Peacock Exec Addresses Cancellations of Vampire Academy, One of Us Is Lying
Paul Dailly
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Fans of Vampire Academy and One of Us Is Lying were left reeling last month when Peacock canceled the two YA dramas.
While details were scarce about their performances on the streaming service, we now have some insight into the cancellations.
Susan Rovner, who oversees entertainment content at NBCUniversal TV and streaming, opened up about the controversial decisions during an appearance on The Hollywood Reporter's TV's Top 5 podcast.
"Both One of Us Is Lying and Vampire Academy I hold up as excellent, quality shows," Rovner shared.
"I think [Vampire Academy co-creator] Julie Plec is really, truly one of the best showrunners, and she did a phenomenal, phenomenal job on that show."
"I'm really, really proud of it."
Rovner said it might have been "too soon" for Peacock to focus on YA content.
"I think what we realized is we have to get the parents [watching Peacock] before we get the teens," she said.
"And I'm really hoping that once we get the parents with shows like Poker Face and shows like [The] Traitors, that we will be able to do a show like Vampire Academy a few years from now."
"Unfortunately, the timing really wasn't right, and we didn't have the scale yet to support bringing in a young adult audience for that show."
"But it has nothing to do with the quality of either show."
Rovner went on to speak about the decision to cancel Dead Day despite a series order.
The highly-anticipated series would have reunited Julie Plec and Kevin Williamson.
"It was more of a creative decision," Rovner said.
"Just from looking at what we thought would work on the platform, we just ultimately didn't think that Dead Day completely fit it."
"Having Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec working together was a dream, and I'm definitely hoping we can figure out another project that will work for the platform, because I want to work with them forever."
Despite the cancellations of Vampire Academy and One of Us Lying, they are being shopped to other platforms.
What are your thoughts on the cancellations?
Paul Dailly was an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic.Follow him on X.
