MTV cancels ‘The Hard Times of RJ Berger’
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MTV has canceled its scripted series ‘The Hard Times of RJ Berger’ after two seasons, the network confirmed Friday.
Series co-creator Seth Grahame-Smith first tweeted the news Friday. The show, about a well-endowed high schooler, launched to 2.6 million viewers last year when it premiered after the MTV Movie Awards. The series reached its climax with its second season premiere earlier this year, nabbing 3.1 million viewers. But viewership dropped below 1 million as the season continued and the network opted not to continue with a third season.
Although the channel pioneered the reality format with shows such as ‘The Real World’ and spawned hits including ‘The Hills’ and ‘Jersey Shore,’ it aimed to reinvent itself. ‘The Hard Times of RJ Berger’ spearheaded the reality-heavy network’s new wave of scripted series.
In an interview before the series’ launch, Tony DiSanto, MTV’s then-programming chief, told the Times: ‘Getting into scripted shows is an important piece of the puzzle,’ he said. ‘The key to MTV’s success is not getting too homogenized and moving too much in one direction.’
It’s the second of the new scripted generation to get scrapped; MTV canceled ‘Skins,’ a remake of a British show, after one season.
Still going strong is ‘Teen Wolf,’ which was recently renewed for a second season. And the network’s latest venture, ‘Awkward,’ shows promise of making it to a second season. MTV is also gearing up for the premieres of scripted comedies ‘Death Valley’ and ‘I Just Want My Pants Back.’ Animated comedies ‘Good Vibes’ and the second coming of ‘Beavis and Butt-head’ make their way on the network in October.
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-- Yvonne Villarreal
