The First Lady was canceled by Showtime after one season

Showtime has decided against a second season of its anthology series The First Lady. The decision comes just over six weeks after the series aired its first-season finale on the network.

“Showtime can confirm that the anthology series ‘The First Lady’ will not continue for another season,” said a Showtime spokesman diversity. “We want to applaud the artistry and dedication of our showrunner Cathy Schulman, director Susanne Bier, her fellow executive producers, our amazing cast led by executive producer Viola Davis, Michelle Pfeiffer and Gillian Anderson, and our studio partner Lionsgate for their dedication to work on this to tell the unique stories of three remarkable leaders.”

The first season of the anthology series traversed three different eras of the White House and followed the political and personal lives of Eleanor Roosevelt (Anderson), Betty Ford (Pfeiffer) and Michelle Obama (Davis).

“The First Lady” received a lukewarm response from critics. diversity Television’s chief critic Caroline Framke was not a fan of the series’ structural vanity, writing that “squeezing their stories together not only confuses television, but does them all a disservice in the process”. The star-studded production was not a television academy favorite on the morning of the Emmy nominations, earning three crafting honors in all categories.

Produced by Lionsgate Television for Showtime, the 10-episode series was created by Aaron Cooley and produced by Academy Award-winner Schulman for Welle Entertainment, who also served as showrunner. Oscar and Emmy winner Bier produced and directed all episodes of the first season. Cooley, Davis, Julius Tennon, Andrew Wang, Pavlina Hatoupis, Alyson Feltes, Jeff Gaspin and Brad Kaplan also served as executive producers.

Deadline was the first to break the news of the series’ cancellation.