Showtime revives Penny Dreadful for a new chapter tackling historical issues in 1938 Los Angeles

The Hollywood Reporter

Showtime has ordered Penny Dreadful: City of Angels, a "spiritual descendant" of the original series that is set in 1938 Los Angeles with different characters. The news comes two years after the horror series was abruptly canceled after three seasons. Creator John Logan will return for the follow-up series, teaming with Showtime's Kidding and I'm Dying Up Here executive producer Michael Aguilar. They specifically chose 1938 Los Angeles because it is "a time and place deeply infused with Mexican-American folklore and social tension." City of Angels will explore the "mix of the supernatural and the combustible reality of that period, creating new occult myths and moral dilemmas within a historical backdrop." Logan says: "Penny Dreadful: City of Angels will have a social consciousness and historical awareness that we chose not to explore in the Penny Dreadful London storylines. We will now be grappling with specific historical and real-world political, religious, social and racial issues. In 1938, Los Angeles was facing some hard questions about its future and its soul. Our characters must do the same. There are no easy answers. There are only powerful questions and arresting moral challenges. As always in the world of Penny Dreadful, there are no heroes or villains in this world, only protagonists and antagonists; complicated and conflicted characters living on the fulcrum of moral choice."