Cruel Summer canceled at Freeform; why no season 3?
After two seemingly successful and super-fascinating seasons, it looks like the journey of Cruel Summer is over at Freeform.
According to TVLine, the network has opted to not order another season of the mystery / anthology series, which is really a bummer when you think about everything that it seemed to bring to the table. We’re honestly somewhat shocked given that season 2, despite slightly less buzz, still felt like it was popular online and stirred up discussion. If you are the folks at Freeform, what else are you really hoping for with some of your shows? Is there anything better you can really get here?
Ultimately, we tend to think the reason for this particular cancellation has to do more with Freeform as a whole as opposed to anything specifically catered to this show. It feels clear like they are either moving out from scripted programming or reimagining it outright. Given that Disney now has so many other venues for content, they may just not view the network as all that important anymore. It does remain such a strange oddity, from its multiple name changes to the fact that it’s contractually obligated to air episodes of The 700 Club despite being entirely different in tone from anything else.
Personally, we do still hope that a Cruel Summer season 3 finds a venue somewhere else, including perhaps Hulu. We do think that this is a show that could still have more to say with the right cast and promotion around it. Also, it has enough nostalgia to still be popular with older viewers in addition to some of the younger crowd that it is trying to appeal to on a superficial level.
If nothing else, we suppose it is a good thing that there are no real loose ends with a show like this, and we can rejoice in knowing there is a sense of relative closure.
What do you think about Cruel Summer being canceled at Freeform — will you miss it?
Be sure to share right now in the attached comments! Once you do just that, remember to come back — there are so many other updates ahead.