If you’ve spent enough time on social media, you’ve surely seen the frantic calls of fans petitioning to get their favourite shows renewed for another season. Be it in the comment sections of Netflix’s instagram posts; posts on X; or on dedicated accounts made for no reason other than to bring Netflix’s attention to the hype around a beloved show that they cancelled; these passionate fans are everywhere.
Some series had to be cut due to budget cuts and others because of the arising difficulty of filming during the Covid-19 pandemic. Additionally, some cancellations can be attributed to the ‘streaming wars’.
In recent years, rivals like Walt Disney Co. and Warner Bros. Discovery entered the market for streaming services, aiming to dislodge Netflix from its position as the market leader. This led to, what is now known as the, ‘streaming wars’ and many believe that this was the reason for several shows getting cancelled too soon. In trying to secure themselves as the dominant player in the market, Netflix became more selective and started cutting shows that didn’t immediately deliver high viewership metrics. In focusing their budget towards shows that would amass large audiences, Netflix faced some serious lashback.
So, for a number of reasons, there’s a long list of shows that Netflix cancelled too soon, here are the ones that impacted fans more than others.
The Society
Starting off strong with a show that was so well received that we still hear about renewal petitions for it today, is Chris Keyser’s The Society. Premiered in May 2019, the series is a modern take on Lord of the Flies and centres around teenagers who are forced to run their own society due to the sudden and mysterious disappearance of all the adults in their town.
The show was a hit and was subsequently renewed for season 2 within two months of its release. The scripts for the new season were already written when Netflix decided to cancel the show because of the pandemic. The health and safety protocols made production too expensive and filming with such a large cast became unfeasible due to health concerns.
The ending of season 1 had left viewers on a cliffhanger and that certainly added fuel to the fire as fans called for a renewal of the show. However, all hope is not lost. Keyser revealed that a comic book detailing season 2’s proposed plot would have been released were it not for the publisher going out of business. This year he’s said, “I have consistent conversations with a bunch of the writers and Marc Webb about how we might bring this back in some way,” Keyser continued. “We don’t have an answer yet, and I wouldn’t count on it, but I don’t do that with every show that gets cancelled.”
While it may be difficult to get the entire cast together again, it seems, the creators of the show are just as eager as the fans to renew The Society, and that’s certainly worth something.
I Am Not Okay With This
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In a similar vein, there’s I Am Not Okay With This which premiered in February 2020. The show revolves around Sydney, a girl whose telekinesis powers manifest whenever she’s upset, and it also focuses on some of the more realistic issues teens face today, including: sexuality, puberty, mental health, and self-medication. Like The Society, I Am Not Okay With This ends season 1 on a pretty big cliffhanger.
The show was very well received by fans and critics alike and was thus, greenlit for a second season; however, it was cancelled altogether when covid-19 caused production uncertainties and budget increases.
While it’s true that reviving the show would attract many new and old fans, it’s been more than 4 years since the filming of the first season and there would be a very apparent age difference visible with all the teens who make up the main cast. A time jump or VFX could, of course, help make the transition smoother but, the added costs and having to change the original plotline seems to be something Netflix just isn’t interested enough in.
Julie and The Phantoms
Now, this was a show that had several reasons for being cancelled, despite being extremely popular. Julie and The Phantoms takes us on Julie’s journey of rediscovering her passion for music, after the death of her mother, with the help of three ghostly guys.
The mostly lighthearted show was targeted at tweens and teens but unexpectedly hit a much wider audience. Fans of High School Musical — who are now mostly adults in their 30s — tuned in to watch this series that was reminiscent of one of their childhood favourites. Supposedly, this skewed the numbers that Netflix relies on and partly led to the show’s cancellation.
More importantly, Julie and The Phantoms didn’t hit the ideal number of views and new subscribers brought in within the first four weeks of release and that played a very large role in the loss of the show’s second season. This was at a time when Netflix’s competitors were growing rapidly so only shows with immediate and large success were kept.
Shadow and Bone
Among the most recent of the popular shows that got cancelled is Shadow and Bone, a series based on the widely read YA books by Leigh Bardugo, by the same name, while also incorporating elements of Bardugo’s spin-off duology Six of Crows.
The first season hit running ground, spending its first 12 days on Netflix at the top of the Top 10 charts. The show was praised by fans and critics alike for its fantastic world building, acting, romance and plot. Consequently, it was renewed for season 2 within two months of its premiere.
Season 2 released in March 2023; unfortunately, despite this season also having higher viewership numbers than most shows, it was cancelled in November of the same year. Simply put, the show wasn’t turning enough profit to justify the high production costs generated from being a fantasy show that put a lot of money towards CGI and special effects and then even more towards costumes and set details, in order to stay true to the books and please fans.
With the cancellation of Shadow and Bone, the Six of Crows spin-off show that was already in the works, also got the axe. This left fans even more devastated as several storylines were left unfinished and many hopes were crushed. Bardugo took to Instagram to share a message with her heartbroken and dedicated fans and received thousands of comments by fans mourning the loss together.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Netflix’s cancellations of these fan-favorite shows highlight the dynamics of the streaming industry. Balancing budgets, viewership metrics, and the ever-present ‘streaming wars’ has led to difficult decisions, leaving fans disappointed and storylines unresolved. As the landscape continues to shift, both creators and viewers must navigate the uncertainties of the digital entertainment world, where beloved shows can be cancelled abruptly, leaving behind a trail of unanswered questions and unfulfilled hopes.
