Hulu Axes Yet Another Pilot Amid Buffy Reboot Uncertainty

Hulu seems to be on a bit of a cold streak when it comes to launching new TV pilots. Hot on the heels of shelving their Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot (remember New Sunnydale?), they've now axed another pilot before it even made it to series.

Rest in Peace: Don't Get High

The latest casualty is Don't Get High, a comedy project that had some real pedigree behind it—not least because Megan Ganz (from Community and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) was running the show, and Tony Hale (Veep and Arrested Development) was set to star. According to reports, Hulu ordered the pilot back in May 2025, so this wasn’t just a random pipe dream—they actually invested in seeing what the show would look like.

If you haven’t heard of Don't Get High, here’s the gist. Picture a high school full of nerds trying—badly—to gain influence and some friends by starting an anti-drug club. Spoiler: It apparently doesn’t go well. Here’s how the cast was shaping up:

• Tony Hale as Officer Popkey, the zealous school security guy who takes his job about ten times too seriously
• Ashley Brooke as Penny, who’s apparently the ‘alpha dweeb’ leading the underdog fight against the popular kids
• Olivia Gill as Lennon, the ultra-popular girl and Penny’s main rival
• Oscar Williams as Dylan, the brooding bad boy
• Erin Morton as Lane, Penny’s eccentric and fiercely loyal best friend
• Daniel Rosales as Trevor, a self-described misanthrope who’s happy to stay in the background and let the others chase social clout

Megan Ganz wasn’t just writing—she was also executive producing and serving as showrunner, with Adam Fishbach and Mara Herron also producing. So this wasn’t anybody’s first rodeo. Honestly, with that creative team and cast, it feels like Hulu missed an opportunity here, but they’re apparently tightening the belt on what goes from pilot to a full greenlight.

In their attempt to beef up their lineup of shows for the YA crowd, Hulu has ordered a few of these projects recently. Don’t Get High was only one of several young-adult oriented pilots, and it's not alone in limbo. Another one, Foster Dade (starring Jack Alldridge and Chloe East), still hasn’t gotten an official 'yes' or 'no.'

To keep things fair, Hulu did actually give the go-ahead to one YA pilot last year: Phony, which stars Connie Britton and Sam Nivola, is making it to series. So not everything gets tossed, but the odds clearly aren’t great.

So, What’s Left In Hulu’s Crystal Ball?

If you’re wondering what else is floating out there, Hulu has a few other pilots that haven’t gotten a firm answer yet. A few of the big ones include:

'Durango' (a drama),
'Lex' (a reality TV-meets-true crime conspiracy thing),
'Southern Bastards' (based on the graphic novel),
and that headline-grabbing X-Files reboot from Ryan Coogler.

None of those have gotten a greenlight or the axe yet, so we’ll have to wait and see. If you’re noticing a pattern where Hulu orders a bunch of pilots, tests the waters, and only picks a rare few, you’re not alone. It’s a cautious approach, but it makes their comedy lineup feel like a rotating door of could-have-beens.

And just to illustrate how quickly things can turn around: Hulu went from giving the go-ahead to a Buffy revival to dropping it, and then did the same with Don't Get High—all in the same general timeframe. Somewhere out there, a pile of scrapped pilot scripts just got a little bigger.

If you’re keeping score, here’s a quote from Variety about Tony Hale’s role: 'a school cop who takes his job way too seriously.' That's probably the perfect summary for this entire situation.