AMC Cancels Series Even Though Season 2 Was Already Announced
Soulmates may have already been renewed for a second season, but AMC has canceled the highly-rated series.
Canceling shows is becoming more and more common these days, and a struggling AMC is no stranger to the trend. Recently, they’ve canceled the sci-fi comedy Damascus, the legal drama 61st Street, and the adult animated series Pantheon. However, The Hollywood Reporter has reported that Soulmates, allegedly renewed for a second season, has now been “unrenewed.”
Soulmates, which first aired back in November 2020, was the brainchild of Black Mirror creator Will Bridges and Ted Lasso actor Brett Goldstein. The show had a six-episode first season, wrapping up late that same year. According to reports, the show was quietly canceled in 2022 without any official announcement.
Soulmates was a sci-fi series about a DNA test that is used to match people with their perfect partners. The show’s episodic format followed a different couple’s story in each episode, exploring the implications of the technology and the characters’ reactions to being matched up with the person who the test says they will love the most. However, the person you love the most isn’t necessarily the best person for you, a concept that the show explored in depth.
Initially, AMC praised Soulmates for its unique premise and its ability to stimulate conversation about relationships and human connection. However, that praise didn’t save the show.
Soulmates was well-received by both critics and viewers. Production was reportedly very low-budget, which may have helped AMC’s choice to renew it for a second season months before the first season even premiered. However, the show completely bombed in the viewership category, with each episode getting less than 200,000 viewers on average.
This failure to gain an audience explains why AMC chose to cancel Soulmates and also explains why nobody seemed to notice that the show was missing. That’s only part of the story, however. The other part lies in the unexpected success that Brett Goldstein would find in the series Ted Lasso.
In 2020, the same year that Soulmates was released, Goldstein starred in the AppleTV+ series Ted Lasso. He plays Roy Kent, the captain of the AFC Richmond football club — a major character in the series who quickly became a fan favorite. Ted Lasso was a certified hit, meaning that Goldstein had less time to spend on a show that wasn’t very successful in the first place.
While the most recent AMC earnings call shows the company doing better than expected, it makes sense that the company would be cautious with shows it chooses to greenlight. After its CEO stepped down and the company announced massive layoffs, AMC couldn’t afford to waste its resources on shows that have failed to have a return on investment. Soulmates ultimately proved to be one of those shows.
While Soulmates explored interesting ideas, a lack of interest and an unexpected success ultimately led to it being killed behind closed doors. However, both of its creators have moved on. Brett Goldstein found success with Ted Lasso, and William Bridges is currently working on a remake of the 1980s David Cronenberg film Scanners.
