Transgender show 'Transparent' to end after one more season

[May 08, 2018]  LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Transgender show "Transparent," the television series that put Amazon Studios original programming on the map, will end after its upcoming fifth season, its creator, Jill Soloway, said in an interview published on Monday.

The ending of the series follows the firing in February of its award-winning star, Jeffrey Tambor, following accusations of sexual misconduct by two people on the show.

Tambor has described the accusations as false

In a Hollywood Reporter interview, Soloway said the "Transparent" writing staff had begun discussions on how to tackle the show's fifth and final season.

"Hopefully, it sets the Pfeffermans up with some sort of beautiful reclaiming,” Soloway told the Hollywood Reporter. "I think we’re going to get there with some time."

Amazon Studios did not return a call for comment and no date was given for the "Transparent" fifth season premiere.

Tambor, 73, played the lead role of Maura Pfefferman, a divorced father who transitions to a woman late in life. He won two Emmys, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild award for his performance on the series, which was the first Amazon TV original series to garner such critical acclaim.

It was not clear how the series, which in 2014 was groundbreaking for its use of transgender actors and its portrayal of the transgender community, would proceed without him.

In an extensive interview with The Hollywood Reporter published on Monday, Tambor acknowledged he was subject to "temperamental outbursts" on the "Transparent" set.

He again denied sexual harassment, but said, "I was difficult. I was mean."

In a separate development, Tambor will return for the fifth season of cult comedy "Arrested Development" on Netflix on May 29, Netflix Inc, said on Monday.

Tambor plays the patriarch of the dysfunctional, eccentric Bluth family.

Tambor is one of dozens of actors, filmmakers and agents forced to step down or dropped from projects following the sexual misconduct allegations that have roiled Hollywood and beyond.

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; editing by Jonathan Oatis)

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