Sorry Delilah fans, but there will be no second season of the lawyer-centric drama, as OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network) has canceled the series.
Centered around the titular Delilah Connolly, played by Maahra Hill, the TV series follows the story of headstrong yet principled lawyer Delilah who finds herself taking on cases large firms brush aside, in a change of pace to her former career working for a demanding law firm. The series sees Delilah go up against privileged lawyers and people in power, while also balancing family life — the reason she gave up her role at “a demanding white-shoe law firm” — across the eight episodes of the first, and now only, series.
Unlike some of the recently canceled Netflix shows, there appear to have been no production dramas with Delilah. But with a middling rating of 5.3 stars out of 10 on IMDb, an average rating of 0.05 across the 18 to 49 year old demographic, and a mere 321,000 viewers, Delilah didn’t manage to engage large swathes of viewers.
And at a time when even Netflix is losing subscribers, a moderate performing show is likely to be one of the first to get cut from a network or streaming service. In spite of the Oprah name, OWN hasn’t always had an easy time pulling in viewers, regardless of its widespread availability. But over the past couple of years it’s had a few major hits, such as the OWN Spotlight: Where Do We Go From Here? which was hosted by Winfrey and pulled in millions of viewers.
So Delilah’s low audience numbers made its cancellation almost inevitable. It was also canceled somewhat quietly, and has been so for several months, without a mass of venting from actors or showrunners on social media. But this low-key cancellation could have been done in part to Hill securing a lead role alongside Jesse L. Martin in the upcoming NBC drama The Irrational, according to Deadline.
Let us know if you’re a Delilah fan and if this news has disappointed you or if you have alternative drama recommendations. Speaking of which, check out our list of the best Netflix shows you can watch right now, as there are plenty of dramas there to immerse yourself in.
