‘Cruel Summer’ and ‘Good Trouble’ Canceled at Freeform

BreAnna Bell
·3 min read
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Freeform will not be moving forward with new seasons of “Cruel Summer” and “Good Trouble,” Variety has confirmed.

An anthology series, Season 2 of of “Cruel Summer” followed the rise and fall of an intense teenage friendship. “Approaching the story from three different timelines surrounding Y2K, the season twists and turns as it tracks the early friendship between Megan, Isabella and Megan’s best friend Luke, the love triangle that blossomed, and the mystery that would impact all of their lives going forward,” reads the official description.

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After making waves with its explosive first season (which averaged multiplatform+35 viewership of 6.8 million viewers per episode) that quickly became the network’s most-watched series ever, Freeform followed up the performance with a fast Season 2 renewal in 2021 — a move Freeform president Tara Duncan called an “easy decision” at the time.

Variety previously reported on creator Bert V. Royal’s exit from “Cruel Summer” and departure from Freeform in July 2021 stating that Royal parted ways with the network after the pilot finished filming in the year prior due to creative differences. He was still credited as the creator and executive producer for Season 1 of the series.

Also in Season 2, Elle Triedman joined the series, replacing Tia Napolitano as showrunner. Napolitano remained an executive producer alongside Bill Purple and Iron Ocean Productions’ Jessica Biel and Michelle Purple. The show was backed by eOne.

Lexi Underwood, Sadie Stanley, Griffin Gluck, KaDee Strickland, Lisa Yamada, Sean Blakemore, and Paul Adelstein were among the Season 2 cast.

Olivia Holt, Chiara Aurelia, Michael Landes, Froy Gutierrez, Harley Quinn Smith, Allius Barnes, Blake Lee and Brooklyn Sudano starred in the first season.

Though, there’s a bright spot for “Good Trouble” fans in the midst of this news: the series will be given the opportunity to film some additional scenes for a supersized series finale episode to properly wrap up the series.

“Good Trouble,” a spinoff of “The Fosters,” followed characters, Callie & Mariana as they experience adult life after graduation and in downtown Los Angeles. “The sisters navigate love, sex, and the complicated relationships that come with living in a new city in your 20s,” according to Freeform.

Maia Mitchell and Cierra Ramirez led the cast. They were joined by Tommy Martinez, Emma Hunton, Sherry Cola, Zuri Adele, Beau Mirchoff, Josh Pence, Priscilla Quintana and Bryan Craig.

Created by Joanna Johnson, Peter Paige and Bradley Bredeweg, Johnson served as showrunner and executive producer. Christine Sacani, Greg Gugliotta, Jennifer Lopez, Benny Medina, Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas, and Ramirez also executive produced.

With the end of the two shows, that leaves Freeform with a clean slate of scripted content once the final episodes of “Grown-ish” conclude in 2024.

It’s also worth noting that Freeform’s former executive VP of original programming and development, Jamila Hunter, recently departed the network last month and is now the president of Macro Television Studios. During her time, the network launched “Cruel Summer,” “Single Drunk Female,” “Grown-ish,” and “Good Trouble.”

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