Less than a year after its HBO Max premiere, Warner Bros. has cancelled the US comedian and former talk show presenter Ellen DeGeneres’ Little Ellen.
The preschool-targeted animated series, which had been in development for two seasons, has been cancelled after two episodes, according to Deadline. Season three was supposed to come out somewhere in June, but that schedule was moved back early this year, and the show is now not coming at all.
With Laurel Emory providing the voice of a seven-year-old Ellen, the animated series Little Ellen is largely based on the early years of Ellen DeGeneres. Over the course of both seasons, 20 episodes totaling about 11 minutes each have been produced. DeGeneres and Warner Bros. produced it as part of a three-part agreement that also gave birth to Ellen’s Home Design Challenge and First Dates Hotel.
The choice appears to be a result of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, which was most notable for the company’s cancellation of Batgirl after investing $90 million in the endeavour. Since David Zazlav became president and CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, a number of projects have been shelved in the last week. The reality TV programme The Big D was also completely cancelled a few weeks before its broadcast, according to Deadline.
This is due to the fact that WB can deduct them from taxes, which enables the company to waive the expenditures (or as its known “purchase accounting”). The opportunity to accomplish this is then said to run out by the middle of August, which explains why so many have occurred in such a brief period of time.
Laurel Emory, Johanna Colón, JeCobi Swain, and June Squibb are the stars of Little Ellen. The first two seasons are available to watch on HBO Max in the US currently.
