Why Ashton Kutcher's Series 'The Beautiful Life' Was Canceled After 2 Episodes
On the 16th of September in 2009, The Beautiful Life premiered on CW Network. It was a series produced by Ashton Kutcher's production company, Katalyst. Among its lead stars were Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot, High School Musical's Corbin Bleu, Aquamarine's Sara Paxton, and then-controversial actress Mischa Barton.
The series was about the turbulent lives of models in the cutthroat world of high fashion. It seemed like a good series at first with its explosive catfight and sex scenes. Very Gossip Girl. And that may have been the exact reason it flopped.
Poor Ratings
On September 14th in the same year, Gossip Girl season 3's first episode aired. The hit show received 3.5 million viewers on its pilot episode and was already on its way to becoming a cult classic during its third season.
Then a new teenage taste was starting to conquer TV at that time. This was the era of hot vampires fighting over a mortal teenage girl. And The Vampire Diaries had just premiered on September 10th in the same year on CW as well. Its first episode had 4.91 million viewers.
Meanwhile, only 1.5 million people watched The Beautiful Life's premiere—definitely too low for CW. When the viewers of the second episode plummeted to 1 million, the network decided it was time to cancel the show. It was obviously not that much of a moneymaker like The Vampire Diaries.
The Naked Campaign Photos
The show was overhyped with the release of almost naked photos of the cast for its promotion. These ads were on billboards across the US. So you'd think it would have drawn more viewers. Maybe the marketing team thought they could do what Gossip Girl did with the negative reviews they got for their first season.
Remember when they used the cheeky reviews from different publications on their campaign pictures for season 2? Iconic. But not for another teenage drama that has already been surrounded by controversies before airing.
Mischa Barton's Scandalous Personal Life May Have Turned Off The Fans
The Beautiful Life was already facing problems during its production. L.A. party girl Mischa Barton was hospitalized for emotional exhaustion but was rumored to have been under an involuntary psychiatric hold.
Leading up to this, Mischa began getting the attention of tabloids when she fell ill at Nicole Richie's Memorial Day barbecue in 2007. According to her rep, it was just an adverse reaction to having had too many cocktails.
Months after that event, she was arrested for DUI and would since be a tabloid favorite. Eventually, she gained the reputation of being a "royal pain in the ass." That's how people she's work with at fashion shows and other events would describe her.
The Beautiful Life was supposed to be her comeback. But at that point, fans were already tired of her personal life drama.
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