Renewals and Cancellations: 'Severance,' 'Tulsa King,' 'Sex Lives of College Girls'

This is a renewals and cancellations post, so do not fear spoilers for last night’s Severance season finale. However, it is official — not that anyone had any doubt — that Apple TV+ has renewed Severance for a third season. Better news, according to Ben Stiller, is that we won’t have to wait three years for the next one. I also appreciate that Apple TV — despite the fact that it still only has a smattering of hits — Ted Lasso, Shrinking, The Morning Show — is in no danger of going under. Apple runs a $1 billion deficit annually, but $1 billion to Apple is couch-cushion change.

There was also little doubt about the renewal of Paramount+’s Tulsa King (especially given the political climate). The Taylor Sheridan-produced series, however, will have a new showrunner. Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire) stepped down after the first season, returned as head writer in the second, and now Dave Erickson is taking over. Erickson ran the early seasons of Fear the Walking Dead, which were considerably better than the later ones.

Elsewhere, Max has axed Sex Lives of College Girls. The Mindy Kaling series ran for three seasons, and it was very good (the third season finale — now the series finale — was outstanding). I don’t even think this was a ratings decision for Max — I think they’re just moving away from comedy (Bookie was also canceled last month). Warner Bros. TV will shop it elsewhere, and I hope it finds a home at Netflix, which already hosts two other Kaling projects: Running Point and Never Have I Ever.

I had never even heard of House of David until last week, when I stumbled across a thumbnail on Prime Video, but that series has already been picked up for a second season just three weeks into its first. I’m tempted to sample it, but “Biblical dramas” are even less interesting to me than “long-running anime series.” Still, maybe I’ll give it a shot.

As for cartoons, I cannot believe that Solar Opposites is already heading into its sixth season, which will arrive in the fall. Alas, it will be the last for the Hulu series, originally from the now-exiled Justin Roiland.

Two shows I sampled briefly and bailed on — because I was not the demo — School Spirits on Paramount+ and Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+ — have also been renewed for their third seasons (ahead of the second, for Percy).

Finally, it’s not a renewal exactly, but Netflix is putting out another season of Peyton Manning’s Quarterbacks docuseries. I actually loved the first season, which centered on Patrick Mahomes, Kirk Cousins, and Marcus Mariota. Manning couldn’t convince enough quarterbacks to participate last year, but he’s back shooting, starting in July with — and this is exciting for NFL fans — Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, Jared Goff of the Detroit Lions, and … Kirk Cousins again. Burrow and Goff will both be gunning for a championship, while Cousins — honestly — may be competing just to hang on to his job in Atlanta. In the first season, Mariota was cut from the Falcons, so he’s playing with fire (then again, Mahomes won a championship that year).