A BYUtv show that got canceled after one season is finding popularity on a major streaming platform — nearly a decade after it first released.
BYUtv’s ‘Extinct’ finds success on Prime Video
“Extinct,” a short-lived sci-fi series created by “Ender’s Game” author Orson Scott Card and New York Times bestselling author Aaron Johnston, is getting a new life on Prime Video.
The BYUtv show, which was filmed in Utah and premiered in the fall of 2017, was added to the streaming platform over the summer, per Screenrant. It hit Prime Video’s streaming charts in August and entered the top 10 in the U.S., according to the entertainment site MovieWeb.
Actor Chad Michael Collins, who played one of the lead characters in the series, shared an image of the show being ranked fifth on Prime Video.
“Thx for watching, all!” Collins wrote on Facebook. “Loved making this #SciFiAdventure series years ago.”
What is ‘Extinct’ sci-fi series about?
“Extinct” picks up 400 years after the extinction of the human race, when a small group of humans (called Reborns) are given the chance to restart their lives. They’re restored to the prime of their lives by an alien civilization called Originators.
But the Reborns quickly discover they are not alone. Another group called Skin Riders — humans infected with an alien parasite — poses a threat to the ultimate goal of restoring the human race.
Actor Matthew Bellows, who played the leader of the Skin Riders, previously praised the series for exploring complex questions.
“There’s a speech that he gives in Episode 2 where he explains all the horrible things that humans do to each other,” Bellows told the Deseret News in a 2017 interview. “(He asks) ‘Why would this species that’s capable of so much be given the opportunity to exist in this world when they screw it up and they hurt each other over and over and over again?’ So his entire mission is to bring (humans) into his tribe (and) save them from their own imperfection and give them the opportunity to be better than they are by infecting them with this parasite.”
The series, which was filmed primarily throughout central and southern Utah, was somewhat of a homecoming for Bellows, a South Jordan native.
“People have been using southern Utah to tell science fiction stories since the dawn of the medium,” Bellows told the Deseret News. “So it’s cool to kind of be a part of that in our own way. Utah, it’s one-of-a-kind.”
BYUtv announced the show’s cancellation in January 2018, just a couple of months after the season finale — which ended on a cliffhanger.
“Extinct” was the network’s second original scripted series, releasing two years after the cancellation of its first scripted drama, “Granite Flats.” The Cold War-era drama centered on three kids solving mysteries in the small town of Granite Flats, Colorado, caught national interest and ran on Netflix for three years, as the Deseret News previously reported.
Both series are still available for streaming on BYUtv.