It’s one and done for TNT’s William Shakespeare drama Will.
The Turner-owned cable network has opted to cancel the series after one low-rated season. The show revolved around Will (Laurie Davidson) as a young poet who arrived onto the punk-rock theater scene in 16th century London. The cabler billed it as a contemporary version of Shakespeare’s life that is played to a modern soundtrack.
Will averaged just 697,000 total viewers and a paltry 0.2 in the advertiser-coveted adults 18-49 demographic. Olivia DeJonge, Colm Meaney, Mattias Inwood, Jamie Campbell Bower and Ewen Bremner co-starred on the project from showrunner Craig Pearce (Romeo + Juliet) and Shekhar Kapur (Elizabeth).
It was a rough road to the screen for Will, which was originally ordered straight to series at the since-defunct Pivot before being picked up to pilot at TNT. The drama launched in July to mixed reviews, with The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Fienberg noting that the show “starts off fun, but runs out of inspiration in a hurry.”
Will was one of a few new series TNT launched this summer. The other, dramedy Claws, scored an early renewal at the cabler. The Kevin Reilly-led network’s scripted roster includes Animal Kingdom, Good Behavior, The Last Ship, Major Crimes and The Librarians, as well as the upcoming Alienist starring Dakota Fanning. On the pilot side, TNT has Snowpiercer and Deadlier Than the Male in contention after recently passing on Deep Mad Dark.
All told, it’s been a rough summer for the Bard as ABC also
canceled its similarly themed
Shondaland-produced period drama
Still Star-Crossed after one season.
