The Most Controversial TV Cancelations of 2024
TV cancellations aren’t close to America’s most pressing problem headed into 2025 — but in an uncertain year for the entertainment industry, premature endings in creative workplaces pack as big a punch as ever.
Major guild strikes ended last year and the streaming bubble burst from 2022 has given platforms at least some time to recover since. Still, the countless impacts of Hollywood’s faltering business model could be felt throughout episodic and feature productions as dwindling work continued to move away from traditional opportunity hubs in Los Angeles. As film scenes in other U.S. states and Canada benefited from decline in Southern California, the swan song of peak television experienced an ongoing decrease in new series getting greenlit and an uptick in single-season cancellations.
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From network staples ending this year (“The Good Doctor,” “Blue Bloods,” “Young Sheldon”) to streaming favorites wrapping it up soon (“Big Mouth,” “Handmaid’s Tale,” “Cobra Kai”), the titles not returning say as much about the state of the small screen as anything promised on a spring slate. Spin-offs struggled (“Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin,” “Orphan Black: Echoes”) just as original ideas failed to breakthrough (“Kaos,” “The Brothers Sun”). And consistent even in an unpredictable market, the sophomore slump came for dramedies (“Life & Beth,” “Unprisoned”) while quietly celebrated sci-fi kept pulling in fans through their finales (“Outer Range,” “The Umbrella Academy,” “Arcane”).
We had big genre swings (“Dead Boy Detectives”) gone too soon and misunderstood cartoons (“Velma”) come to a sudden close. And that’s saying nothing of the resolutions for long-celebrated series, from FX’s “What We Do in the Shadows” to the juggernaut “Yellowstone.” Looking back on the year, we’ve narrowed down the cancellations to remember by compiling the 10 most controversial case studies. These are the unexpected… or, at least, mostly unexpected… conclusions that best reflect the instability many audiences and artists are feeling as they wrap up 2024 in TV.
Entries are listed in no particular order. Check out all of IndieWire’s Best of 2024 content.
“The Acolyte” (Disney+)
Not since “The Mandalorian” Season 1 has Star Wars generated TV buzz like it did with “The Acolyte.” And yet, Disney went ahead with one of the year’s most shocking heel turns anyway — tossing aside the boundary-pushing series from creator Leslye Headland amid various streaming and fandom forces.
Disregarding several years of narrative planning from Lucasfilm Publishing was a disappointing response from the studio amid a mixed reaction to the polarizing but still popular series. It also indicated a move away from the more complex themes recently explored by “The Acolyte” and its ongoing contemporary “Andor,” as explained by IndieWire’s Christian Blauvelt in August. If “Agatha All Along” delivered a significant improvement for recent Marvel TV, then the cancellation of the “The Acolyte” suggests the beginning of a dark time for live-action Star Wars on the small screen.
Read IndieWire’s review of “The Acolyte” by Proma Khosla.
“Chucky” (SyFy)
Courtesy SyFy/USA
SyFy’s relationship to scripted content (and its sister network USA) has been shifting for years, but it was nevertheless frustrating to see Don Mancini’s “Chucky” screech to a halt after Season 3.
A significant fan campaign to renew the horror-comedy series about everyone’s favorite killer doll picked up support throughout the genre community. That groundswell came despite a tone that divided some viewers who better appreciated the early “Child’s Play” movies, also written by Mancini. Still, the project offered a unique opportunity to reunite iconic talent with the franchise (hi, Jennifer Tilly!) and let the screenwriter reimagine his legendary character for an uninitiated, more progressive audience. Season 4 had already been pitched to the network, but reportedly did not move forward due to the show’s high budget. Much of “Chucky” production went through a crew based in Toronto.
Read IndieWire’s interview with “Chucky” puppeteers by Jim Hemphill.
“Somebody Somewhere” (HBO)
Showrunners Paul Thureen and Hannah Bos are still looking for a way forward with their gone-to-soon “Somebody Somewhere.” So is star Bridget Everett, who floated the idea of a movie when speaking to IndieWire. The intoxicating and endearing comedy deserves some kind of future, even if its de facto finale did end bothSeason 3 and the show on the perfect note.
The HBO series about a woman who returns to her Kansas hometown wrapped things up with a rendition of Miley Cyrus’ “The Climb” — a triumphant moment reflective of everything that made fans fall for Everett’s performance and character. “Somebody Somewhere” creators didn’t know the show was ending ahead of that moment, but the underdog treasure was named the Best TV Show of 2024 at IndieWire for a reason. Quality should mean security… and Sam deserves to climb!
Read IndieWire’s look at the finale’s final moments by Erin Strecker.
“Our Flag Means Death” (Max)
Executive producer and star Taika Waititi described the surprise finale of “Our Flag Means Death” as feeling like “a natural end.” Still, remembering this cancellation from the very beginning of the year feels like pouring salt in a fresh wound.
So much has happened since the dawn of Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022 that you could (and we did!) itemize the projects impacted by David Zaslav’s ruthless merger. There are worse fates for TV shows to endure at a streaming platform known for disappearing content in the name of tax breaks than ending after two strong and heartfelt seasons. Still, creator David Jenkins’ queer pirate comedy felt like it had more swash-buckling to give — and its limited life smacks of the continued decline across LGBTQ+ TV.
