Showtime Has Relinquished The 'Gattaca' Series, 'Seasoned', And Two In Development

 

Earlier this week, the streaming side of Showtime officially merged with Paramount+, while the linear channel will be staying as-is for an indeterminate time being. However, that change is still being prepared for as the new programming strategy shifts. For it, Showtime has scrapped the Gattaca series adaptation, the Mandy Patinkin-starring comedy series with his wife Seasoned, and the in-development Sweetness and Split.

Sweetness is a female-driven anthology project that comes from Nick Stoller and Promising Young Woman Oscar winner Emerald Fennell. There isn't much known about Split however. From Homeland co-creators Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa, the Gattaca series takes place a generation after the events of the film, but by all accounts, retells the exact same events and circumstances. In a future dominated by genetic engineering, a man with a congenital heart condition tries to assume the identity of a former athlete with perfect genes in order to fulfill his dream of traveling in space. 

Seasoned is inspired by Patinkin and wife Kathryn Grody’s real life, implemented as a "delightfully tumultuous relationship and life of a successful, gregarious, deeply committed, slightly insane married couple". It is co-created and co-written by writer-director Ewen Wright and the couple's son Gideon Grody-Patinkin.

All four projects will have the opportunity to be shopped elsewhere. Gattaca comes from Sony Pictures Television, with whom Sweetness's Stoller has an overall deal while Seasoned comes from Jax Media. Insiders say the series were dropped because Paramount is focusing on adapting IP that it owns rather than third-party projects.

These are just the latest of programs dropped from development for the network, like King Shaka and The Wood, as well as Three Women, rescued by Starz, and Ripley by Netflix. Original series that had made it to air such as Ziwe, Let the Right One In. American Gigolo, I Love That For You and The L Word: Generation Q have all been canceled in pursuit of the new strategy.

Source: Deadline