The 11 Best Canceled Netflix Shows

There are many ways you could describe Netflix original shows, but "long-running" would not be one of them. Netflix programs tend to be candles that burn bright but fast. These productions, unlike typical broadcast or cable network shows, rarely go beyond three seasons and many acclaimed projects with passionate fanbases couldn't even get more than one season. Even as people binge countless seasons of older shows like "Suits" on the streamer, Netflix has constantly demonstrated a commitment to shorter runs for its original shows. 

There's always something new arriving on this platform, but it likely won't be running for long. This means there's an avalanche of Netflix TV shows that ended their runs prematurely, though most have already been forgotten thanks to their middling quality. Does anyone savor the return of "The Crew," for instance?

Other Netflix original shows that ended too soon, however, still leave a twinge of pain in people's hearts. The greatest defunct series on Netflix still carry significant fanbases years after their demise, and there are still occasional social media campaigns to get them revived. Even if there aren't as many episodes as audiences or the program's creative team would have wanted, these canceled Netflix shows still resonate as something tremendously special. No amount of hasty cancellations or abbreviated run mandates from Netflix brass can dilute the merits of the 11 best canceled Netflix shows.

Being an immigrant coming to America is already challenging, but "1899" throws a new wrinkle into that particular experience. Created by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, the show follows London immigrants traveling on the open sea to America in 1899 who get caught up in a mind-bending puzzle aboard a lost ship. Garnering widespread critical acclaim upon its release as an enjoyably surrealist take on brutal immigrant experiences, and inspiring a fanbase dedicated to unpacking its lore, "1899" was an instant viewership hit for Netflix. Given that the show ended on a trippy cliffhanger, suggesting that further seasons would take the characters in bold new directions, "1899" was seemingly guaranteed to become a head-spinning long-term hit for the streamer.

However, "1899" was canceled in early 2023, inspiring a widespread outcry. This was an especially controversial decision given how open-ended the show's final scene was. Viewers who had become obsessed with all the small details most folks missed in "1899" would get no proper closure for the program's fictional universe. "1899" was never picked up by another streamer and its cancellation remains a sore point for people to this very day. Some even saw its demise as an indicator that Netflix programs were difficult to become attached to. After all, if something popular and designed for many seasons like "1899" wasn't safe, what Netflix show was?

David Fincher is clearly quite happy working with Netflix on original movies and other programming, given that the auteur has repeatedly signed long-term contracts with the streamer. But even with his dedication to the company, there's no hope on the horizon for Netflix reviving Fincher's TV program "Mindhunter." Running for 19 episodes from 2017 to 2019, "Mindhunter" saw two FBI agents in the late 1970s launching a program to interview serial killers who had been put behind bars. Garnering acclaim and Emmy nominations during both of its seasons, "Mindhunter" looked poised to run for however long Netflix wanted it. After all, there were tons of famous serial killers who could star in "Mindhunter" episodes.

However, what initially looked like a temporary hiatus for "Mindhunter" turned into a permanent ending for the program. In 2023, David Fincher officially stated that "Mindhunter" Season 3 would never happen and that the show's cost was to blame. Netflix no longer viewed the production — with its period piece setting and distinctive camerawork — as being worth the money. Plus Netflix filled the serial killer TV show void left by "Mindhunter" with other post-2019 programs like Ryan Murphy's "Monster" anthology series. With the primary "Mindhunter" cast and crew all simultaneously busy with other time-consuming projects, future seasons of "Mindhunter" were doomed on multiple levels. Not even Fincher's cozy relationship with Netflix could salvage "Mindhunter" from the streamer's brutal cancellation practices. 

"GLOW" was so close to finishing up its saga of lady wrestlers in the 1980s. Netflix had previously given the go-ahead for "GLOW" to have a fourth season that would also double as the program's conclusion, but plans to finish shooting the season were scuttled once COVID-19 shut down the entertainment industry in March 2020. Given that scripts had been written for the fourth season and an entire episode had been shot, "GLOW" devotees had seemingly no reason to worry about the program suddenly getting axed. Unfortunately, by October 2020, devastating news came down that Netflix had canceled "GLOW" despite the earlier renewal and shooting already commencing on Season 4.

The reason was all due to COVID. A show about wrestlers (who always have to be in close contact with one another) would have been incredibly difficult to film under COVID-era shooting regulations. Plus, facing a lengthy gap between seasons, Netflix decided it was better to cut its losses and focus on new shows rather than hope subscribers would remain loyal to "GLOW" for several years. The key creative personnel attached to the show, particularly actors like Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin, were devastated over its sudden unexpected closure. Even two years after this news had dropped, Brie revealed she still missed and mourned what had been lost with "GLOW" concluding too soon. In the face of real-world problems and catastrophes, apparently not even an official renewal can keep you safe from the Netflix chopping block.

