Photo: Lifetime.

Why did Lifetime cancel You? Recently, executive producer Greg Berlanti revealed how he tried to prevent the TV show’s cancellation, Variety reports.

The drama series, which has been acquired by Netflix and renewed for a second season, stars Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager who becomes violently obsessed with a young woman. The cast also includes Elizabeth Lail, Shay Mitchell, Zach Cherry, and Ambyr Childers.

During a recent conference, Berlanti revealed he begged Lifetime to give You another shot:

We pitched it and sold it to Showtime of all places, but…once they read the script, they were really cool about saying, ‘You can take it somewhere else. [Lifetime] wanted to make it, and we shot it, and because of their launch cycle it sat in the can for a while for two-and-a-half years. Then they finally started to release it, and it didn’t do very well.”

And despite the show’s initial low ratings, Berlanti said he kept advocating for You until Netflix eventually picked it up for a second season:

You go into offices and sound like a crazy person: ‘I still think it’s going to work, I still think it’s going to work – maybe one more episode, maybe if people have a chance to see five more episodes.”

Netflix has not yet announced a premiere date for season two of You, but it is expected to debut sometime later this year.

What do you think? Have you seen You? Will you watch season two?