Netflix to end Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black launched on Netflix five years ago

Global streamer Netflix will bring the curtain down on one of its longest-running originals, women’s prison-set dramedy Orange is the New Black, with its forthcoming seventh season.

The Lionsgate-produced show was created by Jenji Cohan, based on the memoir of the same name by Piper Kerman.

The series became Netflix’s most watched original after launching in 2013 but will now conclude with season seven. The streamer handed the producers a three-season order following its fourth run in 2016.

Netflix VP of originals Cindy Holland said she would be “sad to say goodbye” to the show but added that it “will definitely be going out on a high.”

Lionsgate Television Group chairman Kevin Beggs said: “Orange is the New Black has profoundly impacted popular culture worldwide and has played a prominent role in building Lionsgate into a platform-defining brand.

“With great pride, we are working together to bring this landmark series to a triumphant, satisfying close with the upcoming seventh season.”

Tia Mowry

In related news, Netflix has greenlit a live-action family comedy series co-starring Loretta Devine and Tia Mowry.

Family Reunion recently went into production in LA with Devine (Grey’s Anatomy, The Carmichael Show) and Mowry (Sister Sister, Instant Mom) leading the cast.

The plot follows a free-spirited mother from Seattle who travels with her family of four kids and former football-playing husband to a small town in Georgia for a family reunion

The 20-episode series is executive produced and created by Meg DeLoatch (Fuller House, Eve) and directed by Eric Dean Seaton (Prince of Peoria, Modern Family).