‘Primo’ Canceled After One Season

Latinx representation on television remains a work in progress but it seems whenever progress is made, there are setbacks. Following the news of the cancellation after two seasons of Not Dead Yet starring Gina Rodriguez, it’s just been announced that Primo has been canceled. The coming-of-age comedy from author and journalist Shea Serrano was inspired by his life growing up in San Antonio, Texas. It centered on Rafa Gonzales (played by newcomer Ignacio Diaz-Silverio), a wide-eyed 16-year-old being raised by his clever mother, Drea (United We Fall‘s Christina Vidal), and his five overbearing uncles. The show was praised for its authentic portrayal of a Chicano family and for representing the third generation experience. Serrano created the series and served as executive producer and shared the news of the cancellation on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“A short but beautiful run — sadly we’re not gonna be making any more episodes of ‘Primo,’” Serrano said. “I will always be indebted to everyone who worked on the show to make it so great and I will always be thankful to everyone who watched and championed it — thank you for real — long live ‘Primo.’”

The decision to pass on a second season came after lengthy deliberations, Deadline reported. There were attempts to make a second season happen however executives weren’t able to ultimately do so. In addition to a Latinx cast, they also has a team behind the scenes that was mostly Latinx besides Mike Schur, who co-wrote and co-produced the series and is known for his work on The Good Place and Parks & Recreation.

“I don’t know about other writers’ rooms, but I know we [had Latinos] in ours. We were like, ‘We have to have Latino and Black and Asian writers in there.’ Mike was the only white person in the room, which is always really funny because those are the only writers’ rooms that I’ve ever been in,” Serrano told the San Antonio Current. You talk to people and they’re like, “I’ve never been in a room that looked like this before.”

Currently, Lopez vs. Lopez, starring George Lopez and his daughter Mayan, has been renewed for a third season making it the most prominent Latinx-led show on network TV. The news follows the cancellation of Station 19 which starred Jaina Lee Ortiz and the renewal of Will Trent for a third season which stars Ramon Rodriguez.

When Serrano had been asked about all the cancellations of Latinx-led shows including Gordita Chronicles and Gentefied, he told the SA Current that until Latinxs are in positions of power, that trend might continue.

“If I had to guess, I think when we get more [Latinos] in positions of power, then that will become less of a thing. I hope that’s a trend that is headed in the opposite direction.”

The eight episodes of season one of Primo are currently available to stream on Freevee