“Unstable,” the comedy series starring Rob Lowe and his son John Owen Lowe, has unfortunately been canceled after two seasons on Netflix. The workplace comedy, which premiered on Netflix on March 30, 2023, followed the story of Ellis Dragon (played by Rob Lowe), the CEO and founder of a biotechnology company who was struggling after the death of his wife. His estranged son Jackson (played by John Owen Lowe) joins the company, despite his aspirations of pursuing a career as a flutist. Throughout the series, Jackson helps his father with his mental health and the two reconnect in a heartwarming and comedic manner.
The show embraced the meta aspect of having the real-life father-son duo play eccentric characters on screen. John Owen Lowe shared with Variety, “It took doing a TV show with each other for Rob and I to re-explore some of the deeper parts of our interpersonal relationship, so we figured, why not make it so that Ellis and Jackson have to literally play characters in order for them to work through an interpersonal conflict? It’s literally a wink at what we’re doing on the show for our father-son relationship.”
Both Rob and John Owen Lowe served as executive producers on “Unstable,” and the talented cast also included Sian Clifford, Aaron Branch, Rachel Marsh, Emma Pilar Ferreira, Fred Armisen, Town Allen, JT Parr, Christina Chang, Lamorne Morris, and Iris Apatow. The second season concluded with Ellis deciding to leave his company and run for president of the United States, setting up an intriguing storyline for a potential third season.
Speaking about the possibility of a Season 3, Rob Lowe expressed his excitement, saying, “I can’t wait to see Ellis stumble his way through and probably be kind of brilliant in his own way in just putting together his campaign. I want to see Fred Armisen [who plays Ellis’ live-in therapist, Leslie] running a campaign, maybe Jackson being Bobby Kennedy to Ellis’ Jack Kennedy. We’re very focused on Ellis being super excited about Jackson becoming the first son.”
While “Unstable” may not be returning for another season, fans can look back on the two seasons of laughter, heartwarming moments, and the unique dynamic between Rob and John Owen Lowe that made the show special.
