Kevin Hart to keep Quibi dream alive with Die Hart season 2
Apparently, a lot of people are watching Quibi shows now that they're on actual TV.
One of the saddest parts of Quibi’s premature death is all the abandoned quick bites left uneaten. The Chrissy’s Courts, The Fugitives, and the “that show about the lady with the golden arm”s of the world were feared lost to time. Thankfully, a little company called Roku came along, put a roof over their head, and space to thrive. And thrive they will—well, at least one of them will.
Earlier today, Roku announced the second season of Die Hart, the action-comedy series starring Kevin Hart that you probably didn’t know existed because it was on Quibi. Still, according to Hart, the show received an “incredible response” on the Roku Channel—probably due to people accidentally clicking on the home screen advertisement. “We’re excited to be partnering with Roku to bring another season to its audience,” Hart said in a statement. As per Variety, Hart failed to mention that Quibi renewed the show in September. Who knows, maybe he’s doing the show because fans demanded it rather than a contractual obligation.
Die Hart follows a fictionalized version of Hart, one who is tired of being the little Hart in the Cental Intelligence tagline “Saving the world takes a little Hart and a big Johnson.” Hart gets his wish when an action director casts him as his star, but first, he must enroll in an action movie school run by John Travolta. It’s hard to imagine how this all played out in 7-to-10-minute intervals, but maybe we can ask one of the millions of silent viewers who reportedly saw the show.
“Die Hart exploded out of the gate and, after a spectacular debut weekend, has quickly become one of the most watched Roku Originals on The Roku Channel,” said Colin Davis, Roku’s Head of Original Scripted Programming. “We couldn’t be more excited to bring an equally hilarious, action-packed second season to the record number of viewers who have watched in recent days.”
When Quibi folded, Roku picked up the 30 or so originals, like a sneaky roommate who found your leftovers in the fridge and paid you *ahem* “less than $100 million” for them. The company slapped the Roku Original label over them, giving shows like Liam Hemsworth’s Most Dangerous Game a second shot at finding an audience. Accidental clicks or not, Roku says The Roku Channel reached more than 70 million households in the first quarter of 2021. Compared with Quibi’s 710,000 subscribers throughout 2020, Roku Channel appears to have found a better model for the shows than hoping that someone can catch up on the antics of Hart and Travolta while in line at Starbucks.
Die Hart season two, entitled Die Harter, debuts on May 20 on the Roku Channel.