Cancelled: These TV Shows You Love Are Now Gone Forever

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It looks like beloved Brooklyn Nine-Nine has been booted for good this time.
Some fan-favorite shows will be leaving us forever, and even a Change.org petition or social media rally might not be enough to save them.

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Whether due to COVID-19 complications, declining ratings or creators simply deciding to bring their shows to a conclusion, there are plenty of popular shows getting axed this year.

Here is a round-up of cancellations announced recently.

Castle Rock


Castle Rock
Castle Rock on Hulu / Facebook



This horror-anthology series based on Stephen King’s works ran for two seasons on Hulu and averaged an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Castle Rock’s first season starred Bill Skarsgård (of It fame) as an inmate at Shawshank State Penitentiary. The second season switched gears to focus on Misery’s mentally ill nurse, played by Lizzy Caplan, and her origin story.

Entertainment news site Screen Rant says the streamer never intended for the series to continue after two seasons, although the move wasn’t officially confirmed until November 2020.

Black Lightning


Black Lightning
Netflix



This DC superhero series premiered in 2018, starring Cress Williams as the retired Black Lightning, who gets back in the game to save his daughters, Anissa and Jennifer, from a local gang (the girls later develop powers of their own and join him as Thunder and Lightning, respectively).

The CW announced the show would end with its fourth season, which began airing in early February. Newsweek speculates that the previous season’s lower-than-average ratings may have prompted the cancellation, and that the TV network is more likely to profit from producing a new DC series.

The CW is currently planning a spin-off series featuring the Black Lightning character Painkiller, with Jordan Calloway reprising the role.

Superstore


Superstore
Netflix



NBC’s Superstore may have been destined for the chopping block after lead star America Ferrera made her exit in 2020.

The sitcom, which revolves around a group of retail employees at Cloud 9, a fictional big-box store in St Louis, Missouri, is slated to end after its sixth season in spring 2021.

Variety also suggests its cancellation may have come after low ratings in the first half of season six. The magazine later revealed in February that Superstore would get a Spanish adaptation, tentatively titled “Supertitlan”, co-produced by Dopamine and original producer Universal Television.

Carmen Sandiego


Carmen Sandiego
Netflix



Fans of the 1985 video game Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego? were delighted when Netflix came up with an animated TV series on the scarlet superthief.

The show’s official Twitter account announced in December 2020 that season four — later released in January 2021 — of the Emmy award-winning series would be its last. The account also claimed the show was not cancelled, just ending, but some Redditors wonder if budget cuts and poor promotion from the streaming giant were to blame.

Gina Rodriguez, who voiced Carmen in the Netflix series, is slated to return as the titular character in an upcoming live-action film.

Insecure


Insecure
HBO



This Issa Rae comedy-drama is ending after its fifth season, which is expected to air sometime in 2021.

The HBO show, which premiered after the success of her cult web series Awkward Black Girl, has garnered critical acclaim during its four-year run. It has one Emmy nomination and two Golden Globe nominations and a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Its departure from the TV network has nothing to do with the audience or budgeting, however. Rae told Deadline in January 2021 that, “We always planned to tell this story through five seasons, but we couldn’t have made it this far without the tremendous support of our audience.”

Kim’s Convenience


Kim's Convenience
Kim's Convenience / Facebook



Say a hasty goodbye to the Kim family, because this popular Canadian sitcom has made an early exit.

The producers abruptly announced in March that the show, which follows a Korean immigrant family that sets up shop in Toronto, would wrap with its fifth season instead of the planned six. The series finale occurred just a month later.

Show creators Ins Choi and Kevin White decided to step down to focus on other projects.

Simu Liu, who won hearts as car rental employee and estranged son Jung, will make his Marvel debut in the upcoming superhero film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

The Bold Type


The Bold Type
Freeform



The Bold Type, a comedy-drama centred on three women working for a fashion magazine in New York City, is loosely inspired by former Cosmopolitan editor-in-chief Joanna Coles’ own time in the industry — she serves as executive producer on the show as well.

The show shut down production in the midst of season four due to the coronavirus pandemic, and although it was renewed for a fifth season in January 2021, it will also be its last, set to wrap up sometime this year.

