Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix weekly talk show “Patriot Act” will not return for a seventh season, the cabaret artist announced on Tuesday.
“What a run,” Minhaj wrote on Twitter. “‘Patriot Act’ has come to an end. I got to work with the best writers, producers, researchers, and animators in the game. My 2 babies were born and raised with the show. TY to @netflix and everyone who watched it. Now it’s time to give these screens back to Best Buy. ”
“Patriot Act” aired for 39 episodes over six seasons on Netflix and dealt with contemporary and current political and cultural moments. In response to the cancellation, some Twitter users pointed to the particular loss seen in the lack of people of color in the comedy world.
“It was a really innovative comedy show that offered something different than what other comedies of current events did. Cool to see a brown person do it too,” tweeted journalist Sopan Deb.
Others pointed to what they saw as unfortunate timing, seeing the nationally raging bills and the upcoming elections. Netflix just canceled @ hashanminhaj’s vital PATRIOT ACT in a time of global pandemic and racial reckoning, in the midst of the most critical election in modern history, right after discovering a Dem ticket whose VP is Indian American. That is to say, “When we were most needed,” tweeted writer Jeff Yang.
Many fans pointed out that the show provided an insightful insight into a variety of challenging topics. Recent episodes deal with the coronavirus crisis, the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers, the upcoming elections and the price of attending college. “#PatriotAct is the best news show on issues relevant to AsAms,” tweeted sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen. “I used clips from #PatriotAct to learn about affirmative action and Asian Americans and shared his video on anti-black racism in the AsAm community widely. “
During October 2018 and June 2020, the show was widely acclaimed and won an Emmy and Peabody Award. Last season was postponed due to the pandemic and aired on the streaming service in June. The entire show will continue to be on Netflix.
Talkshows have been a challenging genre for Netflix’s as an on-demand service, as several other shows such as Chelsea Handler’s “Chelsea”, “The Break With Michelle Wolf,” and “The Joel McHale Show With Joel McHale” all failed more than a few seasons (the last two were canceled after only one). Sources claim for Variety that when it comes to update decisions for each program, Netflix heavily views the audience against the production costs.
In a recent interview with Variety, Minhaj said that Netflix’s expanded global reach made it a “no brainer” to work with the streaming giant.
“It could break me out of the cognitive framework of being in the late night world with multiple Jimmy’s, because I no longer talk to the North American public, I talk to the world,” he said. ‘If I do a piece about the elections in the Philippines, or censorship in China, or Indian elections, or Saudi Arabia – there are more people outside the continental United States who know about that game, then there are people here in the States, know about those problems. ”
Minhaj also emphasizes the need for color creators to have a larger platform.
“If you’re a creative of color, now’s the time,” he said. ‘If you have a definite voice as a project or thing you want to propose, I would say, just be unapologetic. Go for it.”
Cynthia Silva contributed.
