Those fools at Hulu cancel This Fool
Chris Estrada's great This Fool, which co-starred Michael Imperioli in a rare comedy role, has been canceled at Hulu
Aux News This Fool
Chris Estrada’s well-liked comedy series This Fool won’t be coming back for a third season at Hulu, turns out; THR reports tonight that the series, which starred Estrada as Julio, a guy who runs a gang rehabilitation program in L.A. while still living out of his childhood bedroom. Co-starring Frankie Quiñones, Michael Imperioli, Michelle Ortiz, Laura Patalano, Julia Vera, Fabian Alomar, and Sandra Marcela Hernandez, the series last aired new episodes back in July of 2023.
News of the cancellation is a bummer, in so far as several publications—including us!—have described This Fool as “The funniest Hulu comedy you’re not watching.” Our own Saloni Gajjar, in her glowing recommendation of the show’s even-better second season, wrote that,
Season two works because it mixes this layered drama with plenty of laughs. We are not in the “this is crazy heavy” territory owned by The Bear (although the FX hit gets a small tribute here). But This Fool is innovative with how it toys with genres: A couple of episodes play out as a heist; one is set almost entirely in the desert (and features a fun guest star); and a later surreal episode uses a fake sitcom to psychoanalyze the show’s protagonists. (This is the kind of novelty you get when TV shows are given a chance instead of being shut down after one round.)
This Fool has now, of course, been shut down; despite a fairly hefty push from Hulu for both of its seasons, it didn’t even get a “We’re sorry to see you go, and look forward to working with you again!” press statement from the streamer. The series was co-created by Estrada and Pat Bishop, Matt Ingebretson, and Jake Weisman; the series featured a brief crossover with the trio’s previous comedy series, Comedy Central show Corporate.
14 Comments
Not once have I ever seen Hulu or FX advertise this.
I think I may have seen the title in the header image once, probably when a new season started or was released, but I haven’t seen any ads and I know nothing about it, except maybe seeing the words in a large font once rings bell.That’s a big issue with streaming as a distribution channel, there’s no place to promote the product. Old-fashioned TV would run ads for similar or heavily promoted shows when you’re watching something else, while with streaming, you just get the same ads over and over to the point that if you’re using a device with a remote, you are likely to mute during the commercials.
Same. And I watch a lot of Hulu
It’s the kind of show the old AV Club would’ve championed. Taylor Swift needed the coverage more I guess
Nu-AV Club also championed it. They wrote 3 articles about it in 3 years
Which is a shame because it’s a real gem. As a lactose intolerant individual, the episode where they go hiking and Julio realizes he ate dairy was by far the funniest and most terrifying moment. RIP, This Fool.
Great show. Another excellent comedy gone because streaming services are terrible at promoting their own shows.
I literally just finished season 2 and googled season 3 and…fuck.
Bummed to hear this, this show was so goddamn funny. I also appreciated it existed in the same universe as Corporate, another under appreciated and under seen gem.I was really looking forward to what lay ahead for the characters, alas.
I’ve never heard of this show. But now I’m kind of interested. But probably won’t watch it because it’s DOA. Maybe rather than blaming Hulu for not promoting it, maybe media review sites like avclub should have promoted it more strongly if it was so good. But if Hulu isn’t paying avclub, why should they bother?
Loved this show! Boo to it getting cancelled
It was such a good show and i loved it. Sad to see it go.
Bummer, loved the show. I think it really hit its stride this last season.
That’s a shame. Season 2 really upped this show’s game. I was hopeful for at least one more.