Syfy rolled out Deadly Class in late 2018, adapting Rick Remender’s Image Comics hit into a gritty 80s tale of teen assassins. Homeless kid Marcus gets scooped into King’s Dominion, a secret academy training crime heirs to kill pros.
Benedict Wong runs the brutal school as Master Lin, with Benjamin Wadsworth as haunted Marcus, Lana Condor as icy yakuza heir Saya, and a crew dodging gang beefs, drugs, and punk chaos.
The Russo brothers executive-produced, hyping stylish fights and counterculture vibes that hooked comic readers. The premiere pulled 355,000 live viewers, decent for Syfy, spiking to 516,000 by episode four.
Fans raved about the choreography, ’80s soundtrack nods via punk episode titles, and raw teen angst amid stabbings and overdoses. Rotten Tomatoes gave it 64 percent from critics, praising the action but knocking the pacing, next to Riverdale or Elite. Still, word spread slowly.
Viewership Drop Sparks Axe
Numbers slid fast after the peak, finally scraping 340,000 live eyes. DVR bumped totals near a million some weeks, but the 18-49 demo stayed puny at 0.1-0.2 ratings.
Syfy axed it on June 4, 2019, the same day as Happy!, clearing the deck for Krypton and The Magicians renewals. Mixed reviews at 58 on Metacritic called it frustrating despite sharp casting.
Deadly Class (Credit: Prime Video)
Creator Remender had season two outlines ready, pulling from comic arcs like “Snake Pit” and cartel clashes, resolving cliffhangers with captured Marcus.
The cast, including Condor, pitched hard to Netflix and Hulu, but there were no bites. Sony shopped it post-cancel, eyeing platforms hungry for genre fare, yet doors stayed shut. The budget was a bit hard on Vancouver shoots and effects for Vegas acid trips.
Cast Climbs Out, Fans Left Hanging
Stars bounced back strong. Condor lit up To All the Boys rom-coms, Wadsworth hit Netflix’s Obliterated, and Wong anchored Shang-Chi. Remender stuck to comics, eyeing fresh adaptations minus the TV grind.
Fans stew on what-ifs: deeper dives into Willie’s pacifist crew or Viktor’s Stalin ties? Streaming keeps all 10 episodes alive, with vote averages at 7.5, signaling cult love. Syfy chased safer bets amid cord-cutting, but Deadly Class proved niche hits struggle without breakout heat.
The gore and gloom packed a punch, just not enough eyeballs. Imagine Marcus pushing through even more black-hole betrayals; instead, we got a stylish one-off reminder that even killer ideas need crowds to thrive.
Netflix dropped I Am Not Okay With This in February 2020, pulling from Charles Forsman’s graphic novel about Sydney Novak, a high schooler wrestling with grief and budding telekinesis.
Sophia Lillis stars as Syd, fresh off IT ’s horrors, dealing with her dad’s suicide, a spiky mom Maggie played by Kathleen Rose Perkins, little brother Liam, and her messy feelings for best friend Dina played by Sofia Bryant.
Wyatt Oleff as neighbor Stan rounds out the crew, sparking awkward hookups amid locker room beefs and house-shaking outbursts.
Jonathan Entwistle, hot from The End of the F***ing World, directed every episode, blending It-inspired grit with queer teen vibes and explosive nosebleeds. Shot in Pittsburgh’s sleepy burbs, it nailed 80s nostalgia and flips on modern angst, like pep rallies gone bloody.
Fans dug the raw edge; seven quick episodes built to a homecoming head-pop cliffhanger, teasing a mystery mentor for Syd’s rage-fueled gifts.
Critics split at 64 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, loving Lillis’s fire but calling the plots familiar next to sex education packs. Quietly greenlit for more pre-premiere, it rode the End of the World buzz.
COVID Cash Crunch Hits Hard
The pandemic wrecked plans. Scripts locked for a tight second and final season, mapping Syd’s power mentor, Dina’s romance fallout, and Stan’s friend-zone woes. Pre-production hummed till shutdowns spiked budgets with daily tests, PPE gear, and protocols, tacking on $5-10 million.
I Am Not Okay With This (Credit: Netflix)
Holdover fees stung too; cast contracts meant big payouts for idle time, blocking Entwistle from other gigs sans the Netflix deal. Strong week one views faded steadily, falling short of the Stranger Things-level splash Netflix craved despite the show’s darker bite.
Official word hit August 21, 2020: scrapped alongside The Society, blaming COVID headaches for ensemble costs and delays. Entwistle begged to tweak the finale sans dialogue, dodging hard cliffhanger pain, but Netflix nixed it. No other streamers grabbed it; timing tanked chances.
Stars Soar, Fans Fume Forever
Lillis crushed it as Gretel in Netflix’s Wednesday, Bryant popped in VH1’s Daytime Divas revival, and Oleff stuck to IT reunions. Entwistle chased Karate Kid: Legends and more Forsman vibes. Netflix shifted to safer bets like sex education spinoffs.
Viewers rage on Reddit, mourning untapped arcs like Brad’s mess aftermath or Dad’s power hints. All seven episodes stream eternally, with cult status growing with sharp dialogue and blood sprays.
COVID flipped TV hard, axing niche gems when big swings ruled. Syd’s scream still echoes; it sucks we never saw her tame the chaos or snag that kiss. One-season wonders hit different, leaving you pissed just like the title.
