Add Vice to the list of disappeared series from cable and streaming outlets.
The documentary series was removed from Showtime and Paramount+ earlier in July as part of a broader set of programs taken off the Paramount Global services. Vice joins the likes of The L Word: Generation Q, Ziwe, I Love That for You and American Gigolo in being taken down from Showtime, which is focusing its programming on key franchises like Billions — which has several spinoffs in development — Dexter and The Chi.
But while the other pulled shows had finished their runs, Vice still had half a season remaining on its order, plus an episode featuring a segment on Florida governor and presidential candidate Ron DeSantis that was taken out of the rotation in May. At the time, Vice News, which produces the series, said in a statement, “As with all current affairs programming there can be scheduling changes, and we are very much still in discussion about the scheduling of this episode. We are proud of our reporting and of our continuing partnership with Showtime.”
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that while the series hasn’t officially been canceled at Showtime, Vice News will look for another home for the series. It’s very early in the process, but more than one outlet has expressed interest. As for the remainder of the episodes ordered at Showtime, Vice is in production on some and preproduction on others.
Over the course of its life, first at HBO and then at Showtime, Vice has won Primetime Emmys, News and Documentary Emmys, a Peabody Award and duPont-Columbia Awards for its journalism.
Paramount Global is far from alone in scrubbing programming from its platforms as a write-down move. Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney have also pulled down numerous shows, among them Westworld, Raised by Wolves (both since licensed to Tubi), Generation and Mrs. Fletcher from WBD outlets and Willow, Y: The Last Man and The Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney platforms, among dozens of others at both companies.
Beverly Chase is the showrunner and executive producer of Vice. Craig Thomson is co-EP, and Subrata De is the senior executive producer for the series and executive vp of Vice News.
Vice Media filed for bankruptcy protection in May. Buyers led by Fortress Investment Group made a winning bid to acquire the company in June for $225 million.
Source: Hollywood
