Amazon Prime Video has cancelled the latest show from Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino after just one series, despite initial plans for a second season.
Étoile, a comedy-drama following the lives of dancers and staff at two struggling ballet companies in Paris and New York, arrived on the streaming platform in April.
The series, which was Sherman-Palladino’s follow-up to her previous Prime Video hit The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, was commissioned in 2023 with a two-season initial order.
However, according to Deadline, the streamer will no longer go ahead with a planned second series, with the magazine claiming that the decision not to proceed was related to “performance versus cost”.
Étoile, which was filmed on location in Paris and New York and featured intricate dance sequences starring top ballet performers, is thought to have required a hefty budget.
The show starred Luke Kirby, who previously appeared in The Marvelous Mrs Maisel as comedian Lenny Bruce, as the head of the New York-based ballet company, with Charlotte Gainsbourg starring as his Parisian equivalent.
It also featured appearances from Gilmore Girls stars Yanic Truesdale and Kelly Bishop.
Despite receiving generally positive reviews, Étoile did not chart on Nielsen’s weekly top 10 list of the most-watched shows and did not last long in Prime Video’s own top 10, according to Deadline.
The Independent has contacted representatives for Sherman-Palladino and for Prime Video for further comment.
In a three star review, The Independent’s TV critic Nick Hilton said that the show had a “promising set-up” but remained “a little hard to love”, describing it as “a slow burn” that might “require more patience than viewers usually expend”.
He also praised the show’s ballet sequences as “exquisite” and noted that “when it has room to breathe, Étoile can be quite beautiful”.
A two-season order does not always guarantee that a show will return for a second season, as many deals include opt-out clauses.
