Disney Cancels “StuGo” After One Season

Earlier this year, Disney released a brand new animated series called “StuGo”, which follows six middle schoolers who get tricked into attending a fake academic summer camp by a mad scientist. What started as three months of learning transforms into an adventure of a lifetime on a tropical island filled with mind-reading manatees, giant fighting fungi and fashion-forward mutants.

Initially, the show was released in January on the Disney Channel in the United States; however, it wasn’t released onto Disney+ until the end of July.  This initial delay will have resulted in there being less interest in the show, as younger audiences tend to want to watch shows on streaming services, rather than tuning in at a certain time, as their parents did.

Because of the delay in the streaming release, no official confirmation about the future was made after the first season was released on the Disney Channel.  Often, if a show is an instant success or Disney executives feel they have total faith in the show, an initial renewal for more seasons can be quick. 

However, for “StuGo”, that wasn’t the case, with the show’s creator, Ryan Gillis, trying to encourage fans of the show to continue watching it on Disney+ to boost viewership numbers, as that would have a bigger impact on the chances of the show’s renewal.

Unfortunately, that hasn’t worked, as the show’s creator, Ryan Gillis, took to social media to confirm that the show won’t be returning for a second season:

Hey everyone! Sad but expected news- we just got the official word that we won’t be making more StuGo after all.

I wish we could’ve showed off some of the ideas we had in store for S2 (spider jockeys, whale lasagna, electric mouth orallariums, spectral mules) but I feel lucky and grateful that we got to make the 40 episodes we did.

Thank you so much to everybody who watched and enjoyed this show! Seeing y’alls reaction to the characters and their caperin’ has been one of the most fulfilling experiences of my career.

And if you haven’t seen StuGo, it’s a self-contained season over on Disney+, give it a peep if you like surprising, funny, strange, media made by a bunch of talented, nice people!

Thanks again and Happy Holidays!

Every episode of “StuGo” is currently still available to stream on Disney+, however, with any show that is cancelled after one season, I’d recommend, if you’ve been planning on watching or rewatching the show, I’d suggest doing it sooner, rather than later, as Disney does have a tendency to remove shows that have been cancelled after one season from Disney+ to save money.

Roger’s Take:  Personally, I can’t help but think Disney shot themselves in the foot with the release strategy for this show.  Not putting it on Disney+ at the same time as it aired on the Disney Channel was a massive mistake.  Kids don’t watch linear television in the same way, and holding the entire show back seven months meant that all of the goodwill and excitement about the show would have completely dried up, as kids move on to the next trend.   

“StuGo” might not have been a hit when it first came out on Disney+, but with barely any promotion and handicapping its initial release, it never stood a chance of becoming popular. The international release of the show was just as chaotic, as the US delay impacted everywhere else. The Disney Channel can be a great tool to boost viewership and reach kids/families still watching cable, but not giving it a streaming release at the same time was ultimately a major reason why this show failed.

What do you think of Disney’s decision to cancel “StuGo”?  Let me know on social media!