TV
Goodbye “50 States of Fright”: Quibi is Shutting Down After Just 7 Months
To the surprise of no one, the bite-sized streaming platform known as Quibi is officially shutting down just seven months after arriving on the scene earlier this year. For horror fans, that means the Sam Raimi-produced horror anthology series “50 States of Fright“ is no more, the show squeezing out two seasons of content before its streaming home bit the bullet.
This also means that the upcoming adaptation of Junji Ito’s Tomie from Alexandre Aja is no longer happening, though we hope it – and “50 States” – will find a home elsewhere.
Wall Street Journal has the full breakdown of the shutdown, with the site noting that “the streaming service has been plagued with problems since it launched in April, facing lower-than-expected viewership, disappointing download numbers and a lawsuit from a well-capitalized foe.” Quibi founder Jeffrey Katzenberg made the call to investors today.
Designed as an on-the-go streaming option, with all content broken up into short “episodes” meant to be watched on your phone, Quibi certainly didn’t benefit from launching during a pandemic that left everyone stuck at home, though that can hardly be considered the sole reason for its downfall. At the end of the day, it just didn’t stand out enough to make its mark.
Other genre shows Quibi had in their roster included the just-launched “The Expecting,” directed by Mary Harron, and the Maika Monroe/Dane DeHaan-starring “The Stranger.”
Best known to horror fans for playing Rupert Giles in 121 episodes of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” actor Anthony Head (aka Anthony Stewart Head) has passed away at 72 years old.
Daughters Emily and Daisy Head said in a statement to the BBC that their father “passed away peacefully of complications due to pneumonia, surrounded by his family.”
Their statement continues, “It has been, and forever will be, an honour and a privilege to be his daughters, and to have witnessed firsthand the impact both he and his work have had on so many. We know how dearly he will be missed by friends, colleagues, and fans of the shows he was in — he loved his job very much, and he always considered himself incredibly lucky, to have been able to work alongside such exceptionally talented people, in such wonderful productions, across a career that spanned several decades.”
Anthony Head more recently played Rupert Mannion in 18 episodes of “Ted Lasso,” with the English actor’s film and television credits dating back to 1978. On the horror front, Anthony Head starred in Darren Bousman’s Repo! The Genetic Opera, as well as 2011’s Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, Let the Wrong One In, “Warehouse 13,” and “The Canterville Ghost.”
Also of note here in the world of horror, Anthony Head once played Dr. Frank-N-Furter in a London stage production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show back in the 1990s.
Outside the horror world, Anthony Head’s film and television credits well exceed 100 different productions and include “Highlander,” “NYPD Blue,” “Silent Witness,” “Doctor Who,” And Starring Pancho Villa as Himself, “Little Britain,” The Magic Door, “Sensitive Skin,” Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, “Free Agents,” The Iron Lady, Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, “You, Me & Them,” “Dominion,” A Street Cat Named Bob, and Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.
“Buffy” actor James Marsters writes on Instagram, “There’s a hole in the World. Anthony Head has passed on from us. He was an unflaggingly kind and steady presence on the set of Buffy, and the best actor in the cast. He was the best of us. I was lucky to have known, and learned from him. He left the world a better place for his presence. Thank you Tony for all you gave.”
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