Starz has officially canceled Step Up just one season after the Lionsgate-produced TV drama made the jump from YouTube to the streaming service back in 2019. News of the series cancellation comes just on the heels of Dangerous Liaisons, another Lionsgate-produced Starz series, being canceled after just one season in total, with the decision reversing a season 2 renewal announcement.
First premiering as a TV series on YouTube Red in 2018, Step Up follows protagonists Tal (Petrice Jones) and Janelle Baker (Lauryn McClain), twin siblings who, after their mother is arrested, are forced to leave Ohio to live with their Uncle Al (Faizon Love) in Atlanta, where they enroll in High Water, described as Atlanta’s “most cutthroat performing arts school.” Step Up, which was initially titled Step Up: High Water and based on the film franchise of the same name, follows the twins through their turbulent lives at High Water, where the school director Sage Odom (Ne-Yo) is facing “criminal charges, financial ruin, and powerful political enemies” per TV Line, while his partner Collette (Naya Rivera, Christina Milian) struggles to maintain the school and the duo’s powerful empire, with the struggle sweeping up all of the students along the way.
‘Step Up’ Moves from YouTube to Starz, Leading to Cancellation
After season 2 of Step Up concluded in 2019, YouTube reportedly pulled out of the original scripted show, leaving the series in limbo until Starz, owned by Lionsgate, stepped in to give Step Up a new home for its third season. However, with Lionsgate preparing to separate itself from Starz in the next year or so, the production studio has been trying to clean the slate, with a lot of the recent cancellations being caused by “fiscal austerity in a very tough economic environment as media companies are stepping up cost-cutting measures”, according to Deadline.
With Starz having canceled Step Up, the show’s season 3 finale, which is set to air on December 18th, will also be acting as the series finale, potentially leaving the show’s writers with a lot of loose ends to tie up and not a lot of time to do it in. Bill Brown serves as the series’ writer and an executive producer, with Dawn Wilkinson acting as director. Step Up creator Holly Sorensen acts as an executive producer for the series alongside Adam Shankman and Jennifer Gibgot, who produced the original Step Up films, for Offspring Entertainment. Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan, co-stars of the original films, also executive produce.
All three seasons of Step Up are currently available through Starz and on YouTube via a premium subscription.
