Netflix Cancels Comedy Legends’ Series In The Middle Of Production
Netflix has canceled Bad Crimes, an adult animation series, and the latest animated project to get the axe from the streamer.
Netflix has canceled yet another high-profile, original animated series in the middle of its production. According to a report by Yahoo Entertainment, the streaming service has canceled Bad Crimes, an adult animated series from two comedy legends: Greg Daniels (The Office, Parks and Recreation) and Mike Judge, the creator of Beavis and Butthead. It is just the latest in a growing list of animation projects dumped by the streaming service.
The series was set to follow a pair of FBI agents voiced by Nicole Byer (The Great North) and Lauren Lapkus (Good Girls, Jurassic World) who travel the country solving murders. The series was created by Nicole Silverberg (Full Frontal with Samantha Bee) and was going to be executive produced by Judge, Daniels, Byer, Lapkus, Dustin Davis, and Erica Hayes, who produces another Netflix animated series, Big Mouth.
The series is just the latest animation project that Netflix has canceled while in development, joining other high-profile projects including Wings of Fire, a fantasy series about young dragons, from Oscar nominee Ava DuVernay. The highly-anticipated animated series adaptation of Jeff Smith’s classic indie comic Bone was also canceled earlier this year. In some instances, Netflix has decided to cancel animated series after its first season, including Q-Force, a series about LGBTQ+ spies.
The project may not be dead, however, simply because Netflix canceled it. It may yet find a home at another streamer battling to find their niche: Paramount+. The streamer is already the home of another high-profile Mike Judge property: Beavis and Butt-head, and recently premiered their new film, Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe, as well as new episodes of the series. With Paramount already having a professional relationship with Judge, Bad Crimes would seem like an easy fit.
Even while Netflix continues to invest in big-budget projects, it is cutting corners, canceling projects. and laying off employees, with their animation projects the usual target. Just over a month ago, Netflix announced another round of layoffs from their animation department, cutbacks led by the newly-appointed heads of the department, Karen Toliver and Traci Balthazor, who have been tasked with streamlining the department. They took over for Mike Moon, a former Disney animation executive who left Netflix to start his own animation studio.
The cuts seem to be the direct response to a continued wave of subscriber losses for the streamer, although Netflix has not announced the reasoning for the canceled projects and layoffs. While some projects get the axe, Netflix made an interesting acquisition earlier this summer, purchasing the animation studio Animal Logic, the studio behind Happy Feet and The Lego Movie. It may indicate that Netflix is ready to have Animal Logic creative team take over animation projects for them, rather than attempting to build their in-house animation department.
All is not lost for animation fans, as other films and series that were already in production did not meet the Neflix cancel hammer. That includes Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, an animated series that featured the return of actor Jack Black as Po, which premiered in July.
