Netflix have cancelled the LGBTQ romcom series Smiley after just one season, its creator Guillem Clua has confirmed. The show follows several queer-representing characters but will not be renewed for a second season, joining several other Netflix shows in being shown the back door.
Clua confirmed the show’s end on a Catalonia radio show. He said (via Pink News), “I can already tell you that there won’t be a second season of Smiley, but there will be other things that I can’t say right now.” The show is based on a play that Clua staged in 2012.
It mainly follows singles based in Barcelona, including bartender Alex and architect Bruno. Clua said in another interview, “When I saw that I had the opportunity to invent a whole universe of stories – of old people, young people, of all kinds of sexual orientations – I was convinced that yes that I had to do it.”
However, he also noted the fact that the show’s cancellation is at odds with the kind of queer-positive message he is trying to spread. “We are suffering a conservative offensive that wants to reduce and eliminate rights that already exist,” he said, “and for this reason, it is more necessary than ever to make visible the different realities, identities and orientations.”
