When the pandemic struck, several television shows and movies were caught in the crosshairs. Big-budget features like Jurassic Park: Dominion were delayed by over a year, while TV shows like GLOW, Stumptown, and the Comedy Central perennial Drunk History were cancelled altogether in the midst of developing new seasons. Now, one of Hulu’s quirkiest comedies has gotten the chop, and the pandemic is apparently to blame.
It’s tragic, but true: the hit Hulu comedy PEN15 will end after the second half of Season 2 is released this December. Deadline has reported that series creators Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle confirmed the streaming series’ cancellation in a recent interview with the New Yorker. Hulu had reportedly cancelled the show after the pandemic threw a wrench in the production schedules of its various projects. The second season had to shut down due to COVID-19 protocols, causing one of the episodes to be adapted into the remotely directed animated special that debuted between the two halves of Season 2.
While this news may be devastating to fans of the show, described by Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle as a “traumedy,” solace may be found in the knowledge that the creators had always planned for the show to end after three seasons when the main protagonists finished seventh grade. But wait, you say, didn’t this super-cool writer just claim that the show is ending after the final chunk of Season 2? Well, yes. However, the aforementioned ‘second half of Season 2’ is reportedly serving as a spiritual Season 3.
Well, according to the New Yorker, anyway. The final season can be shorthanded as ‘Season 3,’ with the caveat that Hulu is calling it ‘Part 2 of Season 2.’ Titulature notwithstanding, there are seven new episodes that will hit the streaming service before fans have to say Sorry So Sloppy to Maya and Anna for good. The first season consisted of ten installments, while the first part of Season 2 was also made up of 7 installments. So while the new episodes may feel like a continuation of the previous storylines, there’s still almost a full season’s worth of content that fans have yet to enjoy. It may be a small comfort to die-hard fans, but at least PEN15 is getting a proper send-off.
Check out the trailer for the remaining episodes below!
The idea for PEN15 was originally created by Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle back in 2014, although the series wasn’t picked up by a network until 2016. It took even longer for the show to get off the ground, with casting commencing in 2018 and the first season dropping on Hulu in 2019. While the so-called cringe comedy wasn’t suited for everyone’s tastes, the overwhelming majority fell in love with (and was triggered by) Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle’s painfully accurate portrayal of the trials of middle school.
The second half of Season 2 (also known as Season 3) of PEN15 will arrive on Hulu on December 3.
