Internally, there was support for the series, and Netflix held discussions with studio Sony Pictures Television, also considering long-term performance.
To increase the series' survival chances, Sony Television even extended the options of several key cast members in August, including Miles Heizer, Liam Oh, Kieron Moore, Dominic Goodman, Angus O’Brien, Blake Burt, and Rico Paris. However, due to Netflix's strict exclusivity conditions, it is virtually impossible to place a series elsewhere once the streamer decides not to continue.
Boots, created by Andy Parker and inspired by the memoirs The Pink Marine by Greg Cope White, is set in 1990 within the US Marine Corps, at a time when homosexuality in the military was still prohibited.
The series follows Cameron Cope (Miles Heizer), a searching and reserved young man, and his heterosexual best friend Ray McAffey (Liam Oh), who, along with a diverse group of recruits, endure the harsh reality of basic training.
As they navigate both literal and figurative minefields, unexpected friendships form, and the characters are forced to discover their identities in an environment that pushes them to their limits.
With the series ending, so does a long and arduous development history. Boots was greenlit in May 2023, when Norman Lear, a decorated World War II veteran, was still alive.
Filming began that summer but was halted after just a week due to the Hollywood strikes. Production resumed in March 2024 and concluded in August of that year. Lear passed away in December 2023 at the age of 101.
It then took almost a year before Netflix scheduled the series, during a period when the political climate and societal discussions around the series' theme had significantly changed.
After its release, Boots attracted additional attention when the Pentagon publicly dismissed the series as “woke garbage.” Paradoxically, this controversy led to higher viewership: in the first full week, an average of 9.4 million views was achieved, a doubling compared to the debut week.
The series spent four weeks in the Netflix Top 10, peaking at second place. In addition to Heizer and Oh, the cast also included Max Parker, Vera Farmiga, Cedrick Cooper, Ana Ayora, and Nicholas Logan.
