EXCLUSIVE: Announced prematurely during Fox’s pre-taped 2022 upfront presentation in May, dark comedy Cindy Snow will not be airing on the network this coming season after all. Following months of back-and-forth between Fox and series’ producer Warner Bros. Television, the network has allowed the studio to shop Cindy Snow, from The Flight Attendant creator Steve Yockey, to other outlets, and WBTV is expected to do so. Depending on how that goes, I hear there is still a possibility for Fox and WBTV to make a deal for Cindy Snow to air on Fox in fall 2023.
This marks a major twist in the Cindy Snow saga, which has involved — directly or indirectly – two mega Hollywood mergers, a new production model and the soaring importance of digital rights in the streaming age.
As Deadline has reported, the single-camera meteorologist comedy Cindy Snow emerged as a strong contentor for a straight-to-series order at Fox in the weeks leading to the network’s May 16 upfront presentation under a lower-cost model, with the goal to film the show for about $2.2 million an episode, likely in Atlanta. (Fox had previously commissioned a script plus backup material for the project as part of a script-to-series commitment.)
The deal could not close in time for the Fox upfront, and Cindy Snow was not included in the network’s content slate released the morning of May 16. Later that day, Fox surprised advertisers who gathered in-person for the network’s upfront presentation by going virtual, screening to them the vast majority of the event, which had been pre-recorded. It included Call Me Kat star and EP Mayim Bialik mentioning Cindy Snow as a newly picked-up comedy series.
The announcement reportedly caught off guard WBTV, one of independent network Fox’s main suppliers — it produces Call Me Kat and The Cleaning Lady, and also produced the network’s freshman comedy Pivoting which got surprisingly canceled after lengthy renewal negotiations. The slip-up also put additional pressure on the Cindy Snow talks, which Fox on the day of its upfront characterized as final negotiations.
At that time, Cindy Snow‘s in-season stacking rights appeared to be a main sticking point. Hulu has been Fox’s in-season stacking partner, and Disney’s 2019 acquisition of Fox assets included a stipulation that kept the setup in place until 2023. I hear Fox and Hulu have started conversations about potentially extending the pact beyond 2023. But, faced with uncertainty, I hear Fox asked for flexibility to be able to sell the show to a new in-season stacking partner should the Hulu deal not get renewed.
I hear that request initially came a surprise to WBTV as it had not been made on studio’s other series at the network and as the Hulu deal is not up for another year. With the indie studio, like all WarnerMedia assets, under increased scrutiny following the Discovery merger, WBTV had to make a prudent business decision given how valuable digital rights are as there was a concern that, if WBTV sells the series’ library (out-of-season) rights to a streamer, that platform could find themselves in a clash with the show’s new in-season stacking rights holder depending which buyer Fox goes with.
I hear the new in-season stacking rights paradigm has been presented by Fox to couple of other projects seeking pickups at the network, as well as the only new scripted series greenlighted by the network at the 2022 upfront, drama Alert, from Sony Pictures Television. Cindy Snow had been considered a canary in a coal mine case study, which others who have business at Fox had been looking at to set a template on the stacking rights issue.
While in-season stacking did play a role in prolonging the negotiations on Cindy Snow, I hear that ultimately was not the deciding factor why the comedy did not get a series order for next season as expected (and announced). As one person close to the situation put it, “If they wanted to pick up the show, it would be on the air.”
The talks dragging on prevented the studio and Yockey from opening a writers room to a point where, even if a deal would make, there would be no time to get a writers room going and get the series into production in time for the January launch Fox had been targeting. Yockey’s availability also started to factor in as he is juggling multiple projects for WBTV where he is based, including the Dead Boy Detectives series for HBO Max and a potential third installment of The Flight Attendant.
Fox also was concerned about casting, I hear. Given that the show is titled Cindy Snow and built around that central character, the network wanted to have a name actor attached for the lead in order to proceed, similarly to the way Fox picked up Call Me Kat straight-to-series with Bialik on board as Kat.
Cindy Snow follows the eponymous character, the most popular local meteorologist in Savannah, GA, who behind the cameras is not nice. When a freak head injury at work triggers surreal glimpses of the future, Cindy’s life quickly unspools.
With myriad issues coming into play and other comedy projects heating up at Fox, most notably Animal Control, which, as Deadline reported, is nearing a straight-to-series order, I hear it became clear that Cindy Snow won’t be picked up for midseason.
Fox granted WBTV a permission to take the show elsewhere. The two sides remain on good terms, and Cindy Snow could end up on Fox after all in fall 2023 — and possibly make a repeat appearance at the network’s upfront presentation next May, this time intentionally.