Why Was Evil Canceled?

During its four-season run, "Evil" was one of the wildest shows to ever hit the small screen. Created by Robert and Michelle King, the genius husband-wife team behind "The Good Wife" and its spin-offs "Elsbeth" and "The Good Fight," "Evil" is a dark supernatural comedy-drama so brilliant and bizarre it almost defies categorization. With its quirky storytelling, consistently high critical and audience ratings, and a hidden ARG puzzle that kept fans talking, it's easy to see why the show picked up a devoted following that grew throughout its run. Despite the show's recent surge in popularity after moving to Netflix, Paramount canceled the series in 2024, giving no explicit reason for the decision.  

Like "The Good Fight," "Evil" attempts to conceptualize much of the current zeitgeist through the TV equivalent of a funhouse mirror, using hyperbolic and often absurd storytelling to try and understand the world we live in. As its unlikely central trio — skeptical forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard (Katja Herbers), troubled but devout seminarian Father David Acosta (Mike Colter), and cultural Muslim tech geek Ben Shakir (Aasif Mandvi) — assess case after case for evidence of the demonic, answers are always unclear. "Evil" seems to conclude that making sense of it all is a fool's errand, but what matters most is the relationships that keep us sane throughout. The good news is that at least one cast member and the creators have signaled that the devilish tale could be revived at some point.

Several of Robert and Michelle King's other shows were produced for CBS, so it makes sense that "Evil" was produced for the studio. The series originally aired late on Thursday nights when it premiered in 2019. Like a lot of network shows during that period, the pandemic caused the network to make some adjustments, shifting the series to be more character-based and adding older seasons to Netflix to broaden its following.

The addition of Netflix gave "Evil" an almost immediate bump in engagement, with many audience members first discovering — and immediately binging — the series on the larger streamer.

By 2021, CBS-owned streamer Paramount+ was ready to roll out. "Evil" and "SEAL Team" were two of the first shows to get moved from the network to the streamer, with CBS citing its desire to reduce its scripted shows as part of a cost-trimming initiative, while making room for a new medical drama and new entries from its popular "NCIS," "CSI," and "FBI" franchises. It proved a solid move for "Evil," with the audience continuing to grow after the shift to Paramount+.

In a February 2024 press release, Paramount+ announced its decision not to renew "Evil" for a fifth season, stating, "Paramount+ today announced that the final season of fan-favorite and critically acclaimed original series 'Evil' will premiere this May." At the same time, the streamer announced that Robert and Michelle King would be given four bonus episodes to help them wrap up the story.

Although no official reason was offered, external factors reportedly contributed to problems with the show's fourth season, with filming coinciding with both the writers strike and an unexpected need for family medical leave that interfered with Katja Herbers' availability to film her scenes.

Still, there's no evidence to suggest any of that played a role in the studio's decision to end the series where it did. Many fans have also noted that the cancellation, along with Paramount's decision not to renew a few of its other series like "Star Trek: Discovery" and "Star Trek: Lower Decks," lined up with the impending merger of the streamer's parent company, Paramount Global, with Skydance Media. Trimming costly shows, especially as their cast and crew's contracts are up for renewal, could simply be one path to making the company look a little less top-heavy. 

Paramount might feel pretty good about its decision to bury "Evil," but many fans say the series was just getting good — and they aren't happy at all about the unceremonious axing. There seems to be a general sense of bafflement among the fandom. "Absolutely a tragedy this show was cancelled," one Redditor lamented.

A common thread in fan forums is the sentiment that Paramount's execs are simply out of touch and don't really know what they're doing. As one Reddit user on r/EvilTV wrote, "[They] are using the wrong metrics to measure viability in a show ... The people making decisions can barely work an email and have no idea what's really happening."

And one famous fan has voiced his opinion loudly. Before exiting X for good in fall 2024, Stephen King pleaded with Paramount to bring the show back, while calling it "very, very sharp" in an interview with PBS (via The Independent).

With the addition of "Evil" to Netflix, there's always a possibility that the streamer could give the series another chance at renewal — especially since the platform has brought a long list of series back for at least one more season through the years. In fact, it's made a cottage industry of reviving fan-favorite series for long enough to give fans closure while generating new interest among binge-hungry mainstream viewers who prefer a complete story. Netflix retained the rights to "Arrested Development" for several years and brought the series back for two divisive seasons and a remix. The network is also responsible for reviving "Manifest" briefly after its cancellation.

Robert and Michelle King have stated in no uncertain terms that they had plans for "Evil" to keep going. As it stands, the series ended with far too many unfinished storylines. Robert King teased to TV Insider, "We were going to do more with court and the court system and how demonic it can be. There were going to be more demons kind of infecting the courthouse and Kristen was going to have to be much more involved."

Katja Hebers has been outspoken about wanting to get the series picked up, and the Kings say they would love to see the story continue. Admitting they've already got future episodes in mind, Robert King concluded, "If Paramount+ or Netflix or Amazon Prime don't want to pay for 'em, we'll just probably do it with sock puppets at home because we are enamored with the show and wanted to keep doing it."