Netflix’s Forgotten 2-Part Near-Perfect Series Was Too Expensive To Survive Its $120M Budget

3 weeks ago 9

Published Mar 11, 2026, 6:03 AM EDT

Collier Jennings is an entertainment journalist with a substantial amount of experience under his belt. Collier, or "CJ" to his friends and family, is a dedicated fan of genre films - particularly science fiction, fantasy and comic book adaptations, not to mention all forms of animation animation. This stems from a close bond with his father, who introduced him to these genres via copies of X-Men comics and reruns of the original Ultraman series. Using his near-encyclopedic knowledge and bottomless love of genre, he's been able to tackle a wide variety of articles.

Netflix currently serves as one of the major pillars of the streaming business, thanks to its library of original projects and its recent attempt to buy out Warner Bros. But it took time for Netflix to get to its current state. Most people would point to 2016, and specifically Stranger Things, as the moment where Netflix became a cultural force to be reckoned with. There was another major series that debuted in the same year that's worth talking about: The Get Down. The Get Down remains one of Netflix's hidden gems, as it possessed plenty of style and a talented cast but was cut short due to budget woes.

Set against the rise of hip-hop and disco in the 1970s, The Get Down follows Ezekiel “Zeke” Figuero (Justice Smith) and Shaolin Fantastic (Shameik Moore) as they strive to become successful musical artists. Complications quickly arise for the pair, as Zeke starts falling in love with another aspiring artist, Mylene Cruz (Herizen Guardiola), while Shaolin becomes involved with gangster Clarence "Cadillac" Caldwell (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). What follows is a show that has to be seen to be believed, as it goes over the top in a truly entertaining way.

'The Get Down' Thrives on Visual Style

The Get Down was co-created by Baz Luhrmann, and his penchant for excess is in every scene. Massive dance battles break out in the streets of Brooklyn, with DJ's treating their turntables as battle stations. A pivotal moment in one episode features Mylene bursting into song during church, with the scene framed as a religious experience. You can tell from the very first episode that the man who made Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge is behind The Get Down. Luhrmann and his crew also took great pains to involve actual rappers like Grandmaster Flash and Nas, with the former playing a role in the series' narrative and the latter delivering narration via rap verses.

Sadly, The Get Down would only last a single season due to its whopping $120 million price tag, making it the most expensive Netflix project at the time. It also suffered multiple production problems, with original showrunner Shawn Ryan departing before the series premiere and the episode order cut from 13 to 11. Add in low viewership and the fact that Luhrmann couldn't return for a second season due to his film career, and the writing was on the wall. While The Get Down was a story of musicians reaching for the stars, its production problems brought it crashing down to Earth.

Characters from Bridgerton, The Witcher, and One Piece

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They unsurprisingly canceled a few of these.

'The Get Down' Elevated its Cast's Careers

The Get Down might have been short-lived, but its cast would go on to be major stars in their own right. Giancarlo Esposito, in a rare moment, played a character who isn't a despicable villain but rather a strict father; his star has risen thanks to high-profile roles in The Boys and The Mandalorian. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II would steal the show in Aquaman as Black Manta and eventually make it to the Marvel Universe with Wonder Man. Shameik Moore also took the superhero route, voicing Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

However, no one in The Get Down has had more success than Justice Smith. Smith has become a bona fide blockbuster actor, as he's starred in big-ticket films including Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. He's even dipped his toes into more dramatic fare, like I Saw the TV Glow, where he plays a young man coming to terms with his identity through the lens of a fantasy show. Smith revealed that he delved into method acting for The Get Down, which explains his intensity as Zeke but also turned out to be fairly terrifying for him.

"There were days I would just go home and bawl, because the lines get blurred and you’re like, What is me and what is the character? Am I really like this or is that just him?"

The Get Down is worth a watch, both for the immense style it brings to the screen and the way its cast brings 70's hip-hop and disco culture to life. It's a Netflix series that deserves to have a longer shelf life.