Our Flag Means Death's "numbers weren't there" for renewal says MAX's boss - but it is welcome to sail to another platform

Fans of Our Flag Means Death have been raising their flags trying to bring attention (and maybe a pickup renewal) in the week or so following the cancellation of Max's cult favorite pirate-comedy-romance show. Though Our Flag Means Death has a strong cast and passionate fanbase, according to HBO's CEO Casey Bloys, the actual ratings for the show just weren't there.

In a conversation with The Hollywood Reporter, Bloys responded to a question about the recently cancelled show (as well as the fan petition), saying, "Nobody likes to cancel a show. But the fact of the matter is the numbers weren’t there for a renewal. But I will say, whenever we cancel a show, if a creator can set it up elsewhere, we support them. That is an option for Our Flag; it didn’t make sense for us but it might be for someone else. We let the producers know if they can find a home, we’ll be supportive of that."

Right now, there's no real way of knowing the specific Our Flag Means Death numbers Bloys is referring to, in a press release the first season was described by MAX as one its "top five Max Original comedy series launches" ever. Though the fanbase is clearly passionate about the series, we have no public data with which to compare the show's performance in comparison to, say, Max's recent quick renewal, The Gilded Age.

However, fans may take some measure of hope with the second half of Bloys' statement, which specifies that he will be supportive if the creators are able to find another home for the show, as the creators of Max Original series Minx did, when the series moved to Starz. Though hopefully, if Our Flag Means Death does get this treatment, it gets to finish its story, instead of being unceremoniously cancelled like Minx was (again).

Warner Bros. didn't know what to do with Our Flag Means Death, even when they had it