It’s not every day that a hit TV show gets canceled while it’s on the streaming ratings charts, but that’s exactly what happened with the Duffer Brothers‘ Netflix series The Boroughs.
On Wednesday, news broke that Netflix has dropped the axe on the sci-fi series less than one month after its release (and with mere days left in Emmy voting). The Boroughs had a strong cast — Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare, Clarke Peters and Bill Pullman — and even stronger producers in Matt and Ross Duffer, the Upside Down Pictures guys behind Netflix’s Stranger Things. (The series was created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews of Off Franklin Productions.)
The Boroughs also super-served an overlooked demographic — especially for streaming — senior citizens. (The Boroughs definitely had Cocoon vibes.)
But the weirdest part of all of this is: The Boroughs worked.
In its first four days, The Boroughs was second place on Netflix’s top 10 English-language TV chart with 5.6 million views. In its first full week, it jumped to No. 1 with 9.5 million views. The following week, it was fourth with 3.7 million views, and from June 8-14, The Boroughs tacked on 2 million views, ranking eighth. It would be canceled on June 17, the day after Netflix shared the fourth-week stats.
Earlier today, Nielsen revealed its own streaming charts for The Boroughs‘ debut week. It ranked second, behind only fellow Netflix series Nemesis. (Nielsen’s streaming ratings have a four-week delay.)
Critics also loved the series: The Boroughs has a 97 percent “Certified Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and was 91 percent with “Top Critics.” (OK, so not all critics “loved” it: The Hollywood Reporter‘s own Angie Han referred to The Boroughs as a “clunky geriatric spin on Stranger Things.” Han did, however, also call it “perfectly watchable.”) The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is a solid 79 percent.
“In a seemingly perfect retirement community, a grieving newcomer’s monstrous encounter inspires him to join a misfit crew of unlikely heroes who uncover a dark secret that proves their ‘golden years’ are more dangerous, and they are more formidable, than anyone expects,” the logline for The Boroughs reads.
The Boroughs is named for its “picturesque retirement community promising its residents the time of their lives,” the official synopsis reads. “But for new arrival Sam Cooper (Molina), paradise feels more like a prison. Everything changes when a terrifying nighttime encounter reveals that something monstrous is stalking the manicured cul-de-sacs. Dismissed by the powers that be as just another confused old man, Sam finds unlikely allies in a band of neighborhood misfits: a sharp-witted former journalist, a spiritual seeker, a cynical music manager and a brilliant doctor running out of options. Overlooked and underestimated, these unlikely heroes must band together to unravel the dark truth at the heart of The Boroughs before their time runs out.”
Well, the time on the series has quickly run out. Why?
Two sources tell THR that a problem with The Boroughs was its expensive production budget. That is true: The Boroughs costs about $10 million per episode, one said. Another said the real number is “materially higher.” Netflix weighs viewership directly against cost when making pickup and cancellation decisions, and though The Boroughs did well, it wasn’t quite Wednesday.
But the quiet-part-out-loud here is that the Duffer Brothers ditching Netflix for a four-year deal at Paramount seems to have rubbed high-ranking Netflix executives the wrong way, the first source told THR. The relationship there has been “tough” since Matt and Ross “embarrassed” the streamer by leaving, the source said. A source close to Netflix denied the accuracy of that characterization, and says this was simply a business decision.
The current Netflix regime is not the one that greenlit The Boroughs — it was Peter Friedlander and Blair Fetter, now both at Amazon MGM Studios, who gave the original thumbs up. Another pair of former Netflix executives, Cindy Holland and Matt Thunell, are tickled to be reunited with Matt and Ross at Paramount, where the Duffers’ deal encompasses (linear) TV, streaming and film. Two days prior to the cancellation news leaking, Paramount publicly dated the Duffers’ secret event movie for Nov. 3, 2028. But that’s not why news of The Boroughs cancellation came 48 hours later.
June 15 was also the deadline for Netflix to extend the options on the cast of The Boroughs. It declined to do so, effectively killing the series. There won’t be a rebirth, multiple sources tell THR. Netflix is both the studio and the platform here, with 100 percent ownership of the series. It is highly unlikely the streamer would sell the series to the competition, which includes Paramount — and now the Duffers.
A source close to the Duffers says the brothers still have a good relationship with Netflix and have multiple projects in development there.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Metro Nashville Police have confirmed the death of Grammy-nominated producer Brytavious Chambers, better known as Tay Keith.
The 29-year-old was found dead in his Martin Street apartment Thursday afternoon, MNPD said.
“No foul play is suspected,” police added, saying that his body was discovered as officers performed a welfare check.
Chambers’ cause of death has not yet been determined.
In his last post on Instagram, Chambers promoted doing what he loved — helping create music for major artists. His last post on May 7 was an announcement for Chris Brown’s latest song, “Call Your Name,” which features Sexyy Red and GloRilla.
He was among those included in Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Music list in 2025, earning the listing alongside Cambrian Strong for their Drumatized record label.
“At 23, Tay Keith became a Grammy-nominated producer for his work on Travis Scott’s ‘Sicko Mode,’ adding to his roster of clients like Cardi B, Eminem and music’s ‘Queen B’ Beyoncé,” the Forbes’ listing says.
In 2024, Forbes added that he was awarded producer of the year at the BMI Awards.
According to Memphis-based outlet Commercial Appeal, Chambers was born in South Memphis and later lived in East Memphis and later, Orange Mound.
He was nominated for a Grammy in 2018 for his work on Travis Scott’s “Sicko Mode,” which he helped produce as he attended Middle Tennessee State University.
His award-winning link to Murfreesboro
According to MTSU, Chambers graduated from the school in December 2018 with degrees in integrated studies and media management.
“There wouldn’t be any point for me to come to college if I didn’t want to finish it — I could have just focused 100% on music,” MTSU quoted him as saying. “By my last week of college, I had my first No. 1 single, so it didn’t make any sense to drop out.”
Much of his success was joined by people who also attended MTSU. Tyland Jackson, his stylist and creative director, graduated from MTSU in 2019, and Nicholas Brownlow, who was his public relations director and Drumatized, graduated that same year.
“I remember having a flight from New York, and I had a test the same day,” Chambers told MTSU. “So, I flew back from New York that morning, went home, then went straight to class. It was crazy. But if I knew that I could do that, then there wasn’t anything stopping me but myself.”

