So long, “So Cosmo.”
It’s a wrap for the reality show about the professional and personal drama at Cosmopolitan magazine, WWD has learned. The show, which aired on E! earlier this year, is not scheduled for a second season, multiple sources confirm.
Despite heavy promotion from the magazine, and its web site, “So Cosmo” never managed to pick up much steam during its eight-episode run. Over the course of its brief life, the show averaged a so-so 190,000 viewers, according to Nielsen data.
Former editor in chief — and the show’s fairy godmother figure — Joanna Coles convened a meeting to inform the cast/staff, and conduct a post-mortem, of sorts.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the show’s star Diandra Barnwell — her official title at the magazine was “assistant brand coordinator” — announced on her Instagram feed that she was leaving Cosmopolitan.
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“Thank you @cosmopolitan for giving me one of the greatest adventures of my life. These past four years have exceeded my wildest dreams, and I truly feel like the luckiest girl in the world. Thank you ALL for the love and support, and for joining me on this ride….I hope you’ll join me on the next one. Lots to come from this girl…time for another adventure! LOVE and LIGHT #funfearlesslife #cosmogirl #gratitude,” she posted on June 30.
Meanwhile, it turns out that fiction may be, if not stranger than reality TV, then at least more interesting. “The Bold Type,” the scripted show closely based on Cosmo debuted on Tuesday to a good deal of buzz.
It remains to be seen whether that translates to ratings as the series gets under way.
But so far, things are looking promising. “Average person viewership” (a metric that accounts for millennial’s cord-cutting habits) for the first episode was 355,000 and average person viewership for the second episode was 302,000, according to Nielsen.
Read More:
The Ratings are in for Cosmo’s Reality Show
Joanna Coles Celebrates the Premiere of ‘The Bold Type,’ Another TV Show Based on Cosmo