American Born Chinese is the latest Disney+ series to get the ax.
The comedy from Disney Branded Television has been canceled after one season. Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that producers from Disney’s 20th Television will shop the series.
The fantasy/action comedy from creator Kelvin Yu launched its eight-episode season May 24 to favorable reviews with the series starring Ben Wang and featuring Michelle Yeoh, Daniel Wu and Ke Huy Quan currently is certified fresh with a 94 percent score among critics and an 82 percent rating from viewers on Rotten Tomatoes.
Sources say American Born Chinese, which is based on the graphic novel of the same name, did not register with viewers despite Disney’s efforts to expose the series on multiple platforms including Hulu, Roku, YouTube and ABC. (Disney+ does not release viewership data.)
The decision comes as streamers and networks alike have been in cost-cutting mode following after the Peak TV bubble burst last year. Disney+ has faced a largely uphill battle in getting scripted originals outside of Marvel and Star Wars to break through and last year canceled series including The Muppets Mayhem, Willow, National Treasure and Doogie Kamealoha, among others. Still, Disney Branded Television — the Disney division that produced American Born Chinese alongside 20th TV — has been able to deliver such other hits as Goosebumps and Percy Jackson and the Olympians, among others.
Yu exec produced American Born Chinese alongside Destin Daniel Cretton, Asher Goldstein, Jake Kasdan, Melvin Mar, Erin O’Malley and Gene Leun Yang. Wang led the cast that also included Yeo Yann Yann, Chin Han, Quan, Jimmy Liu, Sydney Taylor, Wu and Yeoh.
