Hulu has canceled its acclaimed period dramedy The Great after three seasons. The streaming platform is not currently revealing the reasons why it ended its hit satirical television series, which starred Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult, however, according to Deadline.
The historical television show was created, written and executive produced by Oscar-nominated filmmaker, Tony McNamara (The Favourite). Matt Shakman (Game of Thrones, the upcoming Fantastic Four movie) served as the dramedy’s director. McNamara and Shakman received scribing and helming Emmy nominations for the series’ premiere episode in 2020.
The Great chronicles the life of the titular Catherine the Great, Russia’s reigning empress from 1762 to 1796. The show depicted the iconic character, who was played by Fanning, and her place in history through a unique prism.
The empress went from outsider to the longest-reigning female ruler in the country’s history.
Besides Fanning and Hoult, the show also starred Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge, Sacha Dhawan, Bayo Gbadamosi and Belinda Bromilow. Several key characters were killed off during the third season, which earned the strongest accolades compared to the previous two seasons. Fanning and Hoult were nominated for such awards as Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG Awards throughout the dramedy’s run.
The series’ third season premiered this past May as a binge release.
It revolved around the main couple, Catherine and Emperor Peter III, trying to work on their marriage. The season 3 finale ended on a satisfying note for the characters. Catherine, in particular, showed tremendous growth as a ruler.
While The Great was a critical favorite, earning nearly universally positive reviews across all three of its seasons, it’s not publicly known how many viewers watched it. Hulu, like most other streaming platforms, doesn’t share much of its viewing data for its content. But it is known that the show’s third season didn’t tmake the top 10 original streaming series list from Nielsen.
Besides McNamara, The Great was also executive produced by Fanning, Hoult, Marian Macgowan, Mark Winemaker, Echo Lake’s Brittany Kahan Ward, Doug Mankoff and Andrew Spaulding, Thruline’s Ron West and Josh Kesselman. The project was produced by Civic Center Media in association with MRC Television.