Freeform’s Praise Petey has been canceled after just one season. Via The Hollywood Reporter, Anna Drezen (Comedy Central Stand-Up Featuring), the show’s creator, posted to social media to share the news, writing, “I have heard that making a non-IP show during covid that premieres during a double strike in the dead of summer was not ideal for viewership.”
The show’s introduction to Freeform was a decision made by the head of originals, Jamila Hunter, in 2021 as she wanted to segue the network’s content towards animation. Since 2021, Freeform has axed Single Drunk Female, which ran for two seasons, and The Watchful Eye, which ran for only one season. The Good Trouble, Cruel Summer, and Grown-ish are the last three scripted shows Freeform has decided to keep. Praise Petey aired on Freeform from July to August of this year, with ten episodes in its debut season. Three months after the conclusion of the first season, Freeform pulled the plug on the show. Disney owns Freeform as well as two-thirds of Hulu. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the decision to cancel Praise Petey might be a decision motivated by Disney looking to cut their costs by another two billion dollars.
Praise Petey featured Annie Murphy (Schitt’s Creek), as Petra, also known as Petey, Anna Drezen as Ella, John Cho (Star Trek Beyond), as Bandit, Kiersey Clemons (Austin & Ally), as Eliza, and more. The show follows Petey, a wealthy socialite from New York who is told she inherited a town called New Utopia from her newly deceased father. When she arrives in New Utopia, she discovers she has inherited her father’s cult that he was a leader of. The citizens are overtaken with joy when Petey arrives, since all they want is someone to mindlessly follow. Petey decides it’s time to ditch the cult mentality and make New Utopia normal.
For those with Hulu subscriptions, the first season of Praise Petey is available for streaming.