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How American Vandal Creators Reacted to Netflix Canceling Their Show
Thinking back on the cancellation of their true crime mockumentary American Vandal, Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault reveal their mixed feelings.

How American Vandal Creators Reacted to Netflix Canceling Their Show

 American Vandal creators Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault recently revealed how they reacted to the show’s cancellation by Netflix. Each of the show’s two critically-acclaimed seasons told a self-contained story of two amateur high school documentarians as they tried to get to the bottom of a heinous, juvenile crime. The first season centered on a serial penis graffiti artist, the second on a mass diarrhea incident perpetrated by “The Turd Burglar.” American Vandal was a spot-on parody of true crime documentaries like Making a Murderer and The Jinx, expertly nailing their visual style, editing, and the tone of their interviews.

Looking back on the show while talking to ComingSoon, Yacenda and Perrault relate what a disappointment the cancellation was. It seems a shift in how Netflix dealt with acquired programming versus originals was to blame. They’re not immune to seeing the silver lining, though. Perrault is thankful the show was crafted in such a way that the cancellation didn’t leave audiences on a cliffhanger. Check out Yacenda’s thoughts on the matter below:

“I think it’s a bummer to have something you love canceled, but we also are so grateful for the opportunity. If you describe the premise of that show to anyone, it’s crazy that somebody let us make that show in the first place. So I think there were a lot of external market forces that made it possible for that show to be made in 2016. And by 2018, the streaming market was very much changing. But I don’t think we could complain about the latter without being very grateful for the former.”

In 2018 Netflix changed its focus to more in-house productions. Since American Vandal was made by an outside studio, the streamer had less control over the rights. This is likely why the show was axed. Luckily for fans of Yacenda and Perrault’s mockumentary style, the two have another show in the same vein on Paramount+ called Players, which riffs on the world of E-sports. Though many would say American Vandal was gone too soon, both seasons of its blend of stupid and smart can still be enjoyed on Netflix.