Netflix Cancels The Get Down

Low viewership and production troubles reportedly led to the decision.

By Jordan Sirani

Baz Luhrmann's The Get Down has by cancelled by Netflix after one season.

Variety reports the series didn't attract the level of viewership Netflix has come to expect from its original series. In its first 31 days, Part 1 of The Get Down's debut season drew 3.2 million US viewers in the 18-49 demographic. Its troubled production and high production cost - reportedly over $120 million (making it Netflix's second most-expensive series behind The Crown) - also factored into the decision, according to the report.

Luhrmann took to Facebook to express his feelings on the cancellation, saying "...the spirit of The Get Down, and the story it has begun to tell... it has its own life. One that lives on today and will continue to be told somewhere, somehow...." The filmmaker said various suggestions have been made on how to continue the story, including a stage show.

The Get Down Season 1, Part 1 debuted last August. IGN's review said, "It's a show that gets better as it goes along, most definitely, as most of the initial glitz seen in the pilot falls away in place of a more solid story." Part 2 of Season 1 followed in April and was called a "shorter, messier affair that got a bit too consumed with cartoons and melodrama" in IGN's review.

While The Get Down won't be returning to Netflix, the streaming giant has plenty of other original series returning or debuting next month, including Orange Is the New Black, GLOW, Flaked, and The Ranch.

Jordan is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @jdsirani.

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