'Jason Mann Was So Much Fun To Hate,' And Other Thoughts On The Project Greenlight Cancellation

[Primetimer]

With the show seeking another home on streaming, your editors speculate on why HBO sacked it, and what's next for everyone's favorite Damonsplainee.

View the full article

[Dave in Chicago]

I loved this series but it can't have been cheap to produce for something so niche. Cable has already had trouble with overproducing dramedies about dissatisfied Californians; this has some of the same hurdles, plus a layer of industry insider-ism, so I can't be too surprised that it didn't catch on.

[Latverian Diplomat]

PG is expensive, and I have the impression they always promise "you will recoup some of the cost from the movie that gets made". My evidence for this is the fact that each subsequent series has started with a presumably more marketable starting point than the last. "We'll make a horror movie." "We'll make this comedy script supplied by Peter Farrelly." Even so, in these last two cases, they couldn't keep themselves from choosing a "creative," stubborn weirdo who made an unmarketable film, I can't help but think the respective networks felt there had been a broken promise there.

Now, if the show were a huge success on its own, it might not matter, but there weren't huge ratings. I don't think Netflix in interested in producing terrible movies either. so that's going to be a very interesting negotiation.

The Chair had a similar problem, unfortunately. I think the expectations for the films were modest but Zachary Quinto brought in financing by promising it would be good publicity for Pittsburgh and then Shane Dawson farted on all his dreams.

[Dave in Chicago]

PG is expensive, and I have the impression they always promise "you will recoup some of the cost from the movie that gets made". My evidence for this is the fact that each subsequent series has started with a presumably more marketable starting point than the last. "We'll make a horror movie." "We'll make this comedy script supplied by Peter Farrelly." Even so, in these last two cases, they couldn't keep themselves from choosing a "creative," stubborn weirdo who made an unmarketable film, I can't help but think the respective networks felt there had been a broken promise there.

Now, if the show were a huge success on its own, it might not matter, but there weren't huge ratings. I don't think Netflix in interested in producing terrible movies either. so that's going to be a very interesting negotiation.

The Chair had a similar problem, unfortunately. I think the expectations for the films were modest but Zachary Quinto brought in financing by promising it would be good publicity for Pittsburgh and then Shane Dawson farted on all his dreams.

That's a good point - Mann was an irritant, but Dawson seemed to burn actual bridges. I'm sure neither had much impact on whether the series were renewed, but if anything I'd guess the latter created more trouble in that regard.