EXCLUSIVE: After two seasons, the Onyx Collective series Deli Boys has been canceled at Hulu. The crime dramedy stars Asif Ali, Saagar Shaikh, and Poorna Jagannathan.

The reason for the show’s cancellation is due to ratings, sources say. The series was a priority for Onyx, which pushed for the addition of a new series regular and a supporting cast to help attract new viewers, sources told me at the time. Following the casting of Fred Armisen in the series regular role, the show was renewed for a second season. Next, the supporting cast additions were announced for Andrew Rannells, Kumail Nanjiani, Lilly Singh, Robin Thede and Tan France.

Deli Boys was unique in that it centered South Asian characters, with the series creator Abdullah Saeed (Pakistani American) and the core three lead actors being of South Asian descent, a rarity in Hollywood in 2026. The series boasted representation for the community with many behind-the-scenes jobs, as well.

There are examples of TV shows featuring at least one South Asian actor in leading roles, including Mindy Kaling’s (Indian American) Hulu series Not Suitable For Work, featuring Avantika, an Indian American actress in the series regular cast; Prime Video’s 56 Days, led by Avan Jogia, whose father is British Indian; and CBS’ Ghosts stars Utkarsh Ambudkar, who is of Indian descent.

Deli Boys follows Mir and Raj Dar (Ali and Shaikh), a pair of pampered Pakistani American brothers who lose everything and are forced to reckon with their Baba’s (Iqbal Theba) secret life of crime as they attempt to take up his mantle in the underworld. Jagannathan stars as Naveeda “Lucky,” Baba’s confidant and a crime boss auntie.

In Season 2, Armison played Max Sugar, a legendary gambling savant with an uncanny ability to read people like cards in the half-hour series. His casino empire is global, but his crown jewel is in Philly.

Deli Boys was a special series for the actors like Jagannathan, who previously told Deadline, “What I love about this role is that Lucky has masculinity to her and a fieriness and a physicalness that I’ve never been able to play. It’s definitely not a role you’ve ever seen a South Asian woman play; you don’t see women play these types of roles. But she is stabbing someone with her left hand and shooting someone else with her right while taking somebody’s eye out with her heel. It’s on all possible fronts.”

Jagannathan will next be seen in HBO Max’s Lanterns, premiering August 16.

Ian Crafford, the British film editor and soundman with credits including Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Never Say Never Again, Hope and Glory and Field of Dreams, has died. He was 82.

Crafford died July 22 at his home in Brazil after a long battle with cancer, his son Scott Crafford told The Hollywood Reporter.

Crafford cut Tommy Chong’s Still Smokin (1983), Frank Oz’s The Indian in the Cupboard (1995), David Anspaugh’s The Game of Their Lives (2005) and two features for fellow countryman Michael Apted, Class Action (1991) and Thunderheart (1992).

He also collaborated with British filmmaker John Boorman on three films, The Emerald Forest (1985), the Oscar best picture nominee Hope and Glory (1987) — for which he received a BAFTA nomination — and Where the Heart Is (2000).

Ian Charles Crafford was born on June 11, 1944, in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, England. He took a summer job at age 17 at Elstree Studios and enjoyed it so much he never returned to school. 

He served as an assistant editor on Carol Reed’s The Running Man (1963) and Michael Anderson’s The Quiller Memorandum (1966)

He then worked as a sound editor on films including Captain Apache (1971), The Darwin Adventure (1972), Fury (1973) and Steppenwolf (1974), then handled sounds effects for Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975).

(When he was handling ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement), Sophia Loren always requested him to handle that for her, “much to the chagrin of my mother,” his son quipped.)

One of Crafford’s first features as a film editor was The Medusa Touch (1978), starring Richard Burton and Lee Remick. (That feature was produced by legendary Lawrence of Arabia film editor Anne V. Coates.)

In addition to Irvin Kershner’s Never Say Never Again (1983) — Sean Connery’s comeback as James Bond — and Phil Alden Robinson’s Field of Dreams (1989) — Crafford’s second Oscar best picture nominee in three years — he edited such films as Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997), Savior (1998) and, for his final credit, The Hot Potato (2012).

He moved to America in 1988 to work on Field of Dreams, and it was on Emerald Forest that he fell in love with Brazil, where he would retire.

Survivors include his wife, Antonia, and his children, Scott, Roberta, Monyka and Paul.