‘Counterpart’ Canceled at Starz After Two Seasons, But It Might Be Picked Up Elsewhere

Before the likes of Netflix and Hulu came around, most shows that got canceled were gone forever. But thanks to the popularity of streaming services, we’re now living in an age where the axing of a show doesn’t necessarily mean it’s dead. Another show has been added to the purgatory of cancellation for the time being, but there’s a chance it might be picked up elsewhere.

Counterpart is a sci-fi espionage thriller at Starz starring J.K. Simmons that has been running for two seasons. Sadly, the series has just been canceled, but Media Rights Capital is already shopping it around to other streaming platforms.

Deadline broke the news and series creator and executive producer Justin Marks confirmed on Twitter:

It’s been an absolute dream for this team… we got to make EXACTLY the show we wanted to… perfect cast, perfect crew on 2 continents… and we’re so grateful to our network for the time we had…

— Justin Marks (@Justin_Marks_) February 11, 2019

But in the meantime, one more episode until the end of a chapter. See you Sunday!

— Justin Marks (@Justin_Marks_) February 11, 2019

If you’ve never heard of Counterpart, the show follows J.K. Simmons as a low-level employee named Howard Silk at a mysterious United Nations office in Berlin. He gets a whole new perspective on his world when he learns that his agency is responsible for overseeing an entry point into a parallel version of Earth called the “Prime World.” The two worlds have been diverging more and more since being connected in 1987, and soon it starts to threaten our own universe, the “Alpha world,” as well as Silk’s comatose wife Emily.

Making things all the more interesting is that Simmons plays two roles in the series. In addition to playing Howard Silk in the Alpha world, he also plays a different version of himself in the Prime world. There he’s a field agent who regularly crosses over into the Alpha world to retrieve “others” who have gone rogue. So the only man Howard Silk can trust is literally himself.

Apparently the show has a decent amount of fans, not to mention having 100% for both seasons on Rotten Tomatoes, but that’s not enough for Starz to keep the series going. The cable network gave the series a two season order right out of the gate, but now they’ve decided to call it quits. Carmi Zlotnik, president of programming at Starz, said:

“Justin, Jordan, J.K. and the entire cast and crew delivered a beautifully executed series. It was a pleasure working with this team on two seasons of expert storytelling brought to life by best-in-class performances across the board.”

However, it could prove to be lucrative for someone like Netflix or Hulu to pick it up. That way they get two established seasons of television and the continuation of a series that already has a built-in fanbase. But does the series have a big enough fanbase to warrant saving? Even in today’s age of canceled shows finding new life elsewhere, not all shows get a second chance. Stay tuned to find out what happens with Counterpart.

Watch the trailer for Counterpart below to see if it’s something you might want to start watching:

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