Zach Stone is gonna be canceled

MTV has pulled the plug on Bo Burnham’s Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous after 12 episodes. It was  first announced on Tuesday via Burnham’s Twitter account, with him stating “The final three episodes of Zach Stone will be airing this week.” MTV later confirmed that they were ending the series, which debuted on May 2. They released a statement to

THR about the cancellation:

“We are huge fans of Bo Burnham and the entire creative and talented team behind Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous. After careful consideration of many factors, we have ultimately decided not to move forward with an additional season of the series. We wish Bo, the cast and the entire production crew the very best.”

Zach Stone will air two of it’s final three episodes on Saturday. While it had 650,000 viewers when it launched, its numbers dwindled to less than half of that. MTV’s had problems keeping its comedies afloat, with The Inbetweeners, I Just Want My Pants Back, and Death Valley all getting the ax after their first year.

UPDATE: Bo Burnham has issued a lengthy statement about the cancellation.

Though my initial reaction yesterday was disappointment, that feeling was fleeting and soon gave way to thankfulness—thankfulness for being able to have made 12 episodes of television in the first place and a greater thankfulness for having had the opportunity to share them with you. Your response has been amazing and so appreciated.

Burham also stated that he loved the MTV viewers and his generation at whole and thanked them.

I don’t have much interest in going into why I think the show didn’t get as many viewers as we would’ve hoped (promotion, re-runs, wouldacouldashoulda). I do, however, want to emphasize what, in my opinion, is NOT a reason for the show’s lack of viewership. I don’t think MTV’s audience is dumb. I don’t think young people in general are dumb or stupid or shallow. I love my generation. I really do. I believe that the “internet generation” (or “cyber generation” if you want to sound even lamer) is very misunderstood and underestimated. What many older people dismiss as my generation’s short attention spans, I see as young people hunger for density, demanding that every second of material that you give them is worthy of their time. This challenge, though daunting, is a good thing. It pushes art forward.

The statement also revealed he hopes the show can live on in some form and has plans to release a new stand-up special later this year.

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