MacGyver


MacGyver
CBS



This recent reimagining of the 1985 classic series features Lucas Till as a younger version of the wily undercover agent.

The original show, starring Richard Dean Anderson, was so popular that “MacGyver” entered the Oxford dictionary: “To make or repair in an improvised or inventive way, making use of whatever items are at hand.”

While the original show ran for seven seasons and inspired two film adaptations afterward, the 2016 MacGyver was cut short by CBS five seasons in. The last season concludes April 30.

Low ratings may have prompted CBS to end the series. Viewership has dropped by a fifth compared to the previous season, TVSeriesFinale says.

Peaky Blinders


Peaky Blinders
BBC



This British gangster drama series follows the exploits of Cillian Murphy’s Tommy Shelby and the ruthless Peaky Blinders gang in early 1900s Birmingham, England.

Series creator Steven Knight announced that season six of Peaky Blinders had returned to production after COVID-19 disrupted filming. The season is expected to be released in early 2022 and will also be the last.

Knight has hinted at a Peaky Blinders film in the past, and in a statement teased, “While the TV series will be coming to an end, the story will continue in another form."

High Maintenance


High Maintenance
David Russell/HBO



High Maintenance started as a web series on Vimeo before getting picked up by HBO in 2016.

The series, which focuses on a pot delivery man — played by Sinclair — and his clients in Brooklyn, was largely successful. It launched several careers, with GQ calling it the “Law & Order for Millennial Actors”.

The buzzy weed series will not be returning for a season five. An HBO representative told TVLine, “Co-creators Katja Blichfeld and Ben Sinclair have decided to take a break from producing High Maintenance to pursue other projects.”

American Gods


American Gods
Starz



The Starz fantasy-drama series, adapted from the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, won’t return for a fourth season.

Deadline says that despite a strong start, the show’s ratings have declined over time, and it ran into trouble with cast members departing in seasons two and three. However, rumor has it an American Gods event series or movie could be in the works.

If you’re a fan of Gaiman’s work in general, you can always catch Good Omens on Amazon Prime — plus Netflix is producing a TV adaptation of his legendary comic series The Sandman.

Mom


Mom
Warner Brothers



Allison Janney sitcom Mom will be concluding with season eight in May 2021.

When the CBS series first premiered in 2013, it focused on a newly sober single mom played by Anna Faris — who left the show after season seven — and her relationships with her children and mother (played by Janney). The show later transitioned into focusing solely on the mother-daughter duo and their struggles with addiction.

However, fans reacted to the news of the show’s cancellation in mid-February with a Change.org petition, which has already gained over 26,000 signatures.

NCIS: New Orleans


NICS: New Orleans
CBS



The youngest NCIS spin-off series about a fictional team of NCIS agents in Louisiana is slated for termination by CBS this year.

According to Deadline, the show hasn’t performed as well as its sister series, with lower ratings and fewer off-network deals.

The other NCIS shows will likely continue to air — the original series, which has already run for 18 seasons, has remained “the most watched drama series on network television.” And you can also catch CBS’s newest crime drama, a reboot of The Equalizer, starring Queen Latifah in the starring role.

Better Call Saul


Better Call Saul
Better Call Saul / Facebook



Say goodbye to Slippin' Jimmy McGill — the critically-acclaimed Breaking Bad prequel is scheduled to end with the next upcoming season.

Bob Odenkirk, who plays the title character in Better Call Saul, told Digital Spy he has “mixed feelings” about the series’ conclusion. However, showrunner and executive producer Peter Gould said, “From day one of Better Call Saul, my dream was to tell the complete story of our complicated and compromised hero, Jimmy McGill — now AMC and Sony are making that dream come true.”

Season 6 is rumored to air sometime in 2022, as production has already begun in spring this year.

Last Man Standing


Last Man Standing
FOX



Tim Allen’s long-running family sitcom, Last Man Standing has been cancelled — but this time, it’s for good.

The series first aired on ABC a decade ago, but the network decided to pull the plug in 2017. Fox, which actually owned the show, revived it a year later. Now, it seems the sitcom is reaching a natural conclusion with its upcoming ninth season, however.

