Why does Netflix cancel good shows? It seems to happen frequently, where a series will get a fantastic first season (or more), end of a cliffhanger, and… that’s it. “I think you will hear this from many folks, but the cancellations are the hardest part of this job and when I think about the work that both the creators and all the people at Netflix put into them, we care passionately about them, and it’s not something that we take lightly,” Netflix’s head of U.S. and Canada scripted series Peter Friedlander tells Variety. “It’s just a frustrating part of the job that’s been a part of our business forever, so this isn’t a new experience to have cancellations, and hopefully we can continue to bring in shows that continue.” Here are 7 Netflix shows that should never have been canceled.
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1. Mindhunter
Netflix
Fans and critics alike loved David Fincher’s psychological thriller drama “Mindhunter”, which made Netflix’s decision to cancel the show after just two seasons even more inexplicable. “I’m very proud of the first two seasons. But it’s a very expensive show and, in the eyes of Netflix, we didn’t attract enough of an audience to justify such an investment (for Season 3),’ Fincher said, via Forbes. “I don’t blame them, they took risks to get the show off the ground, gave me the means to do Mank [his black and white film about 1930s Hollywood] the way I wanted to do it, and they allowed me to venture down new paths with “The Killer”. It’s a blessing to be able to work with people who are capable of boldness. The day our desires are not the same, we have to be honest about parting ways.”
2. The Santa Clarita Diet
Netflix
“The Santa Clarita Diet”, starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant, was canceled after 3 seasons. “There were online petitions,” creator Victor Fresco told LADbible. “Hundreds of thousands of people signed. I felt badly because your job as a writer is to get people invested in your show emotionally. We did that and then the rug was pulled from under them. It was a hard thing to process.”
3. I Am Not Okay With This
Netflix
“I Am Not Okay With This” was canceled after just one season. “I think it’s always disappointing to see such a whipped up fan base for a show that then gets very quickly canceled and nothing ever gets posted on the Instagram page ever again,” showrunner Jonathan Entwistle told Business Insider. “The show still exists on Netflix, but it just slowly buries itself on Netflix instead of it keeping a life.”
4. Glow
Netflix
Netflix never followed through on picking up “Glow” for a fourth and final season, leading to outrage from fans. “It’s the great heartbreak of my career,” Alison Brie toldDecider. “But it will forever live on as, like, this great thing. I loved working on it — maybe more than anything I’ve worked on! — and I miss it a lot. But I feel very grateful for the time I had on the show.”
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5. 1899
Netflix
Netflix canceled “1899” after just one season. “With a heavy heart we have to tell you that ‘1899’ will not be renewed,” Baran bo Odar and Jantje Freise said on Instagram. “We would have loved to finish this incredible journey with a second and third season as we did with ‘Dark.’ But sometimes things don’t turn out the way you planned. That’s life. We know this will disappoint millions of fans out there. But we want to thank you from the bottom of our hearts that you were a part of this wonderful adventure. We love you. Never forget.”
6. The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance
Netflix
“The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance” was canceled after one season. “We know fans are eager to learn how this chapter of The Dark Crystal saga concludes and we’ll look for ways to tell that story in the future,” said Lisa Henson, executive producer. “We are so grateful to Netflix for trusting us to realize this ambitious series; we are deeply proud of our work on Age of Resistance, and the acclaim it has received from fans, critics and our peers, most recently receiving an Emmy for Outstanding Children’s Program.”
7. Kaos
Netflix
Netflix’s most recent cancellation had fans in uproar: “Kaos”, a modern-day Greek mythology comedy retelling, was given the boot barely a month after it aired on August 29. “I’m convinced that Netflix would have canceled The Office, Parks & Rec and Breaking Bad after their first seasons if they were the ones to make them. What happened to letting shows find an audience? Sometimes shows take 2-3 seasons to really find its footing. But unless you have 1 trillion minutes watched in the first day then your show isn’t a success in Netflix’s eyes,” a fan wrote on Reddit.