Neil Patrick Harris’ Series Has Been Saved From Cancelation
Neil Patrick Harris' Uncoupled series has been picked up by Showtime, after being canceled at Netflix.
Things have been pretty back and forth for Neil Patrick Harris and his comedy series Uncoupled following the recent announcement that Netflix would not be moving forward with a Season 2. Now, Deadline has revealed that Showtime has snatched the project off the cutting room floor and plans to breathe new life into it, giving it at least a sophomore season and possibly more should it continue to generate high viewership numbers. With the storyline being such a hit for fans, it was a shocking move on Netflix’s behalf to give the production the ax, but their loss is Showtime’s gain.
Led by Neil Patrick Harris, Uncoupled follows Harris’ Michael Lawson who has just been dumped by his long-term partner of 17 years. The breakup seemingly came out of thin air with Michael now struggling to find a place for himself in the world as a 40-year-old single man after being in a committed relationship for almost two decades. With the dating universe constantly changing, things have really shifted since he was last an eligible bachelor, and Michael soon realizes that to swim, he’ll need to dive head-first into the terrifying dating pool.
Along with Neil Patrick Harris, Uncoupled also stars an A-list ensemble that includes Tuc Watkins (One Life to Live) as Michael’s ex of 17 years Colin McKenna, Tisha Campbell (Little Shop of Horrors) as Michael’s business partner Suzanne Prentiss, Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River) as one of Michael’s clients-turned-friends Claire Lewis, Emerson Brooks as Michael’s best friend and weatherman Billy Burns, and Brooks Ashmanskas (Julie & Julia) as an art dealer and close friend to Michael Stanley James. Keeping up with their strong-running background of churning out some of the best comedies over the last decade, Uncoupled is backed by Emily in Paris creator Darren Star and Modern Family’s Jeffrey Richman.
While many fans will be bummed to know that the show is officially leaving Netflix and that this means they’ll need to subscribe to a new streaming service, Showtime is the logical crash pad for a production like Uncoupled. With the freedom to write more of what would be considered too scandalous for Netflix, the series scribes are now working with extra leniency, allowing them to raise the stakes in what’s possible for the storyline. There’s also the fact that Showtime is home to another queer community favorite, The L Word: Generation Q, which means that adding an LGBTQ+ icon like Neil Patrick Harris and a queer-centered title like Uncoupled to their lineup makes a slew of sense for the platform.
Outside of Neil Patrick Harris’s time on Uncoupled, it’s been a busy few years for the child actor-turned-adult star with the performer raking in several television and movie credits. He recently reprised his beloved How I Met Your Mother role of Barney Stinson on its spinoff series How I Met Your Father and will also soon be seen in a Doctor Who special. On the big screen, he dazzled audiences in The Matrix Resurrections and appeared in the action-packed comedy The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent. No release window for Uncoupled Season 2 has been set, but for now, we’re just glad the series will live via Showtime.
