Picture: A24 / Netflix
Netflix’s new comedy series from A24 Television, Mo dropped in August 2022, and now, six months later, we have an official renewal but with a major caveat. The series received glowing reviews and an award win. Here’s what we know about season 2 of Mo.
Created by Mohammed “Mo” Amer and Ramy Youssef, the series stars Amer himself, Teresa Ruiz (Narcos: Mexico), and Omar Elba (Limetown). The story focuses on a Palestinian refugee living in Houston doing everything it takes to keep his head above water while hoping to gain full US citizenship.
2022 was a rough year for Netflix comedy. By the end of the year, Netflix had yet to meaningfully renew any of its fledgling new comedy series in 2022. Murderville, Hard Cell, The Pentaverate, God’s Favorite Idiot, and Uncoupled are all still waiting for renewals as of January 2023.
As mentioned, the show has become one of the best-reviewed new Netflix Originals, particularly in the comedy department, where Netflix has struggled in recent years.
Mo has been well-reviewed and even scooped an award at the Gotham Independent Film Awards for Breakthrough Series and American Film Institute honor.
Congratulations to Mo on its 2022 @AmericanFilm Institute honor! #AFIAWARDS pic.twitter.com/jZBiiCLYDY
— Queue (@netflixqueue) December 9, 2022
As of the time of writing, it’s got a 100% score on RottenTomatoes with a 90% audience score. On IMDb, the series has a 7.6 rating.
Cr. Rebecca Brenneman/Netflix © 2022
Mo Season 2 Netflix Renewal Status
Current renewal status: Renewed for final season (Last updated: January 12th, 2023)
Months after Mo’s release on Netflix, it was looking like the show would be canceled.
At the Red Sea Film Festival in December 2022, Mo Amer confirmed the show’s future is still up in the air, answering a question about season 2, saying:
“Ask Netflix, I don’t know what’s going on. We’ve only won awards and we’re in the top 10 lists. I don’t know what’s going on.”
Mo Amer before that had jokingly referred to a second season in an interview segment shortly after its initial release, and the series is ripe for more stories to come out of Houston in the future.
Then in January 2023, Deadline exclusively revealed that the show had been renewed for a second but final season.
In a statement, Mo Amer told Deadline:
“I’m thankful to continue to tell a universal story of struggle that relates to so many refugees and millions of under-represented humans trying to be seen around the globe and to be able to bring the people who loved and rooted for Mo Najjar along for the ride as we close this chapter of his story,”
Teresa Ruiz, Farah Bseiso, and Omar Elba are confirmed to return for season 2 of the show.
Mo – Picture: Netflix
How well did Mo perform on Netflix?
Unfortunetely, the show failed to rank in Netflix’s top 10 sites, meaning we have no idea about viewing hours for the show. The show also failed to rank in the Nielsen top 10s.
Raw top 10s provided by FlixPatrol state that the series rocketed up the charts in some of Netflix’s MENA regions, such as Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates.
While it featured in the United States and Canadian top 10s, its time was brief. In the US, it only featured for 7 days before dropping out.
Mo Season 1 Performance on Netflix Top 10s – FlixPatrol
What about external numbers?
According to the IMDb Moviemeter, the show was the 103rd most popular title in its debut week before quickly dropping out.
Meanwhile, the show climbed to be the 71st most popular show in the world on August 29th, 2022, according to TelevisionStats.com, which takes data from places like Google search, Wikipedia, and other sources to determine its score.
According to British SVOD analytics company Digital i, they suggest the show didn’t have a strong completion rate, with data from their panels suggesting that only 40% of people who started the show went on to finish all episodes.
They’ve previously suggested that shows that fail to get above 50% completion are unlikely to return for new seasons.
Completion data for Mo season 1
More projects from A24 Television are coming soon to Netflix. Next up from the studio for Netflix is Beef starring Steven Yeun, and then we’ll see Survival of the Thickest land on Netflix.
Are you excited to see Mo return for a season 2 on Netflix? Let us know in the comments down below.
