Featured Image Credit: Paul Treadway / Alamy. Little Ellen (2021).
Topics: Ellen DeGeneres, HBO, Warner Bros, US News, Film and TV, Celebrity
Jayden Collins
Topics: Ellen DeGeneres, HBO, Warner Bros, US News, Film and TV, Celebrity
Ellen DeGeneres' show Little Ellen has been cancelled by Warner Bros. less than 12 months after it first aired on HBO Max.
It looks like little Ellen won’t be growing up.
According to Deadline, the animated series aimed at toddlers and kids has been chucked in the bin after two seasons.
The news comes despite season three being completed and having an initial release date back in June, however, that was pushed back earlier this year.
The show followed a 7-year-old Ellen DeGeneres, exploring the world through the eyes of the future talk show host.
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It was the first show created by Warner Bros. Animation aimed at a younger demographic since Firehouse Tales, which aired in 2006.
Little Ellen was part of a three-show deal between DeGeneres and Warner Bros. that included Ellen’s Home Design Challenge and First Dates Hotel.
It signals yet another scrapping of a TV show or movie since the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery, and of another piece of content that had already been finished.
The merger has seen a new regime implemented under new CEO David Zazlav, who hasn’t been shy in cancelling projects where he sees fit.
Earlier this month Warner Bros. confirmed the DC Comics film Batgirl would not be getting a release date, essentially pouring $90 million (A$130m) down the drain.
Batgirl was being prepped for release on the streaming service HBO Max, and even was being considered for theatrical release at one point, however, has been completely dropped despite nearing film completion, according to The Wrap.
Initial reports said the film had flopped in test screenings, however, since then Deadline has reported that productions like Little Ellen and Batgirl have been written off for tax purposes.
The new regime is able to write off the costs of certain productions as part of ‘purchase accounting’ option, which revises the assets of an acquired business at the time of the acquisition.
That opportunity expires for Warner Bros. Discovery very soon, so that’s why upcoming shows such as the reality series The Big D and the film Scoot!: Holiday Haunt have also been scrapped despite a fair bit of investment.
The first two seasons of Little Ellen are still available to watch on HBO Max in the United States, however, for now, season three will stay stuck on a hard drive.