"We had all considered to end the show after last season, but together with Fox, we decided to add a year so we could produce a full season to create the gentle and fun goodbye," Allen said. "I'm looking forward to a memorable and hilarious final season."

Ozark


Ozark
Netflix Media Center



Netflix renewed this drama last year for a supersized fourth and final season.

“We’re so happy Netflix recognized the importance of giving Ozark more time to end the Byrdes’ saga right. It’s been such a great adventure for all of us — both on screen and off — so we’re thrilled to get the chance to bring it home in the most fulfilling way possible,” showrunner and executive producer Chris Mundy said.

Season 4 will be split into two seven-episode parts. Netflix hasn’t confirmed the release date yet, but some sources speculate the first part might release sometime in late 2021.

Brooklyn Nine-Nine


Brooklyn Nine Nine
Fox



The comedy series was first cancelled by Fox after season five, but the subsequent social media outcry saw it getting picked up by NBC 31 hours later . Unfortunately, however, there may be no saving the show this time around.

In an farewell letter on Twitter, show co-creator Dan Goor wrote, "When Mike Schur and I first pitched the pilot episode to Andy [Samberg], he said, 'I'm in, but I think the only way to tell this story is over exactly 153 episodes," which was crazy because that was exactly the number Mike and I had envisioned."

NBC says Brooklyn Nine-Nine will conclude after the 10-episode season eight, which is set to premiere in August. 143 episodes have aired so far, taking the total episode count to 153.

On My Block


On My Block
Netflix



Netflix has been pretty successful with its teen content of late, championing diverse casts and relatable storylines. And the coming-of-age comedy On My Block was no exception, with the streaming titan naming the series its No. 1 most binged show in 2018.

Netflix announced in a trailer for the upcoming season four that it would be its final season. Hollywood Reporter speculates that the cancellation of the original show might have something to do with avoiding mounting production costs. Several major stars in On My Block scored higher salaries in 2019.

And it isn’t the only Netflix original coming to an end this year after three or four years of success on the streaming platform — Dear White People, Ozark and Atypical are departing as well.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show


The Ellen Show
Ellen Degeneres / Facebook



After nearly two decades of dominating daytime television, The Ellen DeGeneres Show is coming to an end next year.

News of the cancellation followed recent allegations of a toxic work environment. There were also allegations of racial insensitivity, intimidation and misconduct by executives toward lower-level employees.

Degeneres later publicly apologized and three executive producers were fired after an investigation conducted by Warner Bros.

The veteran talk show host says the decision to axe the show at Season 19 wasn’t prompted by the controversy. “I was going to stop after season 16. That was going to be my last season, and they wanted to sign for four more years and I said I’d sign maybe for one … So, we [settled] on three more years, and I knew that would be my last. That’s been the plan all along,” she confided in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

Conan


Conan O'Brien of TBS’s CONAN at the WarnerMedia Upfront 2019 show at The Theater at Madison Square Garden on May 15, 2019 in New York City.
Warner Media



Conan, a late-night TBS talk show featuring funnyman Conan O’Brien — who also hosted NBC’s Late Night and The Tonight Show — will be departing in June 2021.

Even before the show’s cancellation, executive producer of the series, Jeff Ross, told Deadline that late-night shows are now “kind of dinosaurs in the business,” and “TBS and these linear cable networks, especially, are just like death. You know there’s no circulation, so you can’t do it forever.”

Conan is coming to a close with O'Brien moving on — after almost 30 years in late-night television — to a new, weekly variety show on HBO.

Wynonna Earp


Wynonna Earp
Michelle Faye/Wynonna Earp Productions, Inc./Syfy



Syfy decided to turn Wynonna Earp, a Weird West comic book series about a demon-slaying special agent, into a live-action TV series in 2016. Five years later, the show is set to wrap up at the end of season four, scheduled for April 2021.

Hope is not entirely lost, however. Within days of the announcement, show devotees, more commonly known as “Earpers”, had #BringWynonnaHome trending on Twitter, determined to keep their beloved series running.

