Netflix is not renewing Uncoupled for a second season.
The show was created by Darren Star (Sex In The City, Emily In Paris) and Jeffrey Richman. It starred Neil Patrick Harris as a 40-something gay man who is dumped by his long-term partner (Tuc Watkins).
Harris’s character, Michael, then had to navigate dealing with the grief of his relationship ending, and dating again on the NYC gay scene.
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The rom-sticom also featured Tisha Campbell, Brooks Ashmanskas, Emerson Brooks, and Marcia Gay Harden.
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Uncoupled premiered last July. Variety notes it received solid reviews, scoring around 75% from critics and audiences alike. However, it did not pull in great viewing numbers. It debuted at number six on the Netflix ‘most watched’ chart upon release but dropped out of the top ten after a week.
Uncoupled had eight episodes and ended on a cliffhanger (spoiler alert follows!).
In the final show, Watkins’ character, Colin, tells Michael (Harris) that his decision to end the relationship may have been a big mistake.
Unless the show is picked up by another streamer, it looks like we’ll never know if they got back together.
Bob M
Too bad. Maybe not for everybody but it was a good attempt to show the life of a gay man who is dealing with not being part of the gay youth culture anymore. At least in NYC. Would’ve been nice to see what happened next after the cliff hanger ending, and more Tuc Watkins is never a bad thing. Was a nice companion piece to Sex and the City & And Just Like That. You could almost imagine Carrie and the girls just down the street having brunch.
JClark
An annoying show about self-absorbed people. No thank you.
Neoprene
You just described all of today’s LGBTQIA2S+ culture.
dbmcvey
Ah, there’s Neoprene with another stupid take.
MrGoldman
It was really corny. No need to drag this out beyond the first season.
Raphael
Well, that’s what happens when you have ONE idea and try to make a whole series… They should have come up with different plots, focused on the other characters as well. The thing was draaaagged through 8 episodes… If it was just a 90min movie, it would have made more sense.
G R
Agree 100%!
GentlemanCaller
Oh well, another Sex & The City clone about a hot rich white gay guy’s heroic struggles didn’t catch on with viewers.
Robert Bradley
It wasn’t horrible…we were entertained. It wasn’t great either. We did like seeing gay mainstream actors in a mainstream show. Oh well…. Back to da str8 shows.
BeachDaddyDave
I had very high hopes when I first saw this promoted. I love Neil Patrick Harris and am happy for any LGBTQ+ content. However, I was disappointed. I watched the 1st episode, then didn’t go back to it for a month. These stories about A-gays in swanky homes make it hard for most of us to relate. While the personal dramas do resonate with many of us, I found it to be, ultimately, boring and overly drawn out.
imhensley
Same.
Bengali
1. I can’t stand Tuc Watkins ever since I saw him in, “I Think I Do” (which is a movie worth checking out.
2. I’m not a huge fan of NPH.
3. The story was unoriginal. A better option:
MY FAKE BOYFRIEND starring Keiynan Lonsdale. An overall fun film and Keiynan carrying most of the film. However, a welcome addition to the cast is Dylan Sprouse as Lonsdale’s straight best friend who’s pulling for him. And notable in the cast besides lovely Sarah Hyland is Middle Eastern actor Samer Salem. Gorgeous, enjoyable and sincere.
inbama
It was really hard to believe such a silly middle-aged queen was topping all these hotter and younger guys.
As Bette Midler’s Sophie Tucker joke goes, “20 goes into 80 a lot more than 80 goes into 20.”
MickeyMoose
THIS was a great show, funny, fun, escapist, endearing at times. Neil Patrick Harris was terrific. It encapsulated the gay experience for a highly relatable demographic (good to know some of you have never been dumped and none of you are getting older.)
I recall all the QueerSnark leveled at the amazing HBO series LOOKING which ran for two seasons, plus a movie special. Unafraid to show warts and all, it too encapsulated gay life for a relatable demographic. Maybe some of whom defiled it so poisonously here on Queerty were uncomfortable with seeing their own flaws mirrored.
Bottom line is, the comments posted here reiterate the self-loathing and hypocrisy that so many gays embrace, regardless of the strides we make, with regards to gay TV and movies: always ready to strike like a viper with venom regarding any and all attempts to bring the gay experience to the screen.
Ryan Murphy and Darren Star find their series that present cartoonish characterizations of women praised by the self-proclaimed “fabulous” gays, while these producers’ gay-centric series are dismissed by the very same group. Gay representation in the entertainment media is essential to our moving forward, but unlike straight people and the many less than flattering representations of them portrayed in the entertainment, all too many queers are hung up when less than ideal gay characters are presented.
Colorado Couple
Very well said!
OCandPS
I am not surprised. The characters were mostly exaggerated stereotypes of some of the worst found in the community. Honestly at times it was embarrassing to watch.
xanadude
WHAT?! Exaggerated gay stereotypes on TV?! Say it isn’t so! While I actually ended up liking the show, I agree. When will SOMEONE make a more realistic show with characters that happen to be gay? SO tired of the Jack McFarland stereotype characters. Gag.
ggore
Sorry, but the truth hurts sometimes, and in this case most gays I see out at the bars definitely fit the Jack McFarland stereotype or some variation of it to a T. Not all gays are this way, but there is a significant number who are. And those of us of the more “butch” persuasion are denigrated for not being fun and festive enough to suit those of the more festive nelly persuasion, so there you go. You can’t make anyone happy.
