gone too soon

First ‘Smiley’ & now another queer Spanish language Netflix series just got the chop

By · Updated on January 26, 2024
Two stars of Netflix's Rebelde sing to each other while bathed in green light
Image Credit: ‘Rebelde,’ Netflix

Another week, another great, queer-inclusive television show gets the axe…

We’re sad to report that Netflix’s Spanish-language drama Rebelde won’t be returning for a third season, closing the curtain on the musical teen soap.

The Mexican series was a belated sequel to a telenovela of the same name, which ran for two seasons, from 2004 to 2006, and was itself an adaptation of the hit Argentinian series Rebelde Way, which ran from 2002 to 2003.

The original Rebelde was something of a pre-cursor to Elite, set in a prestigious private academy called the Elite Way School, but with a unique musical spin (and decidedly less steamy scenes in the school locker room).

Netflix’s update followed a new set of students and aspiring pop stars who had to balance the day-to-day stresses of high school with their dreams of making it big in the music industry. For them, more than any exam or class project, everything rides on the school’s Battle Of The Bands, an annual event that could make or break their careers.

Across its two seasons—which premiered and January and July of 2022—Rebelde explored the lives and loves of its young ensemble, including the groundbreaking groundbreaking lesbian relationship between Andi Agosti (Lizeth Selene) and Emilia Alo (Giovanna Grigio), as well as Argentinian transfer student Luka Colucci (Franco Masini) who is notably outed as queer early in the show’s run.

It was Rebelde star Sergio Mayer Mori who broke news of the series’ cancellation in a recent interview with ¡Hola! Mexico:

“It would be an honor for me to be able to do a third, fourth, and fifth [season], but that was no longer possible,” said Mayer Mori. The actor did not know the reason for the cancellation, but added the decision was Netflix’s to make: “It was the producers who told us, ‘Thanks for everything guys, but a third season won’t be happening.'”

Related:

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The sad news comes just days after we got word that Netflix has canceled the gay rom-com Smiley—yet another Spanish-language series featuring LGBTQ+ characters.

And, of course, both arrive as part of a major wave of queer TV programming cancellations over the past year, which includes series such as Queer As Folk, The L Word: Generation Q, Uncoupled, Legendary, Los Espookys, First Kill, and Love, Victor—just to name a few.

But we hate to end things on such a sour note, so we’ll leave you with some of our favorite photos of Franco Masini, whose queer character was an undeniable breakout of Rebelde:

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