This isn’t the first time fans have gotten involved. When production company IDW Entertainment was going through financial difficulties in 2019, Earpers rallied on Twitter and a billboard was put up in Times Square.

Seven24 Films, which also produces the show, is on the hunt for a new distributor for the series, says The Wrap.

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Queen of the South


Queen of the South
USA Network



The reign of this telenovela adaptation is coming to an end. The fifth and final season began airing in early April of this year.

Queen of the South is based on Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s best-selling novel La Reina Del Sur, which also spawned a Spanish-language TV series of the same name.

The Alice Braga crime-drama saw a 20% drop in ratings compared to its previous season, Newsweek says — but it’s still USA Network’s most-watched original show, beating Dirty John and The Sinner.

The magazine adds that USA Network has been moving away from scripted television in recent years, dropping notable series such as Mr. Robot and The Purge.

The Twilight Zone


Twilight Zone
CBS



Jordan Peele of Get Out fame hosted, narrated and co-produced this supernatural anthology series, a modern revival of the iconic 1959 show.

The Twilight Zone ran for just two seasons on CBS All Access and it won’t be returning for a third this year as the platform rebrands itself to Paramount+.

The series wasn’t cancelled before its time, however. Reps from the show’s production companies said: “After 20 unique episodes, we have told the stories that we wanted to tell, and CBS All Access was gracious in their understanding of our decision.”

World of Dance


World of Dance
Trae Patton / NBC



This J.Lo-made extravaganza has reportedly come to a standstill, despite relatively high ratings in its fourth season last year.

Contestants on the reality TV show battled across the dance floor as they tried to impress celebrity judges Ne-Yo, Derek Hough and Jennifer Lopez to secure the coveted $1 million prize.

While NBC hasn’t announced any plans for the show’s return — it wasn’t included in the TV network’s premiere dates for this summer — World of Dance has been adapted across the world in other countries like Thailand and Poland.

Dwight in Shining Armor


Dwight in Shining Armor
@dwightinarmor / Twitter



Comedy-adventure series Dwight in Shining Armor is coming to a close with its fifth season this spring.

The BYUtv show began in 2019 with 21st century teen Dwight falling into an underground chamber and accidentally awakening a sleeping princess and a horde of medieval villains. The 10-episode final season is scheduled to conclude in late May this year.

There’s been no word on why the show was cancelled, but series co-creator Brian J. Adams says: “We're so thankful that we got to finish our story and give it the ending we envisioned more than 10 years ago."

The Haves and the Have Nots


The Haves and the Have Nots
OWN



The Oprah Winfrey Network’s longest-running scripted drama is finally bidding farewell this year with its eighth season. The series follows the dysfunctional lives and relationships of two wealthy families and one poor one in Savannah, Georgia.

The successful drama is Tyler Perry’s last on OWN. Their arrangement ended in March 2019, when he began creating content on BET and BET+ for ViacomCBS. He released four shows last year, including The Oval, Sistas, Ruthless and Bruh.

Perry is credited with being the first African American to own a major film studio, the aptly named Tyler Perry Studios.

Home & Family


The Haves and the Have Nots
Home & Family / Facebook



This wholesome morning talk show is packing up after nearly a decade of recipes and DIY tips. Its first run occurred between 1996 and 1998 on The Family Channel, and it was later revived by Hallmark in 2012.

Debbie Matenopoulos and Cameron Mathison currently host Home & Family, which features celebrity guests and experts who offer tips on cooking, beauty, heath and more.

The Daytime Emmy-nominated lifestyle series paused production twice last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its ninth season, which has reportedly brought its highest viewership yet, is slated to end with the series finale in August.

Truth Seekers


Truth Seekers
Amazon.com



Comedic duo Nick Frost and Simon Pegg reunited for Amazon Prime’s Truth Seekers in 2020, a series about a group of paranormal investigators who share their ghost-hunting experiences online. Think Buzzfeed Unsolved — but TV fiction.

Frost announced in a since-deleted Instagram video in February that the British horror-comedy series had not been renewed for a second season, calling it “a massive kick in the willy.”

