‘Ponies’ Canceled By Peacock After One Season

The Cold War is over — again. Peacock has opted not to renew its 1970s espionage thriller Ponies, starring Emilia Clarke and Haley Lu Richardson, for a second season.

The decision comes five months after the period comedy-drama premiered on Jan. 15. It does not come as a surprise — while the series drew acclaim with 94% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and also scored well with regular viewers (83%), ultimately there weren’t enough people watching to justify a renewal.

Set in Moscow, 1977, the series followed Bea (Clarke) and Twila (Richardson), two “PONIES” (“persons of no interest) working as secretaries in the American Embassy who become CIA operatives after spy husbands are killed in the USSR under mysterious circumstances.

The series, co-created and executive produced by David Iserson and Susanna Fogel, ended on several cliffhangers, leaving many loose ends that will not be tied up. They include Bea and Twila being held at gunpoint by the KGB in the final seconds of the finale, Bea’s presumed dead husband Chris making a surprise return, the Moscow U.S. Embassy being breached by Soviet intelligence and Bea’s asset/budding love interest Sasha being gravely wounded, with his fate in limbo.

In a Q&A with Deadline at the time of the series’ release, Iserson and Fogel addressed the shocking developments in the finale and gave some hints where they were planning to take the series in Season 2.

Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, is the studio.