Apple TV+ cancels 'High Desert' after only one season
A second season of the Apple TV+ dark comedy "High Desert" is not on the way, with star Patricia Arquette and executive producer Ben Stiller confirming the show's come to a premature end.
!['High Desert' [Apple TV+]](https://photos5.appleinsider.com/gallery/55196-112090-53846-108299-000-lead-High-Desert-xl-xl.jpg)
'High Desert' [Apple TV+]
Apple TV+ started to air "High Desert" from May 17, but it hasn't taken the streaming service long to reject the show. In a post to Instagram, Arquette confirmed that the show has been cancelled by Apple, and that a second season's not happening.
Calling it a "sad bummer," Arquette had "just found out" that the show wasn't returning. The actress then proceeds to thank the cast and crew, before declaring "you can't win them all."
Confirming Arquette's video message, Stiller took to Twitter to say "We are all disappointed," then called the cast amazing and thanked fans "for embracing this show." "I LOVE Patricia Arquette, who gave an awards worthy performance," Stiller adds.
While the loss of a second season isn't good news, Stiller does offer a silver lining to the affair, in that the show won't be removed from view down the road.
"Unlike other streamers these days I'm told they will not be removing any shows. So you can enjoy the first season in perpetuity," writes Stiller.
The producer's comment refers to actions by other streaming services, including HBO Max and Disney Plus, to remove shows from their catalogs. The moves are made typically as a cost-cutting measure by the services.
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Comments
What, they can’t afford the hard disk space?
Check out: https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/calculating-sag-residuals-17706/
the trouble with second, third and fourth seasons etc is that usually the writers can’t think of a story. Or they get new writers in. Never ends well.
it’s what the Koreans do.
While some of the characters were interesting and well created and cast, they didn't go anywhere. Did you ever want to know any of these people in real life? Not a one. I blame the writers for this one. Did I really need to see Patricia Arquette take drugs one more time? How many times did the writers write the line "Give me one more chance..."? Did I need to hear about a bad boob job every episode? It wasn't just bad writing, it was lazy writing as if a committee was trying to figure out where to take the show and nobody agreed. It just sat there as a miserable place with miserable unlikable people. Canceling the show was the most honest thing about it.
But if you only have 90 minutes to run a movie, or 2-3 or 20 seasons of 10-12 hour-long episodes, which will make you more money?
and like House, Arquette just walks in like this Sherlock Holmes super hero and gets the job done. How did she become like that? The whole show wanted to be a dark comedy, but to me it came across as campy tropes that made me roll my eyes.
Agreed. I like when the story arc has been thought through and the creative team has an end game. One of the benefits of the streaming renaissance has been the increased implementation of of the limited series, what used to be called a mini-series. Some stories need more than a movie but don't need 100 episodes. Apple's Blackbird is an excellent example. 6 Episodes. Story told in 6 or 10 or whatever episodes and then done.
I like and watch a lot of what's on Apple TV+, and really wanted to like High Desert, but gave up after slogging through 4 or 5 eps. Love Patricia Arquette, but not this character, who felt dialed up to 11 by the writers who then kept her there. For me, she became one note and exhausting, especially since she carries the bulk of the show's dialogue.