Paramount Network delayed the premiere of its TV adaptation “Heathers” just a week ahead of its scheduled debut.
In a statement, the Viacom network said it was the “right thing to do” to delay the comedy in light of school shooting in Parkland, Florida earlier this month.
“While we stand firmly behind the show, in light of the recent tragic events in Florida and out of respect for the victims, their families and loved ones, we feel the right thing to do is delay the premiere until later this year,” the statement said.
An adaptation of the 1988 cult classic starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, the “Heathers” TV series was slated to premiere on March 7. Paramount did not announce a new premiere date for the series.
The network’s decision to shelve the series comes after it made the pilot episode available to stream on it’s website on Feb. 21 — a week after the Parkland school shooting. The pilot was taken offline around two hours after the announcement.
A dark comedy anthology set in the present day, “Heathers” stars Grace Victoria Cox as Veronica Sawyer, a high school who deals with a very different but equally vicious group of Heathers — Melanie Field as the body-positive mean girl Heather Chandler, Brendan Scannell as the genderqueer Heather Duke and Jasmine Mathews as the biracial lesbian Heather McNamara.
Read the network’s full statement below:
Paramount Network’s original series “Heathers” is a satirical comedy that takes creative risks in dealing with many of society’s most challenging subjects ranging from personal identity to race and socio-economic status to gun violence. While we stand firmly behind the show, in light of the recent tragic events in Florida and out of respect for the victims, their families and loved ones, we feel the right thing to do is delay the premiere until later this year.