Apple has not decided to renew High Desert, the Apple TV+ drama series starring Patricia Arquette. The show producers announced today that the series has been cancelled and won’t be returning for a second season.
However, some solace was found by Ben Stiller, executive producer. He tweeted that — unlike other streamers at the moment — Apple is not removing underperforming shows from its platform. That means the season one of High Desert will continue to be available to stream indefinitely on the Apple TV app.
As Apple TV+ matures, Apple has ramped up its number of cancellations, roughly in line with the expanding overall content slate of original TV shows and movies.
As you might expect, generally, Apple is more likely to renew shows that garner high audience viewership, or those that attract awards attention. It opts not to renew shows that don’t meet that bar.
High Desert unfortunately fell into the latter category, seemingly never charting that high on the Apple TV+ rankings and is also not the kind of show that is likely to attract awards attention.
However, it is nice to hear that Apple is not planning to pull shows from its platform altogether, a money-saving tactic employed by other streamers like HBO Max and Disney+.
Both Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette have an ongoing relationship with Apple TV+ thanks to the hit sci-fi drama series Severance, which is currently in the midst of shooting its second season.
Yes. We are all disappointed. Our entire #HighDesert cast was amazing and to all our fans, thank you for embracing this show.
I LOVE Patricia Arquette, who gave an awards worthy performance.
While we wish @AppleTV had stuck with it, we’re grateful they made it and it is on… https://t.co/hLuMFwze0u
— Ben Stiller (@BenStiller) July 1, 2023
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