Here's Why Netflix Canceled These Eight Shows After Just One Season (2024)

Here's Why Netflix Canceled These Eight Shows After Just One Season (1)

In recent years, Netflix has been premiering and cancelling new shows at an alarming rate. Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings admitted to Vanity Fair they need to cancel shows, and their “hit rate” is too high. He said, "We have to take more risks, you have to try more crazy things. Because we should have a higher cancel rate overall."

Related: 10 Netflix Shows That Went On For Too Many Seasons (And 10 That Were Cancelled Too Soon)

Even with high scores on prominent sites like IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, good reviews and a loyal fanbase doesn't necessarily equal high viewing rates. Many reasons aside from popularity are the culprit for cancelations, including timing delays, negative reviews, and production costs exceeding series revenue.

8 The Loosely Told True Story ‘Girlboss’

Inspired by the life of fashion designer Sophia Amoruso, Girlboss tells the story of her creating and founding the “Nasty Gal” clothing brand. The television series premiered in April 2017, featuring Britt Robinson and garnering mixed reviews of fans and critics. The show received an average Rotten Tomatoes score of 74% from viewers and 35% from critics, considering it rotten.

Reviews see Amoruso’s on-screen character as the anti-hero; she’s entitled, rude, brash, and self-deserving. The main reasons for the show's cancellation were low ratings, messy storylines, and an unrelatable lead character. Amoruso posted on Instagram, “I was privileged to work with incredible talent, but living my life as a caricature was hard, even if only for two months. Yes, I can be difficult. No, I’m not a dick.”

7 Netflix’s One Season Drama ‘Gypsy’

The 2017 drama Gypsy starred Academy Award-nominated actress Naomi Watts as Jean Holloway, as an overzealous therapist, obsessively wrapped up in her patients' lives. The show asks the central question: who are you when no one is watching? It earned a 6.8 out of 10 on IMDb and a Rotten Tomatoes critic score of just 40%.

Hastings told Vanity Fair that series cancellations are due to “a mix of factors, including viewership and subscriber growth.” It’s suggested the show’s momentum was low and not building a successful enough following compared to other shows getting the green light for a second season.

5 #SaveDaybreak

The post-apocalyptic television series Daybreak premiered on Netflix in 2019. Starring Colin Ford as the brave and clever Josh Wheeler, in the aftermath of a zombie apocalypse in Glendale, California.

The show received high to medium scores on Rotten Tomatoes at 70% from critics and 66% from viewers. Another case of low viewership based on Netflix’s standards pushed the show to get canceled after season one. Views may have been low, but it didn’t stop fans from coming to its side, starting the #SaveDaybreak movement on social media pleading for a second season.

Related: How Ian Somerhalder's And Paul Wesley's Net Worths Compare Since 'The Vampire Diaries'

4 The Pandemic Of ‘V Wars’

Ian Somerhalder, known for his role as Damon Salvatore in The Vampire Diaries, starred and directed the 2019 series V Wars. He played Dr. Luther Swann, a researcher in infectious diseases studying a virus outbreak, with the main threat being blood-thirsty, vampire-esque monsters. Somerhalder told TVLine, “It deals with the things we’re dealing with in our own world right now: borders, racism, disease, fear, politics — the politics of fear.”

The show got canceled after the first season due to funding shortages, and, although earning tens of millions of viewers, reviews were average at best. The television series received an IMDb rating of 6.1 out of 10 and a Rotten Tomatoes score from critics of 56%. Somerhalder took to Instagram, assuring fans, “no, no, it’s not the end of the road for Dr. Swann or V Wars. There are a lot of great stories to tell, and I’m going to tell them.”

3 Two Girls With Guns In ‘Teenage Bounty Hunters’

The drama sitcom features Anjelica Bette Fellini and Maddie Philips as the twin sister duo attending church and collecting bounties of tough and gruff criminals. The show Teenage Bounty Hunters was set in Georgia, starring a couple of hard-headed girls who drive trucks and don’t bat an eyelash when shooting a gun. Needing to make money, they help a less-than-able bounty hunter working out of an ice cream shop.

The show received excellent scores of 94% from critics and 96% from viewers. It’s no surprise the show had a successful run and a rating of 7.7 on IMDb. Without a well-known face leading the cast, the show’s viewership was low and it was therefore cut before its second season on the streaming platform.

Related: This Is How 'Cursed' Star Daniel Sharman Became The 'Vicious' Weeping Monk

2 A ‘Cursed’ Series

Based on a book, the 10-episode fantasy series starred13 Reasons Why's, Katherine Langford as Nimue, a teenage sorceress. It’s a classic hero quest archetype, following her on a journey to find an ancient magic sword and meeting Devon, the young Arthur mercenary.

One reason the show got axed was due to low ratings. An online review from Decider said, “Cursed works when it sticks to Nimue and Arthur and doesn’t when it comes to just about anything else.” Other reasons include production costs and the Coronavirus pandemic. With the production coming to a halt in 2020, the series' cancellacation seems to have been a case of bad timing.

1 Sherlock Holmes In 'The Irregulars'

The Irregulars is a supernatural series following a group of teenage criminals in late 1800s London with magical powers. Struggling to pay rent, the group meets Dr. Watson, who gives them a job solving supernatural crimes. Behind closed doors, secrets and lies spill out like Dr. Watson in the pocket of the obsessive and immoral Sherlock Holmes.

Reviews of the show are mixed, with a 5.9 out of 10 on IMDb, despite a large fan base. Netflix canceled the show a month after its release without giving a reason. The show was intricate and didn’t appear to garner a large viewership, especially at the height of the pandemic. It’s rumored the show might have been a victim of budgeting concerns and Netflix redirecting their funding.

Next: The Real Reason ’13 Reasons Why’ Was Canceled

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