Unlike many Netflix-exclusive programs, 2017's "American Vandal" was not an exorbitantly costly show loaded with movie stars and lavish production values. Instead, it was a parody of true-crime documentaries headlined by unknown performers with no famous brand name to help attract viewers. "American Vandal" eventually garnered a reputation as one of the most sharply hysterical Netflix shows out there, especially since it was so detailed in its skewering of the sort of crime shows Netflix makes by the truckload. 

"American Vandal" became enough of a hit to warrant a second season that dropped on Netflix in September 2018. Given how thriftily-produced yet popular "Vandal" was, it's easy to imagine a timeline where the streamer kept this program around for years to come. If true-crime documentaries were enduringly popular, why not also get in on the market for parodies of the genre?

However, a month after "American Vandal" Season 2 debuted, Netflix canceled the show. Initial plans to try and find "Vandal" a new streaming home failed to materialize. There were never any public reasons offered for why "American Vandal" ground to a halt, though it was one of several Netflix comedies in 2018 and 2019 to stop at either one or two seasons. "Friends from College," "Disjointed," "Girlboss," and "The Good Cop" were just a few of the small-screen yukfests that Netflix failed to sustain for three or more seasons. "American Vandal" may have just gotten caught up in Netflix's late 2010s disinterest in keeping comedies around long-term.

After serving as the character designer for Netflix's acclaimed hit show "BoJack Horseman," it was time for Lisa Hanawalt to spread her wings and create her own animated Netflix program. "Tuca and Bertie" dropped on the platform in 2019 to instant rave reviews. For a moment, it looked like "Horseman" and "Bertie" would be the shining stars of Netflix's original adult-skewing animation output, but unfortunately, "Tuca and Bertie" was not long for this world. 

Two months after the program's debut, "Tuca and Bertie" was canceled. This news inspired a tremendous backlash as well as critical thinkpieces regarding Netflix's minimal promotion of the program. The dearth of further original animated Netflix shows created and largely run by women also generated further controversy over the show's demise.

For most Netflix shows, that would be the end of the story. Promises of potentially finding an axed program a new home usually wind up going nowhere. But "Tuca and Bertie" found a fresh space to thrive on Adult Swim, which ran the series for an additional two years. Though it didn't run as long as "The Simpsons" or "Bob's Burgers," "Tuca and Bertie" at least lived to fight another day. Even with this outcome, however, Netflix's original cancellation still stings, especially given how abruptly the plug was pulled. Hanawalt's creativity and vibrant visuals really deserved so much better than that.

For many Netflix shows, the prospect of cancellation is a surprise that nobody involved sees coming. For the single season program "The Get Down," though, this outcome was a lot more foreseeable. Baz Luhrmann's grand musical epic chronicling the South Bronx in the late 1970s was green-lit as one of Netflix's first original programs and seen as another blending of an iconic filmmaker with a bold premise, like David Fincher on "House of Cards" or Eli Roth on "Hemlock Grove." 

However, by the time the show's first batch of episodes began airing in 2016, all the headlines about "The Get Down" were about its exorbitant costs rather than the quality of the episodes themselves. Eventually, reports indicated that the first season of "The Get Down" had cost Netflix at least $190 million, with that number potentially going up once post-production was finished.

Between the budgetary problems and the lack of a massive instant fanbase for "The Get Down," Netflix put its resources behind other, more popular original shows that also launched in 2016, like "Stranger Things." Nine months after its premiere, "The Get Down" was canned. Years later, the show secured a cult following thanks to its bold musical and visual sensibilities, not to mention a cast featuring future A-list stars like Justice Smith and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. It wasn't the TV equivalent to a tune that dominates the radio airwaves, but "The Get Down" still got plenty of viewers tapping their toes approvingly. 

After "The Sandman" arrived in 2022 as a Netflix original TV show, the spin-off program "Dead Boy Detectives" premiered on the streamer in 2024, complete with an appearance from "Sandman" star Kirby Howell-Baptiste as her character Death. "Dead Boy Detectives," as the title implies, follows a pair of ghosts who opt to spend their deceased days solving paranormal crimes on Earth. The characters have made all kinds of appearances across assorted graphic novels and comics since they were first created in April 1991. Given their longevity on the page, it was easy to imagine "Dead Boy Detectives" becoming a long-running program, especially given how many detective TV shows run for years.

However, "Dead Boy Detectives" was declared deceased for good in August 2024, just four months after its premiere. Major media outlets reported that the program's demise was simply due to lackluster viewership, especially compared to other Netflix genre shows released in the 2020s. However, others have speculated that the cancellation of "Dead Boy Detectives" may have had something to do with the co-creator of the show's source material, Neil Gaiman. 

With Gaiman the center of numerous sexual misconduct and assault allegations, Netflix may have wanted to distance itself from the author. Whatever the reason, those who latched onto the show will always treasure its short-lived virtues. With just a single season, "Dead Boy Detectives" garnered plenty of positive praise to give it a life beyond Gaiman's reputation.

