TV Upfront Presentation season is upon us, which is the time of year when the networks (including now the streaming platforms) put on a song and dance for ad companies, hoping to sell sell sell. The Upfronts also give fans and industry folks an idea of what’s coming up on the fall slates of the major networks (the bulk of the Upfronts will happen the week of May 16th), including what shows have been cancelled or renewed.
Today, we’re getting our first fairly solid news from the presentations from Hulu, which has announced it will be renewingThe Pathfor Season 2, andThe Mindy Projectfor Season 5. Hulu held the streaming rights to Fox’sMindy Projectwhen it decided to not renew the series for Season 4, which is when Hulu picked it up for more episodes (a natural fit, and one reason fans were hoping Amazon, who owns the streaming rights forHannibal, might revive that series. Sadly not the case). Though Hulu doesn’t share viewing numbers, it’s clear thatMindyhas been doing well enough to warrant another season.
As forThe Path, I’m not hugely surprised that Hulu is renewing it in order to keep up its slate of original programming.The Pathis good— it’s slow, and it’s fully a character study anchored with amazing actors (Aaron Paul,Hugh Dancy,Michelle Monaghan) — but nobody is talking about it. As Hulu chose to do with theStephen Kingminiseries11.22.63, starringJames Franco(which I alsoreally liked), episodes are released on a weekly basis instead of all at once. While maybe that is paying off with viewers in the long run, it seems to have killed any momentum the shows might have had (and deserve to have) in social conversation. Both shows are great for binge-watching, and while Hulu may have wanted to distinguish themselves by not making all episodes available at once, it still seems like a mistake to release one a week like the old broadcast model.
If you are one of the ones who forgot aboutThe Path(when you can’t add streaming services to your DV-R list, it can be a problem!) let this serve as your reminder to give it another go. Or if you prefer, the finally airs May 25th, after which all episodes will be available to binge (11.22.63has also finished up, so the same is true for it).
In other news, Hulu also announced that it will be bringing back Triumph, the Insult Comic Dog with an Election Special slated to debut nearer the Presidential election.Robert Smigelwill be returning as the voice of Triumph, and I am sure there will be a wealth of material for him to lampoon.
Back to what’s been renewed or cancelled, you’re able to check out the complete list of over 150 scripted series and their fates with our handyTV Lifeline.
