‘Animals’ Canceled After Three Seasons at HBO

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – HBO has canceled the animated series “Animals” after three seasons, Variety has confirmed.

The series was created by executive producers Phil Matarese and Mike Luciano, with Duplass Brothers Productions producing.  The animated comedy series focused on the downtrodden creatures native New York City,  including rats, pigeons, and bedbugs.  Matarese and Luciano also wrote and directed all the episodes, and voiced many of the characters.

The series also featured a number of guest stars lending their voices. Season 3’s guest lineup included stars like Awkwafina, Marcia Clark, Edie Falco, David Harbour, Lucy Liu, Carol Kane, Johnny Knoxville, John Leguizamo, Natasha Lyonne, Anthony Mackie, Tatiana Maslany, Demi Moore, Moby, Tracy Morgan, John Mulaney, and many more.

Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass also executive produce the series, with producers James Fino, Joe Russo II, Kenny Micka, and co-executive producer Jen Roskind.  The animation for “” was created with Dan Harmon’s Starburns Industries, the studio known for the TV series “Rick & Morty” and the feature film “Anomalisa.”

The series was never able to find a significant audience in its time on the air, ranking as one of ’s lowest-rated and least-watched original series. Season 3, for example, averaged just 185,000 viewers per episode in the Nielsen Live+Same Day numbers, down about 20% from Season 2.

Deadline first reported the cancellation