FOX has officially cancelled music industry drama Star after three seasons, it was confirmed today.
The reason for the cancellation has less to do with ratings, which have been impressively steady for the series in the wake of Empire‘s declines, and more to do with off-network issues. Surprisingly on the bubble last season, Star‘s an expensive show to produce and doesn’t have much of an international presence, so even with solid L+SD ratings, it doesn’t generate enough income to support itself. With FOX losing its sister studio (which produces the show) while trying to rebrand its scripted slate, something like Star is an unfortunately easy cancellation for them.
What remains to be seen is whether another platform will take the show on. It has star power in Queen Latifah and series creator/executive producer Lee Daniels, while its performances on Hulu and social media suggest an engaged audience. It’ll all come down to whether an outlet will want to assume the show’s hefty budget, whether there’s a way to cut budget while keeping the show’s creative integrity in tact, and whether it being owned by 20th Century Fox will come back to bite it.
The series finale of Star aired earlier this week on FOX.
