David Cross and Bob Odenkirk made headlines when they announced plans to work together again in DocuStyle's Paramount+ comedy “Guru Nation” in 2022. The show's masterminds were cast as rival cult gurus who manipulated the minds of their deluded followers. In a recent podcast appearance, Cross said he believes the Paramount+ series, which was in early development at Paramount Television Studios, was canceled because the “marketing and analytics department” rejected it.
Cross and Odenkirk wrote and developed the show, which was supposed to be an eight-episode limited series. He said the show's pitch sparked a bidding war among four different networks.
“We worked with Paramount+ to write the first four episodes and then create a very specific, broad bible for the last four episodes. There's a character in the movie, and this is what happens.'' “And they said no. It was weird because that's what we pitched.”
Cross went on to say that Paramount+ canceled the series because “marketing and analytics departments don't understand it, they don't want it.”
Cross said he learned early in his career how much influence the marketing department had on development decisions, and that what happened on their shows meant “they have all the fucking power!” “It was an ugly reminder,” he said.
Cross continued: “If your marketing department doesn’t have the imagination to take existing ideas and make sense of them, […] How do you sell that so they can say no? ”
variety has reached out to representatives for Paramount+ and Cross for comment.
Watch Cross's full appearance in “Whiskey Ginger” below.
