Party of Five reboot canceled by Freeform; season 2 not happening

While we know that Freeform was hoping to make Party of Five a sensation like it was the first go-around, it’s unfortunately not happening — at least not for right now.

Today, the network officially canceled their reboot of the once-popular series after just one season, and it speaks mostly to the challenges that seem to exist getting new shows off of the ground in 2020. It makes some sense — there are so many options out there and, especially for cable, it’s hard to capture eyeballs. It’s even harder to maintain them over the course of a whole season.

When it comes to the ratings for Party of Five, they started off in a solid-enough place with more than 440,000 people watching the first episode. Yet, the numbers declined heavily over the course of the season, which may have made the network’s decision a little bit easier. They may have recognized that they weren’t going to be able to get a lot of viewers for a second season — hence, the decision that they have now made.

We’ve updated the fate of Party of Five within our Renewal Guide, and what this cancellation does ultimately speak to here is the latest in an ongoing pattern of how cable needs to find new ways to introduce viewers to content. Whether it be by raising accessibility or streaming options, people just aren’t finding the show. It’s significantly more challenging than Netflix, which gives viewers the ability to watch when they want and discover new programs on the fly, all for a price that is significantly less than cable. This is a problem that we don’t think a lot of networks have been able to figure out as of yet.

As for if a season of Party of Five will happen elsewhere, it’s hard to envision it with the ratings that it received — but, never say never…

What do you think about Party of Five being canceled at Freeform?

Be sure to share right now in the comments! Meanwhile, be sure to stick around in the event you want some other news on the series. (Photo: Freeform.)