Netflix has cancelled the second season of its urban musical The Get Down after numerous production delays and lack of cohesion among the showrunner and writing staff.
The Get Down, which chronicled the emergence of hip hop as disco’s lights faded to black, was the only Netflix original series be canceled after only one season.
The series drew lackluster ratings and was the network’s most expensive, with the first 12-episodes costing about $190 million.
Filmed on location in the South Bronx, The Get Down featured a teenage tagging crew on the burgeoning hip-hop scene in the late 1970s.
The production delays, staffing changes and infighting wore thin on co-creator Baz Luhrmann’s patience.
The filmmaker complained that the confines of television didn’t work well for him or the TV series.
“At every step of the way there was no precedent for what we were doing,” he said in an interview with Vulture magazine.
When Luhrmann made himself scarce at the start of the 2nd season, Sony and Netflix made it clear they were unwilling to bankroll the production without his input as show runner.
Luhrmann was apologetic but uncommitted to season 2 full time.
“It kills me that I can’t split myself into two and make myself available to both productions. But the simple truth is, I make movies,” he said.
