SYFY has officially dropped the ax on two more of their shows, canceling Happy! after two seasons and Deadly Class after its first. Debuting in 2017, Happy! was met with positive reviews. The dark comedy starred Christopher Meloni as Nick Sax, a former detective turned hitman who, after a heart attack, finds himself able to see a flying cartoon unicorn named Happy. Voiced by Patton Oswalt (Agents of SHIELD), Happy and Nick, team up to rescue an abducted girl. The show was based on a comic by Grant Morrison, who also co-created the series. The series was picked up for a second series which finished only a few weeks ago. Despite a slower start, the second season mostly retained the first's quality.
Deadly Class was also adapted from a graphic novel series. Created by Remender and Wesley Craig, the comic was set in the late-1980s and revolved around King's Dominion, an elite private academy where students are trained to become assassins. Developed by Remender himself, the show was a faithful, aesthetically-pleasing adaptation that offered a decent blend of 80s nostalgia and comic-book violence. Produced by Avengers: Endgame directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, and starring To All The Boys I Loved Before's Lana Condor, Deadly Class seemed even more primed for success.
SYFY, however, as reported by Deadline, decided not to proceed with a third and a second season, respectively. The news will no doubt come as a surprise to fans. Across both SYFY and Netflix, on which Happy! was also available, there seemed to be enough in terms of numbers to renew the show. Though the series saw an inevitable decline in its sophomore season, it remained one of the best performing second-window shows on the streaming service, topped only by the You. In terms of SYFY, the initial numbers for Deadly Class were even better and remained consistent throughout - especially when paired with the gains from live+7 ratings in subsequent weeks. As such, season 2 seemed a certainty. It was clearly not enough for SYFY, however, who made the announcement yesterday.
Fans have already begun pledging their support for the fallen shows. Although no petition has yet been launched, urging SYFY to reconsider, there is an active social media outcry in favor of them being saved. As seen with the likes of Lucifer, such a reaction can, once in a while, pay off. They aren't the only shows SYFY has chopped in recent months. George R.R. Martin's Nightflyers was canceled after one season, Channel Zero was canceled after four, and John Carpenter's Tales for a Halloween Night was scrapped. No doubt to pave the way for such upcoming shows the Alan Tudyk-led Resident Alien and a continuation of the Chucky franchise by original creator Don Mancini.
There is still hope for fans of the two latest canceled shows, however. Although both may have burned through a chunk of the source material - with Deadly Class even bringing forwards plot points from arcs in future comic books -there remained plenty of opportunity for future stories. As well as numerous different directions for the characters on both shows to go. The showrunners for them clearly feel the same, as they have still have the backing of their studios and have already begun pitching both series to other networks and streaming services. Given that one has already enjoyed success on Netflix and the other is a comic book property the likes of which has proven popular on such mediums in the past, there remains hope that Happy! and Deadly Class may yet make it back onto screens.
Source: Deadline