“How to Die Alone” will not return for Season 2 at Hulu. The Onyx Collective series starring and created by Natasha Rothwell was canceled Tuesday, but the actress shared her hopes to find a new home to continue the story.
“I am shocked, heartbroken and frankly, baffled that Onyx has decided not to move forward with a second season of ‘How to Die Alone.’ This is a tough reality to accept because the show is an undeniable critical, creative and award-winning success,” Rothwell said in a statement. “This show took me eight years to bring to life, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned in that time, it’s resilience. I’m not giving up. My team and I are committed to finding ‘How to Die Alone’ a new home because stories like this matter.”
The eight-episode first season followed Mel, “a broke, fat, Black JFK Airport employee who’s never been in love and forgotten how to dream, until an accidental brush with death catapults her on a journey to finally take flight and start living by any means necessary,” according to the show’s official logline
“How to Die Alone” received some awards recognition for the first season, winning the Independent Spirit Award for ensemble cast in a new scripted series and with three nominations for the upcoming NAACP Image Awards.
Co-showrunner Vera Santamaria previously told TheWrap that she and Rothwell had plotted a four-season arc for the show. A potential Season 2 would see Mel “continue her journey to falling in love with herself.” “We’ll definitely see her be presented with other opportunities to betray herself, for the sake of short-term satisfaction,” Rothwell told TheWrap before the Season 1 finale.
“Now more than ever, television that amplifies previously unheard voices, and that prioritizes hiring and casting decisions that accurately reflect the diversity of the world, is essential,” Rothwell said in her statement regarding the cancellation. “Representation isn’t just about visibility — it’s about ensuring that our stories, our existence and our cultural contributions are not erased.”
“As Maya Angelou so wisely said, ‘You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.’”
“We are rising. And we are not done,” she added.
“How to Die Alone” starred Conrad Ricamora, Jocko Sims and KeiLyn Durrel Jones. Executive producers include Rothwell through her Big Hattie Productions banner and Santamaria via her Welcome Stranger banner along with Desiree Akhavan and Jude Weng.
