The 'Heathers' Reboot Is A Little Shorter Than Originally Planned

The Heathers reboot, a take on the classic '80s movie of the same name, premieres on Oct. 25 with a five night marathon of Season 1 in its entirety. And after the first episode (which will make you glad you're no longer in high school), you're going to be wondering how many episodes the Heathers reboot is. According to the official website for the show, it will span nine episodes over the course of the five day marathon. The finale will be followed by a special episode of Lip Sync Battle, featuring Melanie Field and Brendan Scannell, two stars of the reboot.

The original movie followed high school teen Veronica as she navigated high school while trying to fit in with the "Heathers," a popular clique, who she eventually came to hate. What followed was a ton of death and literal destruction among the teenagers, but the reboot decided to scale back on the violence due in part to modern day real life school violence on the rise. After the Parkland, Florida and then Santa Fe, Texas high school shootings in February and May 2018 respectively, Paramount Network made the decision to edit some of the school violence from the reboot. As a result, the original 10 episode order was narrowed down to nine. The final two episodes were combined into one to create a cliffhanger — which might give fans hope for the show’s uncertain future.

Deadline reported that a finale scene, which was going to feature a remake of the memorable movie scene where the high school literally blew up, was cut from the show. But, showrunner Jason Micallef told Deadline, the Heathers reboot still tells a similar story as the original movie.

"Obviously I wish fans could see the tenth episode but the producers and I felt strongly about not changing anything in it, and so, it’s been considered too controversial for U.S. audiences," he said. "Still, every day at this job is a delightful dream so it’s hard to complain. Plus, what matters most is fans will now get to see the satire we all love so much."

Heathers hasn't been renewed for a second season yet, but depending on how fans react to the five day marathon of Season 1, it could eventually return. It hasn't been referred to as a limited series or television event, so the plan could be for a longer life on Paramount Network, as long as viewers respond to it strongly enough. The Hollywood Reporter said in January 2017 that the series was going to be an anthology, meaning that each season could have a different story and potentially different cast than the last. It's unclear if this is still the plan, especially since it looks like Heathers was given a TV spot by the skin of its teeth. But it would definitely be a unique concept for a reboot.

If Heathers returns with a second season as an anthology, this opens the door for more creative liberties than following the story and premise of the original movie. It would also mean a new batch of "Heathers" each season. Since Season 1 leaves off with a cliffhanger, a Heathers reboot isn't off the table. Now it’s just a matter of whether or not the reboot does the original justice and if it can actually stand on its own. As with any reboot, it can either be a huge success or a terrible train wreck. And Heathers has nine episodes to prove itself.