Lights out for Astronomy Club

Netflix has cancelled the comedy sketch show from all-black troupe Astronomy Club after one season.

The company, which formed at New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in 2014, announced the news on its Twitter feed.

Seems like a good time to mention #AstronomyClub was sadly not renewed by @netflix. Thank you 🙏🏾 to all the fans who watched! Hoping that more black artists & comedians are given the platform to have voices in the future ✊🏽✊🏽✊🏽 https://t.co/1yOtbBZQou

— Astronomy Club (@ClubAstronomy) June 3, 2020

 Black-ish creator Kenya Barris was executive producer of the series, which launched in December.

Over the series performers Shawtane Bowen, Jonathan Braylock, Ray Cordova, James III, Caroline Martin, Jerah Milligan, Monique Moses, and Keisha Zollar were joined by guest stars including Ice Cube.

James III said on social media: ‘We’ve been getting lotsa love today so figured we should let y’all know Astronomy Club was sadly not renewed by Netflix and won’t have a season 2.

‘We had a blast making it. Thank u for watching!!! (It’s still there if u haven’t yet) But we ain’t playing games, we’ll be back.’

The timing does not look good for Netflix, as several fans of the series pointed out. ‘This is the time to support black creatives,’ one said.

In the face of the protests sweeping America this week following the killing of George Floyd, the streaming service posted: ‘To be silent is to be complicit.  Black lives matter.  We have a platform, and we have a duty to our Black members, employees, creators and talent to speak up.’

Published: 3 Jun 2020