“All my Children” star Paul Avery and his wife, Sheila, tragically died in a devastating house fire in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
According to WFMZ, the actor, who was 81, and his wife were inside their Blairstown, New Jersey home when it went up in flames.
Firefighters got to the residence before 1 a.m. on Tuesday and pulled the couple out of the flame-engulfed house.
However, Paul and Sheila were in critical condition and died shortly after, per Ridge View Echo.
At the time of his death, Paul was the founder and executive editor of the Ridge View Echo.
Paul’s friend and writer at the paper, Joe Phalon, told WFMZ: “I always like to call Paul the most interesting man in the world, because he was when you consider everything he’s done in his life. Acting, skydiving, Vietnam veteran, started a newspaper.”
He added that Paul’s passing will “leave a real void in this community.”
“Not just Blairstown, but the towns around as well,” Phalon expressed. “I think we’ll really miss him, and I think it’s going to become more apparent over time.”
The cause of the blaze is currently under investigation.
The pair’s daughter, Kyle, took to Facebook to confirm the news on Tuesday.
“I’m devastated to share that our parents, Paul and Sheila Garry Avery, passed away early this morning,” she penned.
“We loved them so much, and they loved us so much, and nobody ever had to wonder if that was so,” Kyle added.
As a teen, Paul was a skydiver before serving as a helicopter crew chief in the Vietnam War. He continued to fly planes as a hobby after exiting the military.
Paul starred on the soap opera “All My Children” for 12 years in the 1980s.
He portrayed a bartender at Foxy’s named Hughie.
Paul also played a cameraman in 1978’s “Superman” and appeared on episodes of “Soap” and “Three’s Company.”
After retiring from acting, the late veteran dove into journalism, first working at the New York Times before landing as founding editor of Ridge View Echo.

LOS ANGELES — Former child actor Daveigh Chase, known for her youthful voice in Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” and her villainous performance in the thriller “The Ring,” has died. She was 35.
Chase’s father, John David Schwallier, confirmed to The New York Times she died from complications of bacterial meningitis and a blood infection. She had been homeless in Los Angeles with her boyfriend near the hospital where she died, he told the newspaper.
TMZ first reported Wednesday that Chase died Tuesday.
She voiced the lead role of Lilo in the 2002 animated film, a role she auditioned for at age 8. Years later, a Hawaiian actress was cast as Lilo for the live-action remake.
For her role as long-haired Samara in the 2002 horror film, Chase won an MTV movie award for best villain.
Chase also voiced another lead in the 2001 animated film “Spirited Away.” She had roles in the 2001 movie “Donnie Darko” and the 2003 show “Oliver Beene,” according to internet movie database IMDb.com.
She was born in Las Vegas and raised in Albany, Oregon. In her small hometown, she began singing and dancing at age 3, according to IMDb.
Chase struggled with drugs since she was 13 years old, Schwallier said in an interview with the Times. He said his daughter was estranged from her parents, who are divorced.
Schwallier said he was in touch with Chase’s boyfriend, and just before she died, arrived at the Los Angeles hospital where she was being treated.
An online fundraiser by her boyfriend raised about $4,000 as of Thursday. “Many people know her as a talented childhood actor from ‘Lilo & Stitch,’ ‘Spirited Away,’ and ‘Donnie Darko,'” the fundraiser post said. “But behind the scenes, she’s faced more than her share of hardship.”

No less than 24 hours after Netflix dropped the ax on “The Boroughs,” Nielsen’s latest streaming rankings suggest the sci-fi drama was far from dead on arrival.
For the week of May 18-24, the canceled Duffer Brothers-produced series — whose eight-episode first season dropped on May 21 — ranked No. 2 among all streaming originals with 1.2 billion minutes viewed. That said, Nielsen reports that roughly 57% of the audience was age 50 or older.
It came in directly behind fellow freshman Netflix drama “Nemesis,” which jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 among all streaming originals with 1.31 billion minutes viewed in the week following its May 14 release. Nielsen also notes that Black viewers contributed 57% of the show’s watch time.
Rounding out the Top 3 was Prime Video’s “The Boys,” which generated 1.07 billion minutes viewed the week of its series finale.
Netflix’s “Nemesis” and “The Boroughs” remained No. 1 and No. 2 on the Overall Top 10 chart, while “Dutton Ranch” fell to No. 10 and every other original series dropped out of the rankings altogether.
Among acquired programming, Disney+’s “Bluey” reclaimed the top spot.
On the movies chart, the Netflix documentary “The Crash” finished first in its second week of availability.