Per The Hollywood Reporter, Freeform has cancelled horror anthology Dead of Summer after one season. The show’s series finale aired this past August.
The cancellation of Dead of Summer means that Freeform went 1-for-4 with its first slate of new dramas, as the series joins murder mystery Guilt and addiction-themed Recovery Road in the cancellation column for the rebranded network. Shadowhunters, which came in with a pre-established fan base from the book series it’s based on, is the only Freeform freshman to receive a renewal this year, which is especially noteworthy due to the impending end of Pretty Little Liars and Switched at Birth. Both series are set to conclude their run in the first half of 2017, meaning that the only veteran dramas the network will have this time next year are The Fosters, currently in its fourth season, and Stitchers, which just recently squeezed out a third season renewal.
From Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis (Once Upon a Time), 80’s-set Dead of Summer took place at Camp Stillwater, a summer camp that had reopened following years of inactivity, and followed the first group of counselors as they uncovered the dark past surrounding the camp. Utilizing Lost-style flashbacks to flesh out the backstories of the counselors, a potential second season of the show would have jumped back in time to the 70’s and followed the camp director from season one’s time as a counselor.
The series starred Elizabeth Mitchell (Lost), Elizabeth Lail (Once Upon a Time), Eli Goree (The 100), Mark Indelicato (Ugly Betty), Amber Coney (Mother, May I Sleep with Danger?), Alberto Frezza (Shotgun Diaries), Ronen Rubenstein (Orange Is the New Black), Paulina Singer (The Intern), and Zelda Williams (The Legend of Korra).
Will you miss Dead of Summer? What type of dramas would you like to see Freeform go after next? In what shape will the network be once Switched at Birth and Pretty Little Liars conclude their runs next year?
