Hulu gives a second life to Sam Richardson and Adam Pally's Champaign ILL

Variety

The 2018 YouTube Premium comedy, about a hip-hop star’s entourage that’s forced to readjust to life without perks when the star unexpectedly dies, never found an audience. But Hulu obtained all 10 episodes and "re-premiered" the series last week. "The streamers’ growing appetite for original fare is opening the door for outlets to take a flyer on short-lived series that never got a chance to connect with viewers," says Michael Schneider. "The best example may be Netflix’s takeover of another YouTube series, Cobra Kai. The Karate Kid sequel quickly turned into a major hit for Netflix, which had ordered more seasons as well. Other examples include Pop TV’s little-seen Flack, which Amazon Prime Video picked up and promoted like a new show, and Lifetime’s You, which has turned into a phenomenon in subsequent seasons on Netflix (as has Fox’s Lucifer). But most of those examples are of network or cable shows that already exhibited some promise in their secondary windows on a streaming service. Champaign ILL isn’t quite getting the same treatment — it’s not being billed as a Hulu Original, and it hasn’t been renewed for more seasons. But the producers behind the comedy have been touting it in press releases like it is a premiere, perhaps hoping to capitalize on this do-over, and the stars are hopeful more people will discover the series now."