LumpyPillows
Big fan of NPH. The show wasn’t great. A bit to whiney for me, especially for people who have everything. Would have liked a second season to see if they could right the ship.
fishpaw13
I can understand that. This could have easily been a single TV movie but by the time you were half way through, you just wanted to SLAP NPH into reality! I made it through but the ending was expected.
G R
Considering all the gays responsible for getting the show on the air it was a poorly written, predictable mess. One note and stereotypical characters. Potential was there but couldn’t deliver.
G R
Considering all the gay men working on this show I found it poorly written and VERY predictable. I mean they go skiing and the gayest member of the group gets a pink bunny ski outfit?? At the wedding I KNEW 100% that the ex would be in the apt. waiting when NPH got home, and had that mess of a TV show been renewed he would’ve said “No, I like my life as it is now”. Hardly groundbreaking entertainment. Tisha Campbell and MGH were the only saving members of the cast.
Potential was there but the final product missed the mark IMO. I expected MUCH better.
bachy
It’s a shame. With SATC and EiP on the resume and Darren Star at the helm, the show itself had a solid foundation. I just think it was poorly cast. Why? Just because the characters are older, it doesn’t mean we don’t want some eye candy! Plus, NPH is not a sympathetic actor, often coming off as smug and entitled. Where were Luke Evans, Jonathan Groff, Cheyenne Jackson, Matt Bomer, Scott Evans, Matt Wilkas, Russell Tovey, Lee Pace, Murray Bartlett, Luke McFarlane, Wilson Cruz, Ricky Martin or Wentworth Miller when they were casting this thing?
Diplomat
Where else? They were having a Saturday night orgie.
bachy
@Diplo: I begged them to put on their clothes and go audition, but they wouldn’t listen.
HalcyonDays
I enjoyed it for what it was. Glamourized, escapist, gay entertainment.
I lived in Manhattan for 30 years and found at least a kernel of truth in most of what was portrayed, however exaggerated.
I think if a second season were happening, we’d need to see a big expansion of the story lines of Tisha Campbell and Marcia Gay Harden. Both contributed greatly to the show.
Toofie
It was okay. Nothing substantial really. Great supporting cast. We made it through #7. Unfortunately it just rang shallow a bit. There was one moment when NPH got teary thinking of losing his relationship that felt authentic, but that was it.
mala
The cancelation of the show has very little to do with race and classism. Most LGBT shows are getting canned. The truth is if LGBT stories aren’t centered around heteronormitivity, no one watches, including gays. The reason why a show like Heartstoppers is so big is because of the large YA female audience. We cry for inclusion but when we get a show or movie no one shows up to support them or nitpick them to death.
bachy
Even if every gay person obediently tuned in to the show, LGBTQ is estimated to comprise 6% of the population. That’s not very big numbers for NETFLIX. It’s one of the reasons casting directors might stick a Brad Pitt in a leading role. Brings in more viewers who otherwise might not be interested in a gay romance.
mala
Another issue is gay men hate seeing openly gay men in queee roles. The shows are likely to have more success if the gay characters are portrayed by straight men they can fawn over.
Kangol2
Speak for yourself and stop mischaracterizing a vast group of people!
RIGay
Love the context, but the show never resonated with me. Meh.
bigdandd
I was never a big fan of NPH. When he and David first got together, it was OVERKILL on TV and other news sources. Then he was practically on EVERYTHING. Hosting award shows and the like.
When I watched this on Netflix, believe it or not, I thought he did a great job. I really enjoyed the whole series. Not all that bothered that it wasn’t renewed. I didn’t even think that there was a possibility that a second season could be possible.
RKP
Thank goodness – the show was dreadful. It was SATC written with gay characters. The only appealing character was Andre de Shields – they should have had him as a more central character. Otherwise, all of them were unpleasant people no one would want to be around. And, it was obvious NPH had script approval – as every guy he came across fell madly in love or lust with him and couldn’t resist his charms. People can give a pass to shows if there is some element of humor or truth – this contributed nothing – and if gay writers were invilved they should be ashamed.
Kangol2
I personally though the show was fine. Not great but not terrible either. I asked before it began why the characters had to be superrich, which seems the baseline for so many TV shows today, when it might have been more interesting and relatable if Neil Patrick Harris’s character were middle-class and juggling a lot of the challenges the vast majority of people in New York City, of whatever sexual orientation, gender, race, religion, etc. are facing, but that seems harder than ever for Hollywood and its adjacent cultural producers to do, so it was what it was. As for Neil Patrick Harris, I felt he did a good job; his character was meant to be a bit whiny and annoying, but I still appreciated him. Tuc Watkins seemed like a cardboard cut out by comparison. I also wish we’d seen more of Marsha Gay Harden and Tisha Campbell, both fine actors, along with André DeShields and Emerson Brooks (yum), and that the storylines had branched out. In a second season that very well might have happened.