YouTube continues its purging of scripted series. According to Variety, the tech giant has canceled its longest running original series “Escape the Night.” The semi-scripted series was hosted by Joey Graceffa, “who presided over the retro mega-collab in which a famous YouTuber got killed off in each episode.”
Though the show was canceled at YouTube, Graceffa alluded its fifth season might still air under a different parent company. Like many others, production on the show’s fifth season was halted due to coronavirus the pandemic.
The news comes days after it was announced that another major YouTube Originals hit show “Cobra Kai” would be leaving the platform. The flagship YouTube series will become a Netflix original series, beginning with the upcoming season three. In addition to securing exclusive rights to season three of the show, Netflix will also have access on a non-exclusive basis to the first two seasons of the show, so fans can binge and catch up on the platform, Deadline reported.
In May, Starz also acquired the series version of “Step Up,” based on Lionsgate’s film franchise of the same name. The series aired for two seasons before YouTube axed it.
As they focus more on their unscripted programming, the streamer is collaborating with some big names. According to Deadline, YouTube has greenlit a four-part documentary series following Demi Lovato. The docuseries will follow Lovato as she shows fans “her personal and musical journey over the past three years.”
During their 2020 NewFronts presentation today, YouTube also mentioned other shows on their docket. Series include: “Instant Influencer with James Charles,” “The Creator Games Presented by MrBeast,” “Retro Tech,” “UHC: Ultimate Home Championship,” “Lockdown,” as well as untitled projects from David Blaine and Markiplier.