Netflix has decided not to renew Latina-led teen dramedy Freeridge, a spinoff to On My Block, for a second season, Rolling Stone has learned. The news arrives just two months after the show first premiered on the streaming service in early February, according to a source.
The eight-episode show featured an entirely POC cast and starred two Latinas — Keyla Monterroso Mejia and Bryana Salaz — in the main roles as rival sisters Gloria and Ines, respectively. Freeridge followed the siblings and their two best friends Cameron (Tenzing Norgay Trainor) and Demi (Ciara Riley Wilson) on the search to end a curse on their family, as they also navigate high school, sexuality, and spirituality. The show has been lauded for its portrayal of bisexuality through Cameron’s character.
Netflix ordered the show to series in 2021 following the massive success of On My Block, which aired for four seasons on Netflix. Freeridge featured several actors from the original series, including Peggy Blow, who plays Mariluna, and Paula Garcés, Eric Gutierrez, Eme Ikwuakor, and Raushanah Simmons reprising their roles. (Netflix did not provide comment prior to publication.)
Michael Solomon, Zaire Adams, J.R. Villarreal, and Jean Paul San Pedro are also part of the cast. The show was co-created by Lauren lungerich, Jamie Uyeshiro, Eddie Gonzalez, Jeremy Haft, and Jamie Dooner.
Freeridge joins a lengthy list of Latina TV shows that have been canceled by streaming services and major networks within two seasons in recent years.
HBO Max canceled Gordita Chronicles after a single season and removed its 10 episodes completely from the service last year; Netflix’s Gentefied ended after two seasons last January; ABC’s Promised Land’s first five episodes aired on ABC and then moved to Hulu before being canceled last summer; Disney+’s Diary of a Future President was canceled after two seasons in 2021; and Freeform’s Latin reboot of Party of Five lived for only ten episodes in 2020.
“It’s wild to have to fight so hard to keep your content on the air,” Gordita Chronicles executive producer Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz told Rolling Stone. “And a big part of it is the demographics of the people making choices on the business side. If we don’t have executive talent who see themselves in the material, they’re not going to care enough to fight for something because they don’t connect to it. And again, this is a piece of a diversity problem that we have in Hollywood right now.”
The end of Freeridge also arrives weeks after a new YouGov survey found that the cancelations of TV shows have impacted how viewers decide to watch a series. Per the survey, 31% of U.S. adults who watch shows on streaming services estimate that between one and three shows they started watching in the last year were canceled, despite having unsettled plotlines.
Freeridge premiered on Netflix in February and received positive reviews from critics, with The New York Times saying the show had an “exciting vitality; even minor characters are richly drawn in kooky detail.”
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