Netflix Cancels Sex/Life Days After Its Star Spoke Against The Company
Netflix has canceled Sex/Life shortly after star Sarah Shahi publicly voiced issues with the show.
For those of you who were anticipating a third season of the Netflix drama, Sex/Life, we hate to be the bearer of bad news. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix’s Sex/Life will not be picked up for a third season. Sarah Shahi has been outspoken about how she didn’t feel supported in her role as Billie Mann Connelly in the second season. But it’s worth noting that a drop in ratings, and Shahi’s decision to sign on to ABC’s new legal drama, Judgement, were probably factors that were considered before Netflix decided to call it quits on Sex/Life.
When it comes down to brass tacks, viewership on Netflix was down by 45 percent, which knocked Sex/Life out of the top 10 English-language series on the platform. At the end of the day, the math is simple: if a show has high ratings, the show will go on, but if the ratings dip significantly, it’s probably safe to say that the show isn’t working out. According to Shahi, limitations were put on showrunner Stacy Rukeyser because of Season 2’s short, six-episode run.
In other words, much of the story had to be told, but without a whole lot of time to tell it. Though we’re not sure why Netflix decided to go with six episodes for Season 2 of Sex/Life, Shahi felt that this made her role as Billie hard for her to truly get into. Shahi stated on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast that she didn’t feel comfortable with the material during the second season and that she didn’t like the direction the show was going in.
On the podcast, Shahi stated about Netflix’s Sex/Life, “It became a much different thing for me, and I’m not afraid to say that. I struggled with the material.… I mean, I’m never going to work for Netflix again now after saying all this. I just can’t lie.”
The main contention that Shahi felt about Sex/Life’s second season was Adam Demos’ scaled-back presence. For those who don’t know, Demos is Shahi’s partner in real life, and he portrays her romantic interest, Brad Simon, in the series. The couple met on the set when they began filming the first season of the Netflix series, and quickly fell in love.
And Shahi felt that their love in real life greatly benefited the storyline of Netflix’s Sex/Life. But given the restrictions in run-time that Netflix allotted for the second season, Shahi found Billie pursuing a new relationship, which she felt lacked the very real chemistry she had with Brad both on and off the set.
Elaborating on this sentiment, Shahi said, “I had never done a character where I was in love with somebody, and then in real life, I’m in love with somebody.” And I think that’s what made Brad and Billie so popular was because people really felt the real sparks between us.”
If Netflix renewed Sex/Life for a third season, they could very well have further explored Billie and Brad’s romance. Season 2 ended with their wedding but was left open-ended with the intention of exploring new territory.
Though Netflix has canceled the series, Rukeyser maintains that she didn’t view Sex/Life’s Season 2 finale as the end of the show. But with Shahi moving on to shoot the Judgement pilot for ABC, a drop in Sex/Life’s viewership, and the tension she felt while shooting the second season of the series, we’ll probably have to be satisfied with where the series left off, at least for the time being.
