Why MTV Canceled Bo Burnham's Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous

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As far as musical comedians who rose to prominence in the internet era go, it's tough to find one more beloved than Bo Burnham. More than just a guy who can craft a funny, catchy tune, he has asserted himself as a downright brilliant creative (in addition to being a hilarious one). Unfortunately, one of his first creative endeavors in Hollywood after rising to stardom on YouTube, an MTV show titled "Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous," had a very short life, premiering in 2013 and lasting just one season on the network.

The series centered on Zach Stone (Burnham), a young man who, after graduating high school, decides to skip going to college and instead attempt to become famous with no talent whatsoever, by any means necessary. Burnham, despite being in his early 20s at the time, not only headlined the show, but he also co-created it with Dan Lagana, on top of serving as one of its executive producers and writers. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter at the time, a representative for MTV had this to say about the cancelation:

"We are huge fans of Bo Burnham and the entire creative and talented team behind 'Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous.' After careful consideration of many factors, we have ultimately decided not to move forward with an additional season of the series. We wish Bo, the cast, and the entire production crew the very best."

So, what were those factors? The thing that was true then and remains true now is that networks depend on ratings to justify the expense of a given show, and "Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous" was not a ratings monster by any stretch of the imagination. The series launched with just 650,000 viewers and, after shifting around to several different time slots, saw its viewership dwindle from there. Now-beloved shows have been canceled with better ratings, with Fox's "Scream Queens" serving as one example. Granted, the bar for cable was often lower than it was for network shows in the pre-streaming era, but all the same, MTV didn't have enough reason to risk viewership dwindling even further with a second season.

"The cancellation adds a nice bit of poetry to the arc of the final episodes, as Zach finds himself running out of money and possibly losing his beloved cameras (and show) forever," Burnham said at the time in a letter to his fans (via The Comic's Comic). Speaking further, Burnham declined to comment on why the show didn't find its audience, but he wanted to make clear that he didn't want to blame it on the series' intended audience:

"I don't think MTV's audience is dumb. I don't think young people in general are dumb or stupid or shallow. I love my generation. I really do. I believe that the 'internet generation' ... is very misunderstood and underestimated. What many older people dismiss as my generation's short attention spans, I see as young people hunger for density, demanding that every second of material that you give them is worthy of their time. This challenge, though daunting, is a good thing. It pushes art forward."

Eventually, Burnham did manage to create art that resonated with audiences. His 2021 Netflix special "Inside" was met with near-universal praise. He also wrote and directed the much-acclaimed 2018 movie "Eighth Grade" for A24 and has selectively appeared in movies as an actor, including "Funny People" and "Promising Young Woman."

More than a decade later, one might wonder: Could a "Zach Stone" revival ever happen? In his letter after the cancellation, Burnham cited Lisa Kudrow's "The Comeback" as a great single season show before it was later revived by HBO. He acknowledged the show was dead at MTV but might have a future elsewhere:

"Is 'Zach Stone' over forever? At MTV, I think so. But who knows? When making the show, I had kind of thought/sensed that it may be a one season show (like Lisa Kudrow's 'The Comeback'), so we made sure that this season could stand alone as its own contained thing. But if you guys continue to watch the show and show it to friends, it very well may have a second life somewhere else."

You can rent or buy "Zach Stone is Gonna Be Famous" from Amazon.