While you won’t catch more of the show, if you’re feeling nostalgic you can certainly rewatch some of Frost and Pegg’s iconic hits like Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead.

Hoops


Hoops
Netflix



Netflix has a reputation for cancelling shows too soon — remember Sense8? — and it seems the basketball-based adult cartoon Hoops won’t be bouncing back for a second season.

The show follows a foul-mouthed high school coach who hopes to turn his life around by inspiring a hopeless basketball team.

Animation is expensive, and Netflix may have decided the viewership wasn’t worth the cost. Hoops wasn’t exactly critically acclaimed, with entertainment site Collider calling it one of the worst new shows of 2020.

If you’re a fan of adult animated series in general, you can still check out Netflix’s Big Mouth and Disenchantment.

Mr. Inbetween


Mr Inbetween
@FXNetworks / Twitter



Australian black comedy-crime series Mr. Inbetween is scheduled to conclude with its third season this year.

The FX half-hour series stars Scott Ryan as hitman-for-hire Ray Shoesmith, who struggles with balancing his personal relationships against the demands of his seedy profession and keeping his two lives apart.

The Nash Edgerton-directed show is an adaptation of the 2005 film The Magician, which was originally fronted, written and directed by Ryan.

The network hasn’t offered any official word on the reasons for the show’s cancellation. The nine-episode final season premieres in May.

The Pack


The Pack
Amazon.com



This canine competition won’t be renewed for a second season after making its debut on Amazon Prime Video last year.

The first season followed 12 dogs and their owners competing in various challenges across the globe for a $500,000 prize and a $250,000 award to a charity of their choice.

Although the show’s cancellation comes after someone leaked unaired footage of distressed dogs from The Pack rappelling down a cliff, E! News reports that COVID-19’s to blame. Several countries have banned or restricted international travel in the past year.

Pose


Pose
Pose FX / Facebook



Pose, the groundbreaking drama that spotlighted New York’s underground ball culture in the 1980s and 1990s, is drawing to an end with its series finale in June.

Co-creator Steven Canals confirmed the news in an Instagram video, saying: “It was a very difficult decision for us to make, but this has been an incredible journey, and we have told the story we wanted to tell — the way we wanted to tell it.”

Billy Porter, who plays ballroom emcee Pray Tell, became the first openly gay man to win the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 2019. The show also notably featured the largest cast of transgender actors in regular roles, Deadline reports.

Shrill


Shrill
Amazon.com



The Hulu comedy Shrill, based on a memoir by fat-acceptance activist Lindy West, follows a journalist “who wants to change her life — but not her body.”

The show earned critical acclaim and has an average rating of 87% on Rotten Tomatoes, but its third season will bring the series to an end this year.

While the executive producers told Variety that ending the show was not their decision, Aidy Bryant, who plays protagonist Annie Easton, says the three seasons serve as an effective “beginning, middle and end” to the story.

Killing Eve


Killing Eve
BBC



The award-winning cat-and-mouse thriller — starring Sandra Oh and Jodie Comer and initially written by Fleabag’s Phoebe Waller-Bridge — will conclude with its fourth season.

There’s been no word on the exact release date, but filming is expected to commence in June of this year, and the final season will likely premiere in 2022.

Unlike many other shows on this list, Killing Eve has enjoyed high ratings and award nominations throughout its run. BBC America is reportedly developing spinoffs focused on the supporting characters in the series, so fans can still look forward to an expansion of the Killing Eve universe.

Black-ish


Black-ish
ABC.com



Tracy Ellis Ross-led Black-ish, about the upper middle class African-American Johnson family, was renewed for its eight and final season in May 2021.

Although some speculate the seventh season’s modest ratings may have caused the cancellation, series creator Kenya Barris says ending the ABC sitcom — which first premiered back in 2014 — was a creative choice.

Barris broke the news over Instagram saying, “In this day and age it is rare to get to decide when your show should come to an end, and we are grateful along with ABC to be able to make this final season exactly what we’d hoped for.”

Prodigal Son


Prodigal Son
FOX



Fox’s serial killer drama starring Michael Sheen and Tom Payne was unceremoniously dropped after its second season, although show creators told Deadline in May that “WBTV is shopping it as we speak.”

