Netflix dumps The Duffer Brothers' The Boroughs after single season

We were pretty warm on The Boroughs, which centers on a group of seniors living in a retirement community who bond over their shared interest in paranormal phenomena and also being played by various excellent character actors of a certain age. (Alfred Molina, Alfre Woodard, Clarke Peters, and Geena Davis all starred, among other well-known vets.) We especially enjoyed Molina’s turn as Sam, the show’s main viewpoint character, who comes to its titular senior community after the death of his wife, and who must contend with both the difficulties of growing older and all these dang monsters running around in mysterious tunnels underneath his feet. 

Netflix was, apparently, less convinced—at least, according to Deadline, which notes that things went from “Maybe we could film two seasons at once!” to “Actually, not so much” pretty quickly after ratings for the series showed that “people over 60 running around and having sci-fi adventures” doesn’t have quite the same draw as heroic Indiana pre-teens doing the same. (The series was also apparently pretty expensive, with a heavy emphasis on pricy special effects.) The biggest surprise, honestly, is that Netflix was willing to risk irritating its former golden geese by making the call: The Duffers have now departed Netflix for Paramount, so other than the lousy animated Stranger Things spin-off Tales From ’85, the streamer won’t be getting any more material from the Hawkins architects any time soon.