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HBO cancels The Time Traveler's Wife after one season

The Time Traveler's Wife won't make the jump into 2023.

HBO has confirmed that the Steven Moffat show, based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger and starring Theo James and Rose Leslie, has been canceled after one season.

"Though HBO will not be moving forward with a second season of The Time Traveler's Wife, it was our privilege to partner with master storytellers Steven Moffat and David Nutter," HBO shared in a statement to EW. "We are so grateful for their passion, hard work and care for adapting this beloved book. We also thank Theo and Rose, and the rest of our brilliant cast for their heartfelt performances, which completely captivated audiences."

The Time Traveler's Wife
The Time Traveler's Wife

Barbara Nitke/HBO Rose Leslie and Theo James in 'The Time Traveler's Wife'

James and Leslie starred as time traveler Henry DeTamble and his wife, Clare Abshire. Henry lives with chrono-impairment, a disorder that flings him through time. As he revisits key moments in his life, he meets his future wife Clare when she is a young girl.

Although HBO didn't give a specific reason for the cancellation, James had one joking complaint during his appearance on EW's Screen After Reading podcast last month.

"There wasn't enough nudity," the actor said of the series (which others, by the way, think contained plenty of his naked body). "It's a part of the DNA of the book. What I liked about it is the nudity is dangerous. He's thrown out of time, and it expends a lot of energy. It depletes him. It's an affliction, an illness that he has to deal with. I always felt like it's an epileptic fit times 100, where it's a real shock to his body."

The HBO series was the second attempt at adapting Niffenegger's 2003 bestseller after a 2009 film starring Rachel McAdams and Eric Bana.

EW's television critic Darren Franich gave the HBO series a D, citing an awkward meet-weird and a lack of chemistry between Leslie and James, alongside "bad wigs, limp characterization, indifferent plotting." Though he also noted, "Come for the ass," referring to James' many nude scenes.

The six-episode series was written and exec produced by Moffat (Sherlock, Doctor Who), with Nutter, Sue Virtue, Brian Minchin, and Joseph E. Iberti serving as executive producers. The cast also included Desmin Borges, Natasha Lopez, and Everleigh McDonnell.

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