Friends icon David Schwimmer's horror series cancelled after 2 seasons
The former sitcom star stepped into a different light for January's The Vanishing.
Goosebumps has reached its grisly end on Disney+, with the horror anthology confirmed not to be returning to the streaming platform.
Based on the children's and young adult books by author RL Stine, the latest season dropped at the start of the year and tapped Friends icon David Schwimmer for its ensemble cast.
The sitcom legend took on a rather different vibe as botanist Anthony Brewer, whose children unearth a decades-old mystery related to the disappearance of several pupils from his former school.
It will be the last Goosebumps story told on Disney+ for the time being, with industry trade Variety confirming the show's axing after just two seasons this week.
Its report caveats that producers Sony Pictures Television will attempt to find the series a new home elsewhere, clearly seeing potential in the near-120 million hours of Goosebumps streamed globally to date.
The possibility of a soft reboot has been floated as one alternative, with earlier adaptations including a legendary '90s TV show and two feature-length films, starring Jack Black (Minecraft) and Wendi McLendon-Covey (The Goldbergs) respectively.
Ana Ortiz and Isabella Ferreira (both alumni of Disney's Love, Victor) joined Schwimmer in the cast of Goosebumps season 2, appearing alongside The Couple Next Door's Sendhil Ramamurthy in a guest role.
Due to the anthology format, which was intended to incorporate as many elements of Stine's novels as possible, the first season featured an entirely different cast – including Lucifer's Rachael Harris and Star Trek: Picard's Isa Briones.
This latest incarnation of Goosebumps was the brainchild of developers Rob Letterman (Detective Pikachu) and Nicholas Stoller (The Muppets), who ultimately handed the reins over to showrunner Hilary Winston (Community).
Our review of Goosebumps season 2, subtitled The Vanishing, notes that it "grows in strength and confidence as it progresses, and by the end of episode 6, there is a sense of excitement around how all the secrets could be unravelled".
However, it adds that "the fact it takes so many episodes to get there, with extensive runtime given to dynamics that simply aren’t that interesting, is what lets this show – and its starry focus Schwimmer – down".
Goosebumps seasons 1-2 are available to stream on Disney+.
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Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