Read IndieWire’s review of “Our Flag Means Death” Season 2 by Ben Travers.
“Schmigadoon!” (Apple TV+)
Courtesy Apple TV+
The joy evident in “Schmigadoon!” feels outright miraculous when you consider how many obstacles the Apple TV+ musical faced. Here’s hoping the stage version (opening in January 2025 at the Kennedy Center) has better luck.
Season 1 of the TV show saw the cast and crew grappling with pandemic restrictions, while Season 2 premiered into the middle of the strikes. Even still, it earned seven Emmy nominations — winning one! — and amassed critical praise alongside a vibrant and vocal audience. Creator Cinco Paul announced the show’s cancellation on Instagram and said of the planned third installment, “The season is written (including 25 new songs) but we unfortunately won’t be making it. Such is life.” A winsome Broadway comedy starring Keegan-Michael Key and Cecily Strong never seemed likely to survive the streaming bubble burst, but there’s a particular sadness to never seeing a show theater kids still want to make.
Read IndieWire’s look ahead to the “Schmigadoon!” stage adaptation by Mark Peikert.
“9-1-1: Lone Star” (Fox)
Co-creators Ryan Murphy and Tim Minear are reportedly already at work on a new spinoff for their procedural franchise sensation “9-1-1.” Even so, many fans are struggling to wrap their heads around something as big as “Lone Star” failing to move forward when there’s considerable demand for it.
Murphy attributed the first-responder series upcoming finale in February to tricky financials — a result, he told Variety, of the Disney/Fox merger that was “never going to work.” Star Rob Lowe (also an executive producer) announced his exit from “Lone Star” a few weeks before news of the show’s end was made official, suggesting several factors contributed to the network’s decision.
Read IndieWire’s ranking of Ryan Murphy TV series.
“My Lady Jane” (Prime Video)
A subtly astonishing marketing gamble, “My Lady Jane” took Prime Video scrollers by surprise, and got a confused response in return. What was advertised as a Tudors-era period romance instead transported audiences to a fantasy land where the protagonist’s husband routinely turns into a horse — among other therianthropic adventures — and the CGI always left something to be desired.
As IndieWire’s Erin Strecker put it in June, “My Lady Jane” is packed with so many anamorph effects that the show “too often falls into downright silliness that makes one wonder why this story mentions real people at all.” Fans of the series’ source material from 2016 have bravely defended the epic’s merits online, but it’s not hard to see how the misdirect might lead to a streaming cancellation. Debates about “My Lady Jane” viewership size and impact continue to rage — although it’s hard to dispute the attention an abrupt conclusion can suddenly bring to a show in which characters spontaneously become birds.
Read two IndieWire editors’ debate over the merits of “My Lady Jane.”
“Halo” (Paramount+)
Courtesy Paramount+
Fumbling major video game IP is a time-honored tradition for all types of filmmakers. TV fans were given some hope thanks to recent shows like HBO’s “The Last of Us” and Prime Video’s “Fallout.” But this year, “Halo” proved the rule at Paramount+ and was cancelled after two seasons that not only failed to stand out in a crowded genre — but didn’t make good on the sci-fi epic’s reportedly astronomical budget.
Between intense special effects and sprawling landscapes, “Halo” was always going to cost a lot. The executives managing its future no doubt expected that but bailed on their investment rather the course correct. Industry pressures forced scads of decisions like that across the streamers, but “Halo” creators and at least some fans (who largely appreciated the story’s departure from the game lore) will never know if the sophomore show’s production structure was worth saving.
Read IndieWire’s review of “Halo” Season 1 by Ben Travers.
“Evil” (CBS)
Losing both “Star Trek: Discovery” and “Evil” in a single year was a serious blow for genre fans with Paramount+ subscriptions — but there’s reason to feel like the horror heads got the worst of it in the end.
The same cost-cutting efforts that impacted “Halo” may have ended the “Discovery” spinoff of the flagship sci-fi series, but several related projects are ongoing at the streamer. Meanwhile, fans of the paranormal mystery horror series discovered that the writers’ strike halted Season 4 mid-production and the show ws hastily wrapped up in a dispiriting four-episode extension. Unless you count the old “Twilight Zone” episodes, that put the nail in the coffin on CBS’ strongest scary offering to date.
“Arcane” (Netflix)
The discerning TV news consumer should instantly spot “Arcane” as a trick item on this list. And yet, for too many “League of Legends” fans, rumors that the beloved animated series (featuring the voice acting talents of Haileen Steinfeld and Ella Purnell among others) had been canceled at Netflix routinely overwhelmed the truth.
The critically acclaimed series was always set to end after two seasons, as confirmed by Riot Games CEO Marc Merrill while responding to fan concerns that something had shifted in the storytelling universe’s future plans at Netflix. Sure, the series’ innovative animation style cost the streamer a lot to produce, but the show has been widely celebrated as an all-around success for video game adaptations in television. That’s a positive explanation for why fans fear the caliber of “Arcane” never coming back — although their anxiety also reflects an understandable angst on this rockier side of the Streaming Age.
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