‘Feed the Beast’ Canceled at AMC

September 02, 2016 12:34pm PT by Lesley Goldberg

Courtesy of AMC

The David Schwimmer drama will not be returning for a second season after being picked up straight to series.

It's one and done for AMC's Feed the Beast.

The cable network has opted to cancel the drama after one season, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

"We have great respect and admiration for the entire team associated with Feed the Beast, starting with [showrunner] Clyde Phillips, [stars] David Schwimmer, Jim Sturgess and our studio partner, Lionsgate. We are thankful for the opportunity to collaborate with them and appreciative of their talents, dedication and care. Unfortunately, the show simply didn’t achieve the results needed to move forward with a second season," AMC said in a statement.

The drama, picked up straight to series last year, revolved around Tommy (Schwimmer) and Dion (Sturgess), friends who are like brothers who open up a restaurant but naturally run into trouble. The series opened to poor reviews (THR chief TV critic Tim Goodman said to "send it back to the kitchen") and dismal ratings. The drama opened to 976,000 same-day viewers and a 0.3 among adults 18-49 — half of its Preacher lead-in. (Comic book adaptation Preacher was subsequently renewed). The move to Tuesdays post-premiere didn't help, with the now series finale drawing a 0.1 among adults under 50.

Based on the Danish series Bankerot created by Kim Fupz Aakeson and produced by DR Broadcasting, Feed the Beast hailed from Lionsgate TV, where Dexter and Nurse Jackie alum Phillips has an overall deal, and AMC Studios. Phillips will executive produce alongside original Bankerot producers Henrik Ruben Genz and Malene Blenkov as well as Piv Bernth (The Killing). The series marked the latest Danish adaptation at AMC, following its remake of Forbrydelsen, which became The Killing and ran for three seasons on the cabler before closing out at Netflix.

Feed the Beast marks the rare one and done at AMC. It joins Rubicon and Low Winter Sun. The cable network, meanwhile, still has a roster of dramas that includes The Walking Dead, Fear the Walking Dead, Halt & Catch Fire, Better Call Saul, Into the Badlands, Humans and Preacher. The cabler recently said farewell to Hell on Wheels and has the final season of Turn set for 2017.

AMC