Showtime has announced that they will be canceling their anthology series The First Lady after only one season, according to Variety. The cancellation of the series comes just six weeks after the network aired the show’s season one finale.
“Showtime can confirm that the anthology series The First Lady will not be moving forward with another season,” a Showtime spokesperson said, per Variety. “We would like to applaud the artistry and commitment of our showrunner Cathy Schulman, director Susanne Bier, their fellow executive producers, our amazing cast, led by executive producer Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson, and our studio partner Lionsgate for their dedicated work in telling the unique stories of three remarkable leaders.”
The First Lady starred a cast filled with notable names including Davis (The Help), Pfeiffer (The Fabulous Baker Boys), Anderson (The Spy Who Dumped Me), O-T Fagbenle (I Could Never Be Your Woman), Dakota Fanning (Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), Lily Rabe (Tell Me Your Secrets), Regina Taylor (I’ll Fly Away), Kiefer Sutherland (The Lost Boys), and Aaron Eckhart (London Has Fallen). The first season of the show followed the political and private lives of Eleanor Roosevelt, played by Anderson, Betty Ford, played by Pfeiffer, and Michelle Obama, played by Davis.
The show’s first season did not receive strong reviews, only scoring a 41% among critic reviews and a 58% among audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes.
The First Lady was produced for Lionsgate Television and created by Aaron Cooley (The Phantom Of The Opera). Schulman (Tears Of The Sun), Bier (In A Better World), Cooley, Davis, Julius Tennon (Friday Night Lights), Andrew Wang (The Nine Lives Of Chloe King), Pavlina Hatoupis (White Bird In A Blizzard), Alyson Feltes (The Alienist), Jeff Gaspin (To Tell The Truth), and Brad Kaplan (Look Away) all served as executive producers. Bier directed all ten episodes.