‘Clarice’ To End After One Season On CBS, Maybe The Lambs Will Stop Screaming
By Hoai-Tran Bui/June 14, 2021 2:24 pm EST
Deadline reports that Clarice will end after one season, after negotiations between Paramount+ and co-producer MGM, which would have moved the series to the streamer like CBS’ Evil, reached a stalemate. Per Deadline, “there is no viable path for Clarice to continue on CBS as the broadcast network already committed to a full slate of series for next season.” Which means, Clarice is effectively canceled.
Here’s Deadline’s report on just how those talks broke down, even when the drama had been performing strongly on Paramount+ amid its low TV ratings:
Depending who you talk to, MGM either abruptly stopped good-faith negotiations that were closing in on an agreement, or the studio opted to walk away after being offered a “mediocre” deal it could not accept.
MGM and the Confusing The Silence of the Lambs Rights
This division of rights is what led to the stall in discussions between ViacomCBS, Paramount+, and CBS Studios, which “made most — if not all — of the concessions MGM asked for in the business terms, but MGM still would not agree to a deal,” per Deadline. Because CBS Studios had to pay an expensive license fee for the rights to Clarice, which Deadline reports went from $1.2 million-$1.3 million an episode at CBS, to $3.8 million an episode at Paramount+, that’s where the ViacomCBS streamer balked. Paramount+ also offered only 10 episodes, while MGM asks for a minimum guarantee of 15 episodes per season.
