After one poorly-rated season, Hulu has pulled the plug on ‘The First’, an astronaut drama starring Sean Penn in his first major work for television. The series depicted the first group of astronauts traveling to Mars. The cast also included Natascha McElhone, LisaGay Hamilton, Hannah Ware, Keiko Agena, Rey Lucas, James Ransone, Anna Jacoby-Heron, Brian Lee Franklin, and Oded Fehr. ‘The First’ was created by Beau Willimon (‘House of Cards’), and was a collaboration between Hulu and Britain’s Channel 4.
The first season of ‘The First’ was ordered straight-to-series and arrived in September but failed to generate much buzz. There were only eight episodes.
Before the series premiered, Willimon said:
“It’s a story about the human spirit. About our indomitable need to reach for unknown horizons. About people working toward the greatest pioneering achievement in human history. And about the cost of that vision, the danger and sacrifice – emotional, psychological, and physical – that’s required to achieve it. How ordinary, imperfect people band together and overcome a myriad of obstacles to grasp the extraordinary.”
Penn starred as Tom Hagerty, one of five astronauts chose to travel to Mars. Hamilton played Kayla Price, Ware as Sadie Hewitt, Agena as Aiko Hakari, and Ransone as Nick Fletcher were the other astronauts. McElhone played Laz Ingram, the CEO in charge of the mission. The series began with Penn’s character watching an earlier attempt at a launch to Mars, but one which went horribly wrong with the ship exploding and the entire crew dying.
The series ended with the Penn and the second set of astronauts successfully launching into space, but unfortunately, viewers will now never find out whether they ever made it to Mars or back to Earth.
Did you watch ‘The First’? What did you think? Are you upset that the series doesn’t look as though it will ever be resolved?
Source: Deadline
