Paramount+ just became the latest streaming service to engage in its own historic content purge, removing a number of movies and TV shows from its server.
As major studios like Disney, Warner Bros., and others look to change their release strategies, most of them have taken strongly to purging a number of projects in order to save on costs in any way possible.
Disney+ took this route in June by removing a dozen movies and TV shows exclusively streaming there, while Hulu followed suit by taking nine of its own shows off its platform, seemingly for good.
Paramount+ Takes On Content Purge
Paramount+ officially removed 12 moves and TV shows from its service at the end of June 2023.
This comes as part of the rollout event for Paramount + with Showtime, as these dozen shows and movies were permanently taken off of the service as part of cost-saving initiatives for the company.
The 12 shows are listed below:
1.) Inside Amy Schumer
- Average Tomatometer: 81%
- Average Audience Score: 51%
Comedian Amy Schumer created her own sketch comedy show that aired on Comedy Central from April 2013 to June 2016 before being revived for a new season on Paramount+ in 2022, winning two Primetime Emmy Awards.
Each episode includes sketches, stand-up comedy, and street interviews with the public, although it subbed out the stand-up and interviews for partly animated musical numbers in Season 5.
2.) Queen of the Universe
- Average Audience Score: 50%
Hosted by Graham Norton and four pop music judges, Queen of the Universe puts on a singing competition for drag queens hoping to win a grand cash prize of $250,000, running for two seasons from December 2021 to June 2023.
The show put drag queens from all over the world into the spotlight, with winners and runner-ups coming from Brazil, the United States, Mexico, and Australia.
3.) Star Trek: Prodigy
- Average Tomatometer: 94%
- Average Audience Score: 76%
Taking the Star Trek franchise into a new era taking place after Star Trek: Voyager from the 1990s, a crew of young aliens find an abandoned Starfleet ship and learn how to work together to get to the Alpha Quadrant in this animated series.
With the show moving into a second season, even though it was removed from Paramount+, it will find a new home on another streamer or network in the near future.
4.) Ghislaine: Partner in Crime
This four-episode mini-series highlighted convicted sex offender and former socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, who is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence for crimes connected to Jeffrey Epstein.
Partner in Crime details Maxwell's involvement and complicity in recruiting and trafficking young women for sexual abuse in what is seen as one of the worst sex crimes in history.
5.) Monsters vs. Aliens (Series)
Based on the 2009 movie of the same name, Monsters vs. Aliens first came to Nickelodeon in March 2013, running for only one season on the network before ending in February 2014.
The show consisted of 26 episodes with 50 segments, as Dr. Cockroach and Susan/Ginormica learned to adapt to their new world while working with wild aliens at a secret underground base.
6.) Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
Taking place in 1954, four years before the events of 1978's Grease, the Rise of the Pink Ladies series follows four misfits who join together to start up the legacy of Rydell High School's "Pink Ladies."
The series was cancelled after only one season on the air, and it was officially removed from Paramount+ for tax write-off purposes.
7.) Peter Rabbit (Series)
Airing on the Nick Jr. channel from 2012 to 2016, this series was based on the Beatrix Potter character from the children's books, with two different versions of the series made for the United States and the United Kingdom.
Peter Rabbit, his younger cousin Benjamin Bunny, and newcomer Lily Bobtail go on a number of adventures in their woodland home across the Lake District, featuring educational goals for young children.
8.) Tell Me a Story
- Average Audience Score: 67%
Based on the Spanish TV series Cuéntame un cuento, Tell Me a Story is a psychological thriller anthology series that depicts iconic fairy tales reimagined as modern-day thrillers, all featuring mostly different ensemble casts.
Running from 2018 to 2020, the series is set in New York City and Nashville, using fairy tales like The Three Little Pigs, Little Red Riding Hood, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella as inspiration for the plot.
9.) Snow Day
- Average Audience Score: 72%
Remaking the 2000 movie of the same name, Nickelodeon and Paramount produced this musical comedy that shows siblings Hal and Natalie handling the effects of a surprise winter blackout.
Hal makes the decision to pursue his longtime crush, Claire, while Natalie pursues her own challenge of getting to know the town's cranky man behind the snowplow.
10.) Fantasy Football
- Average Tomatometer: 33%
- Average Audience Score: 80%
Produced by Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James' SpringHill Company and Nickelodeon Movies along with the NFL, Fantasy Football follows the daughter of an Atlanta Falcons star who bars his child from playing football.
However, she discovers the ability to control the way her father plays real-life football through a magical copy of the Madden NFL 23 video game, improving her dad's skills while competing on her school's robotics team.
11.) The Game
- Average Audience Score: 65%
Based on the BET/The CW series of the same name from 2006, The Game is a comedy/drama revival series that ran on Paramount+ for two seasons starting in 2021.
Relocating from San Diego to Las Vegas, this continuation of the story deals with real-world issues in Black culture through the prism of American pro football, with the team searching for fame and love as they try to keep their heads on their shoulders.
12.) Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn
Running on Nickelodeon from September 2014 to August 2018, Nicky, Ricky, Dicky & Dawn highlights the story of four quadruplets starting at nine years old as they navigate through life as a family.
The series even won a Primetime Emmy Award for cinematography in 2016 as this unique show put a new kind of family dynamic on display.
