Yahoo Finance Zoey's Playlist Rescued By Roku! Cancelled NBC Drama Eyes Wrap-Up Movie at Upstart Streamer
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist may have another song left in it, after all! Streaming player Roku is nearing a deal for a two-hour wrap-up movie for the cancelled NBC musical dramedy, TVLine has learned.
We hear if the pic — which would debut on The Roku Channel over the holidays — performs well, Roku could potentially order additional episodes. New deals with the primary cast, led by Jane Levy, are currently being hammered out.
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Reps for Lionsgate (which produces Zoey’s) and Roku declined to comment for this story.
On June 9, NBC pulled the plug on Zoey’s after two seasons. Negotiations with the network’s sibling streamer, Peacock, to pick up the show for an eight-episode final season also fell apart. In the wake of the cancellation, Lionsgate, the studio behind Zoey’s, shopped the series to other streaming outlets.
“I believe we can have a real chance somewhere else,” showrunner Austin Winsberg declared on Twitter after NBC axed the show, before urging fans to make their displeasure known. “But the more fan support we can throw behind it — the better.”
Meanwhile, star Jane Levy told VanityFair.com that if Zoey’s has truly come to an end, then she is filled with “gratitude,” adding, “I feel like I did everything that I wanted to with this show. If it’s over, I don’t have any regrets. I gave it my all and so did everybody else.”
Zoey’s Playlist Season 2 averaged a little over 1.8 million total viewers and a 0.35 demo rating — down 10 and 17 percent from its freshman run. Out of the 14 dramas NBC has aired this TV season, it ranks No. 12 in the demo and next-to-last in audience (besting only Good Girls). In a March poll, TVLine readers picked Zoey’s Playlist as the bubble show they most wanted renewed, with 12.7 percent of the vote.
The Season 2 finale, which aired May 16, concluded with a cliffhanger twist: Max suddenly had powers and could hear Zoey’s heart song, an exuberant rendition of “I Melt With You.”
“Just in terms of thinking how could Zoey and Max work long-term, for me, it was important for Max to have an understanding of what it’s like for Zoey to experience heart songs,” Winsberg said during a post mortem Q&A. “And I also like the idea that Max could know what’s going on in Zoey’s head as well. And certainly, from a romantic comedy perspective, to be able to play stories where these two people are in a relationship, but they also know exactly what the other person is thinking about, felt like ripe ground for storylines.” (Winsberg stopped short of clarifying if both Max and Zoey have powers now, or if Zoey’s powers just transferred over to Max.)
Zoey’s Playlist fans, hit the comments with your hopes for the movie!
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