The second season of “Shining Vale” will serve as the final season on Starz — though co-creator Jeff Astrof has begun writing a third season and is holding onto hope that the series will find another home.
The Season 2 finale of the horror comedy, produced by Warner Bros. TV, aired on Dec. 1. Not only will the show be cut by the network, the first two seasons will be removed from the streaming service at the end of the year.
An insider tells PvNew that “Shining Vale” did not find a large enough audience to continue.
Astrof shared the news via Instagram on Wednesday, sharing a cast photo captioned, “What an absolute joy I had working on this show. Not a single bad day. Please watch the STARZ (turns out limited) series Shining Vale by 12/31.”
In an exclusive statement given to PvNew, Astrof said, “Given all the real heart-breaking news going on in the world right now, it would be inappropriate for me to say I’m heartbroken about Starz not picking up ‘Shining Vale’ for a Season 3. However, I have no problem saying I am crushed and deeply saddened by the news. For the actors, it has been a year since we wrapped, but I have been working on writing Season 3 up until I heard the news last week.”
He went on to thank the cast and crew, along with co-creator Horgan and “all the incredible female writers and directors who have helped create the unique tone of the show.”
He ended the statement with a personal sentiment: “Okay, maybe I amheartbroken — dammit! Of course, I’m hoping another streamer picks the show up as we still have lots of story to tell — and Season 3 has already been partially written. In any case, I am beyond grateful to have been able to tell the saga of the Phelps for the past two seasons.”
The series, created by Astrof and Sharon Horgan, centers on a family that moves to a small town into a haunted house — except no one sees the ghosts except the unfulfilled matriarch Pat, portrayed by Courteney Cox, at least in the first Season. During the second season, her daughter, portrayed by Gus Birney, also begins to see hauntings.
Mira Sorvino, who appeared as ghost Rosemary, in the first season, played multiple characters in the second installment. The series also stars Greg Kinnear, Judith Ligth and Merrin Dungey.
Cox previously opened up about joining something so different, telling PvNew she was drawn to the mix of comedy and horror. “I mean, that’s just something you don’t ever think of and [Sharon] actually coined this phrase that she wanted to be like a ‘shit-com,'” she said. “That was a big draw for me. I read the script and thought, ‘I haven’t read anything like this.’”
