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Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies Among Four Series Canceled at Paramount+

Paramount+ is the latest streamer to pull content from its platform for tax write-off purposes. Per The Hollywood Reporter, it has canceled Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, the animated show Star Trek: Prodigy, the competition series Queen of the Universe, and the revival of The Game. All four shows will also be purged from the streamer.

Grease and Star Trek: Prodigy were each canceled after a single season, while both Queen of the Universe and The Game revival ran for two. The news comes just days ahead of Showtime’s upcoming integration into Paramount+ on Tuesday, June 27th.

In a statement on her Instagram Story, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies creator Annabel Oakes confirmed the show’s cancellation and its removal from Paramount+. “Unless it finds a new home you will no longer be able to watch it anywhere,” Oakes wrote. “The cast, my creative partners, and I are all devastated at the complete erasure of our show. Thank you to our beautiful fans. The music will remain even after the show is taken down.”

Earlier this month, Grease executive music producer Justin Tranter broke down all the songs from the show track by track. Read the interview here.

“The Showtime portfolio of edgy, critically acclaimed programming will complement the broad and popular Paramount+ library in a seamless offering that appeals to everyone, enables more discovery between the brands, and builds overall viewership,” a Paramount+ spokesperson said in a statement to THR. “We are refining our content offering to deliver the best streaming experience for subscribers. This is consistent with our content strategy since launch and across our business, which ensures we make smart, efficient choices, informed by audience data and insights. We are removing select programming as we look to optimize Showtime’s robust slate of premium originals.”

Last month, 25% of employees at Showtime, MTV Entertainment Studios, and Paramount Media Networks were laid off as part of a restructuring that shut down MTV News. Meanwhile, President/CEO of Showtime and Paramount Media Networks Chris McCarthy has been focused on expanding Showtime original series into full-blown franchises. This includes as many as four Billions spin-offs, a Dexter prequel series, and an upcoming offshoot of The L Word. Revivals of Nurse Jackie and Weeds have also been fast-tracked.

Paramount+ joins Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney in pulling shows from their streaming platforms to slash costs. WBD went on to license many of those titles to Roku and Tubi and is reportedly in talks with Netflix to license older HBO series in a further effort to boost profits.