You can find lifelong friends anywhere, including seven strangers that you bond with through incredible means. That's the starting premise of "Sense8," a sci-fi TV show as heightened as you'd expect from co-creators Lana and Lilly Wachowski. The program chronicled eight people (hence the title) from every corner of the Earth who find themselves telepathically connected. As they search for answers, a shadowy organization lurks in wait hoping to slaughter them all.

The program didn't just reflect the grandiose sci-fi sensibilities of the Wachowski sisters, but also Netflix's ability to make TV shows that span far more than just the U.S. The deeply imaginative storytelling in "Sense8" went anywhere and everywhere, thus ensuring that no two episodes would ever be exactly alike.

"Sense8" accrued the sort of dedicated fanbase many prior Wachowski works like "The Matrix" or "Speed Racer" also received. However, in June 2017, just two years after it premiered, Netflix canceled the show. The real reason "Sense8" was canceled came down to dollars and cents. This was a costly program to make and, possibly thanks to its deep lore and complicated narratives, not a show many people were watching. "Sense8" fans took their dedication to a new level to try and save their favorite show, but it was no use. After a TV movie finale, "Sense8" was done. But its legacy lives on in subsequent Netflix shows taking place in many countries and languages, as well as the show's fervent fanbase.

If you don't talk about something, it's like it doesn't exist. In many respects, this erases complicated lives and stigmatizes people going through intense psychological turmoil. So much of pop culture never even thinks of addressing, for instance, folks suffering anorexia nervosa in a thoughtful fashion. This disorder is the centerpiece of "Everything Now," a 2023 program chronicling teenager Mia Polanco (Sophie Wilde) as she tries to reacclimate to her life after a hospital stint centering around her anorexia struggles. 

"Everything Now" isn't an easy watch, but that's part of what makes it so compelling. It provides a realistically jagged depiction of not just living with anorexia, but also just the modern hell that is teenager life. Characters like Mia are allowed to be fully dimensional people defined not just by their disorders, and she doesn't need to be an angel to earn audience sympathy and dramatic investment.

The result was an engrossing TV program, but also one that might have been too brutal and raw for many people. Though the show's premise was primed to run for multiple seasons, "Everything Now" was canned after just one. This was in spite of writing already commencing for a second season. Though "Everything Now" only lasted for eight episodes, its dedication to shining a light on frequently erased lives still shines.

Modern pop culture properties spun off from famous 1980s movies are a dime a dozen. "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance," however, was a unique creation in that it wasn't just a hagiographic retread of "The Dark Crystal." On the contrary, "Age of Resistance" took the often stuffy and stilted "Dark Crystal" world and finally injected some energy and personality into it. 

All the potential of Jim Henson's fantasy world was finally realized in this vast improvement on 1982's "Dark Crystal" movie. This feat was combined with truly masterful puppetry, which director Louis Leterrier captured with the most dynamic camerawork ever afforded to a show centered on felt critters. In the hands of Leterrier and countless gifted craftspeople, the fantastical domain of Thra had never before been so tactile.

"Age of Resistance" was already a creative triumph during its one-season run, though the final moments of its season finale indicated bleak narrative roads ahead for future seasons. Alas, in the fall of 2020, "Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance" was struck with the worst news imaginable when Netflix officially canceled the program. Costs for this elaborate production had apparently spun so far out of control that, when combined with underwhelming viewership, Netflix had no interest in pursuing further seasons, confirming that we live in a horrible timeline where Netflix lets "The Ranch" run for 80 episodes while halting the magnificent "Age of Resistance" after just 10.

So many Netflix shows just play like movies drawn out to insufferable lengths. Not so with "BoJack Horseman." Though the program did have an overall serialized narrative, individual "BoJack Horseman" episodes relished unique one-off settings or storytelling flourishes. One entry was an entirely silent story taking place underwater, for instance. Another focused solely on BoJack Horseman (Will Arnett) at a podium trying to deliver a eulogy for his deceased mother. Others would center an entire episode in the afterlife or inside fragmented memories of the distant past. One never knew just what direction an individual "BoJack Horseman" episode would go in. That creativity echoed the program's audacity in tackling deep, messy material (including alcoholism and cycles of abusive behavior) as part of its titular character's journey.

"BoJack Horseman" secured a respectable six-season run on Netflix, though creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg has openly said that he wanted the show to run for additional seasons before wrapping up. The reason "BoJack Horseman" ended after Season 6 was simply due to the mandates of Netflix executives rather than the creatives running out of antics for BoJack to get into. However, even if it ended a few seasons early, the final episodes of "BoJack Horseman" concluded the series on a glorious high note, cementing it as one of the 21st century's greatest TV shows. "BoJack Horseman" has been off the air for years now, but a series this excellent will never truly leave the airwaves of people's minds.