Netflix is notorious for canceling shows early. Sometimes this means that a series doesn’t last several seasons. To be honest, many of the streamer’s originals are lucky to get three seasons. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for these shows to become one-off events. This was the case with Dead Boy Detectives, a TV show set in one of the stranger corners of the DC Universe. Despite these ties to DC, it only lasted a single season. But why?
Dead Boy Detectives was a spin-off from the Doom Patrol universe, but was also part of The Sandman universe on Netflix. Doom Patrol has always had a strange place in the DC Universeand that eventually spawned a spin-off that took place in a different universe. In any case, the series came at a time when DC was in transition and trying to get its ducks in a row on both the big and small screen.
Originally, “Dead Boy Detectives” was in development at HBO Max before it was renamed just Max. As things began to change behind the scenes, the show was eventually sold to Netflix as part of a growing universe of shows based on the works of author Neil Gaiman. On paper it made sense. Unfortunately, when the show arrived, things didn’t go quite so well.
diversity reported in August of this year that “Dead Boy Detectives” had been canceled by Netflix after just one season. It didn’t take long for the powers that be to make the decision either, as the show premiered in April. As the broadcaster noted at the time, the show reached number two on Netflix’s most-watched TV charts, garnering 3.1 million views in its first three days. Unfortunately, it completely disappeared from the top ten charts at the end of the third week. This was undoubtedly the biggest factor contributing to his untimely demise.
Dead Boy Detectives faced an uphill battle throughout
“Dead Boy Detectives” focuses on Edwin Payne (George Rexstrew) and Charles Rowland (Jayden Revri), “the brains” and “the muscles” of the Dead Boy Detectives agency. The teenagers were born decades apart and found each other in death, becoming best friends who just happened to be ghosts. With the help of a clairvoyant named Crystal (Kassius Nelson) and her friend Niko (Yuyu Kitamura), they now solve mysteries.
The series was developed for television by Steve Yockey, who serves as co-showrunner alongside Beth Schwartz. TV mega-producer Greg Berlanti, one of the main architects of The CW’s ArrowverseHe was also on board. Unfortunately for Yockey and the team, Dead Boy Detectives had a difficult path in development: It started out as a backdoor pilot in Doom Patrol before being picked up for HBO Max and eventually sold to Netflix.
Another problem is that the show probably wasn’t cheap. Gaiman explained this before The second season of The Sandman may not happen because of how expensive the show is. The show was extended, but it also had significantly more viewers. For Netflix, it’s all about how much attention a show gets from its subscriber base and balancing that against the cost of producing that show. “Dead Boy Detectives” apparently didn’t exceed that bar.
It should also be borne in mind that Gaiman was accused of sexual misconduct in early July of this year. Various productions based on the author’s works were later discontinued The Guardian. That could well have played a role in Netflix’s decision. Although the show was largely liked by critics, that wasn’t nearly enough to make up for everything else.
Dead Boy Detectives is now streaming on Netflix.
