As the year draws to a close there comes time to reflect on what has come and gone in the TV landscape, especially those narratives that have been brought to an end before their time.
Netflix has dropped the hammer on a number of TV shows in 2024, and it’s certainly not the only streaming platform to have done so this year. There was exciting original storytelling of all kinds, but for every success story like Baby Reindeer there were those that didn’t hit the mark —at least in the way that Netflix is concerned.
Shows like the punk take on Greek mythology that is KAOS, to nostalgia-filled sitcom That ’90s Show, there were a lot of shows that faced the chop this year. Here is what you need to know.
Which shows did Netflix cancel in 2024?
The Brothers Sun
Netflix started cancellations early, giving The Brothers Sun just one month on the streaming platform before it was dropped. The crime drama had a heavy-weight cast that included Michelle Yeoh, who was the most recent Best Actress winner at the Oscars at the time. It followed how seemingly average Californian Bruce Sun (Sam Song Li) has his life thrown upside down with his mob boss brother Charles (Justin Chien) reunites with them in LA to keep his family safe.
Even the power of a global superstar like Yeoh was enough to stop the series from getting cancelled. According to Netflix’s mid-year report of its viewership figures the series only came in at the Top 30, with 23.9m average viewers (and 175.6m hours seen), which paled in comparison to Fool Me Once’s 107.5m viewers and 689.5 hours viewed.
Dead Boy Detectives
Much to the sadness of its dedicated fanbase, Netflix’s Sandman spin-off was cancelled shortly after its first season premiered on the platform. If we look at the numbers, Dead Boy Detectives didn’t have much impact after its release in April and only just reached the Top 100 shows watched in the first half of the year with just 12.6m viewers and 91m hours viewers.
Read more: ‘Netflix made a grave mistake cancelling Dead Boy Detectives’
The show continues to have a very vocal following who hope for it to return in some aspect, the show first began life as a HBO Max series before being bought up by Netflix in February 2023. It may have had positive reviews and the dedication of its viewers, but that’s not enough for the streamer because for them the numbers talk — and, sadly, it didn’t live up to their expectations.
That ’90s Show
Netflix’s sequel spin-off to That ’70s Show was a hit in its first season, but a largely depleted audience for season two led to its being canned after two seasons. Nostalgia wasn’t enough to keep the flame alive, it seems.
The show followed the escapades of Eric Forman and Donna Pinciotti’s teenage daughter Leia, as she enjoyed the summer with her grandparents Red and Kitty. Even with many of the original cast returning to their respective roles, an extended second season was deemed enough of a note to end it on.
KAOS
The Greek myths have been retold countless times in many different ways, and KAOS was a truly modern and innovative take on the battle between the gods and humans. It was unapologetically queer and had some interesting surprises, but its low viewership meant that it was ultimately cancelled after just one month following its release in August.
It continued a worrying trend of shows being cancelled before they’ve had time to reach an audience, particularly something that is more niche in nature like KAOS. The only big name in the show was Jeff Goldblum but the rest of the cast did a stellar job at bringing the story to life, it just wasn’t given the time to find its feet.
Buying London
When Netflix’s attempt to make a UK-based realty series like Selling Sunset was released the streamer probably wasn’t expecting the amount of vitriol that was thrown its way. The series was given a 0 star rating by The Guardian which described as “the most hateable TV show ever”.
The critic response may or may not have had a direct impact on the show’s viewership numbers, but at the end of the day it didn’t do well. It came in at 502nd place in Netflix’s report for figures in the first half of the year, and only got 4.2m people watching with 17.7m hours watched and as a result it was cancelled.
Buying Beverly Hills
Buying London isn’t the only Selling Sunset-like series to be dropped by Netflix in 2024, as Buying Beverly Hills was cancelled after two seasons. The show did marginally better than Buying London by drawing in 5.8m viewers who watched 45.9 hours of it, but it still wasn’t enough to give it further seasons.
Unstable
Unstable was Rob Lowe’s workplace comedy with his son John Owen, but after the release of its second season it was cancelled. It seemed unsurprising when the season 2 failed to get into the Top 10 on Netflix, which per Deadline means it had been viewer by fewer than 1.4m viewers in its opening weekend.
According to the publication the creative team behind the show have been quietly shopping the series to linear TV networks, who may give the series a new lease of life.
Everything Now
No official announcement was made about Everything Now, Netflix’s coming-of-age drama about teen Mia Polanco trying to figure out her life and catch up on what she’s ‘missed’ after leaving hospital where she was being treated for anorexia. The series, in a similar way to Heartstopper, explores the lives of teens and was queer-inclusive, but didn’t make the same mark as the Netflix darling in 2023.
It was confirmed in 2024 that the show had been cancelled, with star Dylan Brady telling FilmUpdates: “We had some great ideas, but we are at the mercy of the algorithm, I’m afraid.
“It’s really difficult because historically, TV has worked in one way, which is a slow, consistent growth over several seasons as opposed to this kind of mentality we see now, where it’s like, ‘If it doesn’t get 16 million views in the first 28 days, it’s not worth anyone’s while.'”
My Dad the Bounty Hunter
Another 2023 release that has been confirmed to be cancelled in 2024 is animated series My Dad the Bounty Hunter, the sci-fi adventure series’ second season premiered in September 2023. Speaking with What’s On Netflix, showrunner Everett Downing Jr said: “I feel extremely fortunate to have been able to work with such an incredible team of partners and artists.
“It’s so unreal watching your ideas come to life! Everyone who worked on the show fell in love with Terry, Tess, Lisa, Sean, and the entire cast of quirky, wild, and crazy characters. Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to revisit this world again someday. For now, these characters and stories will be living rent-free in my heart for the rest of my life.”
