The former director of unscripted series at Netflix has reportedly left the company following the streamer’s recent reboot of Star Search. The talent show, among other unscripted content, appears to have been a disappointment for Netflix.
Netflix Director of Unscripted Series Exits After Star Search
In January, Netflix premiered a reboot of the classic talent show Star Search, in which performers in different categories competed for a $500,000 grand prize. The new series was available to stream live on the platform, with viewers at home able to vote on their remotes.
The first season came to an end last month, with magician TJ Salta taking home the grand prize. The show reportedly underperformed in the ratings, receiving under 2.3 million views for its first two episodes and failing to make it into the platform’s global Top 10 for the first week.
Deadline reports that Sahara Bushue, the director of unscripted series at Netflix, is exiting the company. As the outlet points out, Star Search wasn’t the only unscripted program to underperform on Netflix in recent months. Dating show Pop the Balloon will reportedly not be back for a second season.
According to Deadline, “All of this has contributed to Bushue’s exit.” Bushue joined Netflix in March 2023 as a consultant, before being promoted in October. She also worked on programs such as Building the Band and The Greatest Roast of All Time with Tom Brady.
A user on the Star Search Reddit recently posted Deadline’s article about Bushue’s exit, writing, “I mean I don’t disagree to be honest, I was so hyped for this piece of nostalgia … and then by about episode 3 I had already devolved into hate watching it.”
Other users chimed in to express their disappointment with Netflix’s reboot of the classic show, with one person writing, “I don’t think the judges this year were very professional at all. And their scoring was absurd sometimes.”
Another user wrote, “My kids loved the show but it was absolute trash how it was scored and how things went down in the end.” Someone else chimed in to say, “I’d watch another season if the public had more input on contestant selection. It felt very insider-picked.”
What did you think about the Star Search reboot? Let us know in the comments below.
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Jill O'Rourke Jill O’Rourke is a contributor at Talent Recap, writing news stories and recaps for shows like ‘AGT,’ ‘The Voice,’ and ‘American Idol.’ She graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English and Film Studies, and has been writing about pop culture since 2012, with previous bylines at Crushable and A Plus. Jill spends her free time binge-watching sitcoms and daydreaming about life as a hobbit
