Lodge 49, one of our favorite shows of both this year and this decade, is officially finished. Yes, we reported on its AMC cancellation back in October, but, nearly two months later, Jim Gavin, who co-created the show with Peter Ocko, has taken to Twitter to share that the team’s efforts to find a new home for the offbeat comedy were ultimately fruitless. The story of a kind-hearted ex-surfer (Wyatt Russell) who discovers comfort, mystery, and community in a quirky Long Beach fraternal order, Lodge 49 ran for two excellent seasons.
“DEAR LYNX, it breaks my heart to announce that LODGE 49 won’t be going forward. We tried very hard to find a new home, but there were no takers. Ratings, metrics, algorithms…que sera, brah,” he began a series of tweets on Tuesday. “Personally,” he continued, “LODGE 49 changed my life. I put everything I know and love into it. Every shit job, every failure, every loss, every hope, every song, every book, every kindness given to me, every little thing that brought me joy. What a privilege. No one should be so lucky.”
In a display of optimism that mirrors the show’s bright-eyed enthusiasm, he added, “Maybe it’s fitting that a show about a secret society remains a secret. Something people have to search for, or stumble upon, like a ring in the sand.” He also encourages fans to “make a celebration of it” when the show’s second season lands on Hulu in 2020. The first, if you’ve yet to watch it, can currently be found on the streamer.
In our own words, the anti-capitalist comedy “ultimately offered something more cathartic than criticism: a vision of a world untethered to the bottom line. Lodge 49 didn’t pretend to have the answers to centuries of plunder, but by placing its trust in community, the show pointed us toward those who might.”
See Gavin’s full statement below.