There’s been no word on whether the series has been picked up by another network or streaming service since, but distraught fans have launched a campaign to save the series.

A Change.org petition is requesting Fox executives extend Prodigal Son or allow the show to get picked up by streamers like Netflix or Prime Video. It has garnered over 51,000 signatures already. There’s even a dedicated #SaveProdigalSon website.

His Dark Materials


His Dark Materials
HBO



HBO and the BBC have renewed this fantasy drama series, based on the Philip Pullman trilogy of the same name, for a third and final season.

The last season will likely follow the events of The Amber Spyglass, the third book in the His Dark Materials series. The TV adaptation starring Dafne Keen, James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson and Lin-Manuel Miranda has been generally well-received by critics compared to the 2007 film adaptation The Golden Compass, which was a critical and commercial flop.

And unlike some of the other TV shows on this list, His Dark Materials will be coming to its natural conclusion with Season 3.

Good Girls


Good Girls
NBC



Not even Netflix was willing to rescue this NBC series featuring Christina Hendricks, Mae Whitman and Retta.

Whitman, who plays Annie Marks in the show, attempted to rally fans over social media in May to save the series — when NBC had placed the show “on the bubble”. She urged fans to use the #RenewGoodGirls hashtag to appeal to the TV network as well as Netflix, but their efforts apparently went in vain.

The fourth and final season’s finale is scheduled to air on July 21.

Mixed-ish


Mixed-ish
ABC.com



It’s not just Black-ish that’s gotten axed this year — spinoff prequel series Mixed-ish has been cut as well after two seasons.

The show ranked among the least-watched ABC shows, reports Deadline. Its cancellation was announced along with several other shows on the network in May.

“I want to thank our many loyal fans who joined us each week for the last two years on our journey from the commune to the ‘burbs — it has been an amazing experience and I will miss my TV family more than you can imagine,” Arica Himmel, who played a young Rainbow Johnson on the series, wrote on Instagram.

The Irregulars


The Irregulars
Netflix Media Center



The mystery series set in Victorian London was Netflix’s number one streaming series the week it debuted. Despite resonating with critics and viewers alike, The Irregulars has been scrapped after just one season.

The Sherlock Holmes inspired show follows the adventures of a motley group of teens solving supernatural crimes for Doctor Watson and his infamous business partner.

Netflix didn’t offer any reasons for ending the short-lived series when it was announced just over a month after it became available for streaming. But the streamer is notorious for cancelling originals after a single season without explanation.

A Little Late with Lilly Singh


A Little Late With Lilly Singh
NBC



The Canadian YouTuber turned late-night talk show host launched A Little Late with Lilly Singh in 2019. The second season of the series ended in early June — but it won’t be renewed for a third.

““I’m going to focus on the slate of projects my company Unicorn Island Productions is developing, and we’re saying goodbye to A Little Late with Lilly Singh. I have a desire to make longer form content telling underrepresented stories, which is difficult to execute on a nightly show,” Singh said in an Instagram post.

Singh is reportedly developing unscripted projects with Universal Studio Group and will be starring in an upcoming Netflix comedy series.

American Housewife


American Housewife
ABC.com



This popular ABC sitcom got dumped after a solid fifth season, despite ending on a major cliffhanger, and fans are understandably upset.

Film and television news site Pop Culture says the network decided to axe the series after it hit the 100-episode mark to cash in on profits from syndication and streaming.

Diedrich Bader, who plays Greg Otto in American Housewife, says there are “no plans” to shop the show to other networks or streamers, either.

This Is Us


This Is Us

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NBC



This award-winning family drama series is set to conclude after its sixth season, which is scheduled to air in 2022. News of its departure from NBC isn’t entirely unexpected.

Creator Dan Fogelman and co-showrunner Isaac Aptaker told Deadline back in 2019, while the third season was airing, that they were planning for This Is Us to end “about three seasons in the future.”

“We’ve had this end in mind for a long time, so we’re able to plan for it, and try to make it feel like it’s a whole, as opposed to a series that’s going to go endlessly,” Aptaker revealed.

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