Starz was sneakily 2023's best cable network. Then it canceled Shining Vale

Goddamnit, Starz, you had it kind of good this year. With Power-house franchises, the return of a cult classic, Outlander’s latest season, and rescuing Minx, the premium cable network sneakily delivered an outstanding year of TV, even if it sadly canceled some of its notable gems. Another blow came recently with the topical horror comedy Shining Vale, led by an excellent Courteney Cox. It returned in October with a twisted, resonant, and funny second season. The finale aired on December 1, and just three weeks later, the show was canceled. To make it worse, Starz will remove it from the platform at the end of 2023 so no one else can catch up to it. It’ll probably never get the chance to find its audience.

Imagine if you couldn’t stream Party Down anywhere after it faded away in 2010. How would the biting satire about trying to make it in showbiz have turned into a beloved cult phenomenon? It’s why Starz brought its now-famous original series back for six ingenious episodes this spring. The third season was fantastic and worthwhile—it made it to The A.V. Club’s Best Shows Of The Year list. It also feels like Starz was committed to increasing its audacious lineup when it saved Minx after Max canceled it as production on season two was wrapping up. If not, we wouldn’t have gotten a sublime new run of Ellen Rapaport’s ’70s-set workplace comedy. Starring Jake Johnson and Ophelia Lovibond, it navigates the complexities of running a women’s erotic magazine.

Based on these two wacky comedies alone, Starz is building a fascinating niche, so Shining Vale’s cancelation is surprising (along with how it wasn’t promoted nearly enough). Jeff Astrof and Sharon Horgan’s series is equal parts ridiculous and poignant. Cox plays Pat Phelps, a writer who is either possessed and seeing ghosts or, well, severely depressed. As good as Shining Vale is, mourning a canceled-too-soon series is a given at this point. However, what hits hard is Starz’s succumbing to the horrendous habit of erasing it from the library entirely. (Thanks for making this bullshit feel trendy, David Zaslav).

While not enough people might have watched and absorbed the wit of Shining Vale for two seasons, now they’ll never even get the chance to see it. This has, of course, been happening across the spectrum with platforms like HBO Max, Netflix, Disney+, and more removing their content. How are creative originals supposed to find and sustain an audience if there’s a threat of disappearing completely? Make it make sense (unless you’re a CEO, then I don’t want to hear from you ever). Anyway, RIP Shining Vale, which will be evicted from its home by the end of the year.

Despite cutting it loose, Starz still has some enviable programming at least. And anytime I recommend a TV show airing on it, the questions that crop up range from “Does that platform still exist?” to “What the fuck is Starz?” Let me help anyone unaware of or who hasn’t dabbled in its programming yet. The simple answer is, minus a couple of latest mishaps, Starz slaps. The Lionsgate-owned premium cable network has evolved beyond its crowning achievement of Outlander. It has remained somewhat underappreciated compared to counterparts like FX, Showtime, TBS, AMC, and USA Network despite having produced some top-notch TV shows in just the last few years.

Sure, Starz has existed since the mid-90s, developing various under-the-radar content until its claim-to-fame arrived in Ronald D. Moore’s period series (not to mention American Gods, Ash Vs. Evil Dead, and other gems). Since then, it has also found a fascinating niche and, therefore, attracted star power—Julia Roberts in Gaslit, Samantha Morton in The Serpent Queen, Shailene Woodley in the upcoming Three Women, and Mary J. Blige in Power Book II. And let’s never forget Megan Thee Stallion’s guest appearance in P-Valley.

Crucially, Starz is attempting more risque and diverse originals, including franchises like Power. This year, new seasons of Power Book II: Ghost, Power Book III: Raising Kanan (currently airing through February 2024), and Power Book IV: Force left an impact. No one else is doing it like them when it comes to cultivating a TV universe created by and starring Black artists that continues to rake in high viewership numbers. Book IV set record ratings when it aired in September. Plus, there’s also the crime drama BMF about a Black mafia family. In the past, Starz has delivered the titillating anthology The Girlfriend Experience, the unfettered P-Valley, and the aching, beautiful Vida—seriously, the latter two are unmissable.

This is all to say, Starz has zeroed in on a sweet spot, molding its slate to champion refreshing, much-needed stories about women and minorities, but also bizarro comedies like Now Apocalypse, Blindspotting (RIP), and Run The World. This duality paved the way for eccentric, interesting stuff like Minx and Party Down to fit into its 2023 slate like a glove. Despite its recent no-good, very bad decision, Starz has mostly emerged out of 2023 as a surprising winner amongst competitors. Now if only we could celebrate 2024 with a new season of Shining Vale as well.