As reported by Deadline, Amazon Prime Video has decided not to renew Paper Girls for second season. The science fiction series with a young female main cast premiered on July 27, a whole month after Netflix’s smash Stranger Things dropped its fourth season, a show Paper Girls was compared to because of its 1980s period setting.
Unlike Stranger Things, Paper Girls followed four female best friends who found themselves entwined in a war between two factions that transcended the rules of time. Based on the graphic novel written by Brian K. Vaughan (Y: The Last Man, Saga) and designed by artist Cliff Chiang (Catwoman: Lonely City, Wonder Woman), Paper Girls starred Camryn Jones (Pacific Rim: The Black, Created Equal), Riley Lai Nelet (Altered Carbon, Generation), Sofia Rosinksy (Fast Layne, A Wake) and Fina Strazza (A Christmas Melody, A Little Game). Ali Wong (Always Be My Maybe, Ali Wong: Baby Cobra) also co-starred.
Despite the series never breaking into Nielsen’s weekly streaming rankings, the show was spectacularly received by both critics and viewers. According to Deadline, Rotten Tomatoes listed the show had a 90% rating from critics, closely followed by an audience score of 88%. The series may have gotten lost in the marketing hype of Prime Video’s billion-dollar investment, The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power series which debuted on September 2.
Deadline reports the production studio, Legendary Television, is looking to shop the series to new network. Legendary produces in conjunction with Amazon Studios and Plan B. The series was created by Stephany Folsom (LOTR: Rings of Power, King Kong) who served as co-showrunner with executive producer, Christopher C. Rogers (Halt and Catch Fire, Off the Grid). Folsom departed the series during production. Additional executive producers included Christopher Cantwell (She Could Fly, The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance), Steven Prinz (Them, Woman of the Year), Chiang, and Vaughan.
All eight episodes of Paper Girls can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.