In something of a surprise move, industry site Variety broke the news that the critically-acclaimed Penny Dreadful: City of Angels has not been renewed by Showtime and has effectively been cancelled after one season.
No reason was given for the cancellation. However though the series was well-liked, it was very different from the original Penny Dreadful series and was expensive show to produce – especially with the production design and VFX needed to recreate the Los Angeles of the 1930s. The situation with COVID affecting many productions has also led to a wave of cancellations.
The series depicted the trials and tribulations of the Vega family, in particularly Tiago Vega (Daniel Zovatto), the first Mexican-American to serve on the police force. As well as a central murder mystery, we also see the rise of fascism as various people try to stop America joining the first days of WWII and trying to extend their influence. Though he doesn’t realise it,Tiago and his family are at the centre of a battle between two supernatural forces, Magda (Natalie Dormer) and Santa Muerte (Lorenza Izzo) with magda assuming several key personas to deliberately create friction between the various Angelino communities. The supporting cast included great performances from the likes of Nathan Lane, Kerry Bishé, Rory Kinnear, Adriana Barraza, Michael Gladis, Jessica Garza, Johnathan Nieves, Adam Rodriguez, Amy Madigan, Brent Spiner, Lin Shaye, Thomas Kretschmann, Dominic Sherwood and Ethan Peck.
In a statement short on details, Showtime simply said: “Showtime has decided not to move forward with another season of Penny Dreadful: City of Angels. We would like to thank executive producers John Logan, Michael Aguilar and the entire cast and crew for their outstanding work on this project.”
