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Variety confirms Netflix has canceled Kaos, its new series about the Greek Pantheon’s fledgling influence in the 21st century starring Jeff Goldblum as an increasingly paranoid Zeus, after just one season—and rather soon after its August 29 debut.
News of the cancelation originally broke by way of a since-deleted Instagram post (quoted in the trade) from Goldblum’s co-star, Aurora Perrineau, in which the actress wrote: “Well… this one hurt. I find explaining how I’m feeling to be really difficult, but I’ll try. When I started auditioning for this show, I knew it was special, mainly due to the fact that Charlie Covell’s scripts resonated with me in a way most things hadn’t. I knew al these people and I loved them all—every flaw, everything. For one of the first times in my life, I have found myself really proud. I’m, of course, proud of everyone’s work and the care they gave to this project, because, let me tell you, they left everything on the floor.”
“But I’ve also found myself proud of me, and that is something I’ve struggled with. When I got cast, I couldn’t believe that someone SAW me. A girl who’s not only a minority but also a survivor of SA—and you’re telling me that someone thinks I could be one of the leads of a show, have agency, my own mission, and be desirable enough to be the love interest to not only one amazing human but two? I was worthy of that? Everything that happened from that point forward really changed my perspective. Everyone was brilliant and uniquely themselves. Every performance surprised and excited me. I can’t believe I got to do this with all of you. We made something weird, dark, hilarious, deranged and absolutely tragic—something entirely human. This is a feeling I plan to take with me. Thanks for letting me be your Riddy. I had the time of my life.”
Kaos‘s fate is the latest in a string of recent cancelations at Netflix including That ’90s Show, Dead Boy Detectives, Uncoupled, The Brothers Sun, Ratched, and Obliterated. The reason for this decision, according to a new report from What’s On Netflix, is that the numbers just weren’t there: in its first four weeks, the series garnered just 14.90 million views, or as the network prefers to phrase it, “98.90 million hours watched.” In its fourth week on the air, Netflix re-listed the series from KAOS: Season One to KAOS N/A, suggesting it had since been demoted to a limited series. Today, we can confirm this is true.
While this more adult-oriented series aimed for an entirely different tone, it’s interesting to note Kaos‘s ratings were less than the Greek mythology-themed Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+, but still greater than Fox’s Krapopolis which, though only in its second year on the air, was recently renewed for a fourth season at the network. Perhaps their oracles saw something in the animated sitcom’s future that Netflix’s practitioners failed to read.
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