Paramount Network Pulls Heathers Episodes After Pittsburgh Shooting

Following the tragic shooting that left 11 dead at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday, Paramount Network pulled two episodes of its troubled Heathers reboot that were scheduled to air on Sunday night. The episodes featured a storyline that involved students undergoing active shooter training, as sources tell THR.

Paramount Network’s Heathers, a series adaptation of the 1988 cult-favorite film, has faced a number of setbacks throughout its rollout. The network first set the series to premiere in March, but announced weeks before the original date that it would push back the premiere to “later this year” in light of the Parkland shooting in February. The network then scrapped a July premiere date following a May school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas, also according to THR’s sources.

The network then planned to air the series as a “five-night binge” starting Oct. 25, with two episodes airing every day leading up to the finale on Monday night. The two episodes that were scheduled to air on Saturday are available to watch via VOD, and the Paramount app and website, although tonight’s finale, which, as with the original film, features a school being blown up, has been edited to remove those sensitive storylines.

There probably was never a good time to air Paramount Network’s Heathers series, which bizarrely presents plus-sized, LGBT teens of color as the real bullies in modern society, but this past weekend’s events have put a tragic cap on this ill-advised reboot.