Peacock has canceled Rutherford Falls from showrunner Sierra Teller Ornelas and starring Ed Helms after two seasons. Created by Ornelas, Helms and Mike Schur (The Good Place), Rutherford Falls was a breakthrough series for Native representation onscreen and in the writers’ room.
The comedy series premiered in April 2021 and follows two friends, Nathan Rutherford (Ed Helms) and Reagan Wells (Jana Schmieding), who, upon learning about the removal of a divisive statue in their small town, suddenly find their close relationship tested.
The cancellation comes nearly three months after Peacock dropped all eight episodes of the show’s sophomore season. While Peacock does not release traditional viewership data, season two of the comedy starring Helms, Jana Schmieding and Michael Greyeyes had a rare 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite its critical success season two has fewer episodes than the first season and it lacked the viewership to keep it alive.
After learning about the show’s cancellation, Ornelas shared how proud she is of the series and reflecting on everything it accomplished. In a statement released via Deadline, the co-creator says it was “an honor” to positively depict Indian Country to large audiences.
“It’s been an honor to introduce the best of Indian Country to the masses,” Ornelas said, adding that she and the other producers “will be exploring other platforms” for Rutherford Falls to continue. The series originated at Apple TV+ where it was in development before being put in turnaround and landing at Peacock with a series order.
Read Ornelas’ full statement below:
“It’s been a true joy to make these two seasons of Rutherford Falls. Mike Schur, Ed Helms and I set out to make something new, real, and smart—but also dumb—that made you cry and think, but also laugh when Reagan got kicked in the face or Nathan was stuffed into a coffin. Borrowing a line from Terry Thomas, played by the ridiculously talented Michael Greyeyes, before our show, “Native representation [was], for the most part, a hate crime.” Which is why it’s been an honor to introduce the best of Indian Country to the masses. We remain overwhelmed by the critical response, garnering a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score in our second season, and while we’re sad that our time at Peacock has come to an end we are immensely grateful to them for picking us up and showcasing the talents of comedy legend Ed Helms and breakout stars like Jana Schmieding, Jesse Leigh, Dana Wilson, Dallas Goldtooth, Kaniehtiio Horn, and many others. We love these characters, the world we created, and the impact it has had, and will be exploring other platforms where, hopefully, the folks of Rutherford Falls can call home.“
