It wasn’t that long ago when landing a series order with a massive streaming service like Netflix meant that one’s show would actually go through with production and land a release date down the line. Unfortunately, the times have changed, and nothing seems to be 100% guaranteed anymore until it’s already been out for a week and has merch being sold at Target. Such is the case with the would-be new animated comedy Bad Crimes, starring Nailed It’s Nicole Byer and Good Girls’ Lauren Lapkus, which was canceled in the midst of production on its first season.
First ordered to series back in January, at which time Netflix confirmed a 10-episode first season, Bad Crimes is the creation of former Full Frontal with Samantha Bee writer Nicole Silverberg, with the backing power of King of the Hill co-creators Mike Judge and Greg Daniels. Judge also created Beavis & Butt-Head and its recent revival, while Daniels is arguably most famous for The Office, and both were set to executive produce the new series alongside Silverberg, Byer and Lapkus.
A dark comedy in the vein of other recent animated shows such as Paradise PD and Inside Job, Bad Crimes was set to take on procedural elements with a story following Byer’s Kara and Lapkus’ Jennie, a pair of FBI agents who bring series dedication to their cross-country efforts to solve harrowing cases, keep their friendship intact, reach higher career goals, and bang a bunch of dudes. Quite the admirable to-do list, I’d say.
But now the show’s future is obviously in dire jeopardy now that Netflix has backed out of its initial order. According to Variety, there is a chance for Bad Crimes to live on elsewhere, as the comedy is being shopped around to other outlets with the hopes that someone else will step in and bring it to life. Considering Mike Judge and Greg Daniels are involved, it might make sense for Paramount+ or Prime Video to opt in.
It’s noted that this project’s cancellation likely connects back to Netflix losing its former Head of Animation Mike Moon, who vacated the position in July and shifted to Illumination to jumpstart an adult-geared animation banner called Moonlight. (Hopefully that doesn’t mean TV-MA projects for the Minions, but who knows?) Moon was replaced by Billy Wee, who served in a similar capacity for HBO Max, but it’s not clear what the issue is with Bad Crimes that sealed its fate.
Canceling series seems to be a go-to move for Netflix in 2022, as the streaming giant has curbed quite a few projects so far this year, from the cult animated comedy The Midnight Gospel to the freaky sci-fi horror Archive 81 to other genre entries like Resident Evil and First Kill. And this wasn’t the first time it happened with a show that was still in the midst of production. Perhaps the biggest instance for an animated project was the plug getting pulled on the first major adaptation of Jeff Smith’s seminal comic series Bone, which sparked Smith to issue an excellent response at the time. But Netflix also shockingly canceled the comic adaptation for Grendel, which was already finished filming when the bad news hit.
Nicole Byer was already at the center of production issues at Netflix earlier this year when filming for the latest batch of Nailed It! Halloween episodes was halted due to crew members walking off the set. The service did release the four episodes that were filmed in October 2022.
So while viewers won’t be able to watch Bad Crimes with a Netflix subscription, hopefully someone else will step in and save the show from being thrown in the metaphorical slammer. Head to our 2022 TV premiere schedule to see what shows are definitely premiering in the coming months.
