretenses.
Variety first reported the two shows’ terminations were announced in December 2022 as tax write-offs amounting to savings of up to $475 million dollars. The budget cuts were attributed to “strategic programming assessments” and “organizational restructuring costs,” according to an SEC filing. Interim executive chairman James Dolan warned staff of upcoming cutbacks.
“We are primarily a content company and the mechanisms for the monetization of content are in disarray,” Dolan stated in a December memo via Variety. The memo was sent after former CEO, Christina Spade, departed the position after a three-month stint. Dolan also warned of company-wide layoffs in addition to cutbacks.
61st Street aired its first season in April of 2022, with a second season – completely filmed – already promised with its 2019 series order, via Deadline. The series starred Courtney B. Vance (Lovecraft Country, Law and Order: Criminal Intent) as a Chicago public defender who challenges the unjust criminal system when a promising high school athlete is implicated in a police officer’s death. The series also starred Vance’s Lovecraft Country co-star, Aunjanue Ellis. The series was created by Peter Moffat (Your Honor, Silk) with Vance and Michael B. Jordan (Creed 3, Just Mercy) listed as executive producers.
According to Variety, Invitation To a Bonfire was based on the novel by Adrienne Celt and revolved around a bewitching love triangle at an all-girls boarding school in 1930s New Jersey. The series, which had filmed four of six episodes, follows a young immigrant woman’s twisted relationship with a charismatic novelist and his wife. The series created by Rachel Caris Love (Blindspot, Physical) starred Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black, Perry Mason), Pilou Asbaek (Game of Thrones, A War), and Ngozi Anyanwu (Limitless, Women to Kill).
Despite AMC not airing either series, Variety reports both shows could be licensed to appear on other platforms in the future. The first season of 61st Street can be streamed on AMC+.