“SKAM Austin,” the realistic teen drama following the lives of several Texas teenagers, has been renewed for a second season on Facebook Watch, the company announced at the TCA Summer Press Tour on Wednesday in Los Angeles.
The series, which takes its name from the lauded Norwegian series “SKAM” (or “shame” in English) follows four unpopular girls from an Austin, Texas dance team as they deal with a myriad of issues: school cliques, having sex for the first time, racism, and balancing high school friendships. The first episode of the series, launched in April, attracted 14 million views.
Fidji Simo, Facebook’s VP of product, and Ricky Van Veen, Facebook’s head of global creative strategy, made the announcement on Wednesday.
The second season will continue the show’s experimental sharing of content, with “SKAM Austin” characters posting Instagram pictures in “real time” that add to the show’s storyline. Approximately 223,000 Facebook users follow the show on Watch.
“SKAM Austin” joins a small but growing list of series that have been enjoyed renewals on Facebook Watch, the platform’s year-old video hub. “Returning the Favor,” starring “Dirty Jobs” host Mike Rowe, and “Ball in the Family,” chronicling Lakers guard Lonzo Ball and his family, which launched its third season last month, are two of the more prominent shows to be renewed by the social network.
Executive producers for “SKAM Austin” are Julie Andem, Simon Fuller, Per Blankens, and Sarah Heyward.
On Wednesday, the platform also announced the interactive series “Big Chicken Shaq,” which will follow Shaquille O’Neal as he realizes his lifelong dream of opening his own restaurant.
Using real-time engagement on Facebook Watch, the eight-episode series will take input from viewers to shape the Las Vegas restaurant, which will launch later this year. O’Neal will also be featured a variety of content between episodes, as well as on Facebook Live.