The 21 Best Shows Canceled in 2023
We live in an era where no television show is safe, making investing in a series even more difficult than it already is.
Several shows suffered cancellations due to the actor’s and writers’ strikes, and don’t even get us started on all the cancelations over at Netflix. There have been over 20 canceled shows at the streamer this year alone. While some 2023 shows were mercifully axed (looking at you, Lucky Hank), others were terminated before they had a chance to tell their tale. Some of those shows were the best television we had this year.
Here are the shows from 2023 that we are sad to see go:
Magnum P.I.
CBS canceled the series after season 4 due to a negotiation breakdown with Universal Television over the license fee for the reboot. NBC saved Magnum P.I. for season 5 but eventually decided not to continue the series after part 2 due to uncertainty surrounding contract negotiations and the writers strike. But to be frank, leads Jay Hernandez and Perdita Weeks may return as Magnum and Higgins once again if the right streamer or network comes along.
A League of Their Own
A League of Their Own had been renewed for a (shortened) second and final season at Prime Video in March 2023 after debuting in August 2022 and the creative team didn’t take the layoff quietly. Co-creator Abbi Jacobson said, “To blame this cancellation on the strike is bulls—t and cowardly.” And even the author of the original book chimed in to say, “I wonder if [the show’s] cancellation has to do with those same fears,” Carlson wonders. “Like, OK, here’s these women treading onto male territory.” Needless to say, the consensus behind the cancellation, which highlighted many female and genderfluid aspects, was not backed confidently by the streamer and was axed using the strike as a coverup.
Yellowstone
After months of speculation and disputes over Kevin Costner‘s contract status, Yellowstone will end with the second half of the fifth season. As a result of the shooting conflict and the demanding fanbase, an overwhelming amount of spinoffs and shows based in the same universe have been announced, ensuring fans that there will be a cowboy in CBS’ stable no matter what corner of the network you can look.
Miracle Workers
The Daniel Radcliffe-starring comedy anthology series Miracle Workers has been canceled at TBS after four seasons and ended abruptly without a proper ending. As previously reported, the show’s future looked grim back in January when TBS no longer had options on the cast, meaning new deals would have needed to be made for a possible fifth season. However, the creative team was said to have had storyline ideas already in place for Season 5, so if ratings for Season 4 did well, it was possible the show could have been renewed. And sources say that Radcliffe is keen to carry on with the show, which is something of a pet project of his.
The Great
It was a sad day when Hulu‘s dark costume dramedy, The Great, faced cancellation after its third season premiere with Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult.
Debuting in 2020, the Emmy-winning series created by Tony McNamara (The Favourite) tells the origin story of Catherine the Great (Fanning) and tracks her progress as she works toward becoming Russia’s reigning 18th-century empress. The show’s end comes as a shocker since Season 3 seemed to set up a new chapter for Catherine following [Spoiler] Peter’s shocking death in Episode 6.
Shadow and Bone
Following two seasons of Shadow and Bone, and despite having completed scripts for a spinoff, the streaming service has opted not to proceed with the fantasy series.
This decision coincides with a period in which streaming platforms and studios are evaluating their content output following the conclusion of prolonged writers’ and actors’ strikes, which brought TV and film production in Hollywood to a standstill. Fans of the now-canceled series Shadow and Bone have expressed strong dissatisfaction with the show’s viewership figures released by Netflix. Interestingly, the data revealed it to be among the top 30 shows in terms of viewership for the streaming service, leading to a vehement reaction from disappointed fans.
Station 19
The first responders of Station 19 are answering their last calls. Despite its good ratings, the Grey’s Anatomy spinoff will end with its forthcoming seventh season. Disney Television Group president Craig Erwich didn’t explain why Station 19 is coming to a close, but he did highlight the contributions of executive producers Shonda Rhimes and Betsy Beers and new showrunners Zoanne Clack and Peter Paige. If it’s any consolation for Station 19 plans, Deadline reports the decision gives producers time to wrap up the show’s storyline.
Good Trouble & Cruel Summer
It’s the end of an era at Freeform as the cable channel decides to wrap up its remaining scripted originals, Good Trouble and Cruel Summer. Despite the executive vice president of programming and content strategy, Simran Sethi, expressing interest in renewing them for more seasons, according to reports. The shows’ ratings influenced the decision, which did not justify renewals in the context of Disney’s cost-cutting efforts. Good Trouble, a spinoff of The Fosters, will conclude with the already-filmed back half of its fifth season in 2024. Sources indicate that the cast and crew will film additional scenes for a supersized finale.
Bob Hearts Abishola
The network has announced that Bob Hearts Abishola, starring Billy Gardell and Folake Olowofoyeku, will be coming to an end with its upcoming fifth season. Thanks to the cancelation of Young Sheldon and the current landscape of television, TV creator Chuck Lorre hinted that he may be done with networks entirely. Although he made his peace with the ending of the former, Lorre pointed out Bob Hearts Abishola, the demise of which was announced November 2023, is “a different story.” “There’s so many more stories to tell.… I don’t necessarily feel we were done. But that was not my call.” The show follows a businessman who falls for his cardiac nurse while recovering from a heart attack.
Lorre now has his sights set on streaming, as his new comedy Bookie debuted on Max on November 30.
Good Bones
Mina Starsiak Hawk and Karen E. Laine ended things on Good Bones as it was shortly revealed after that the daughter/mother duo were no longer on speaking terms. This sparked a tumultuous ride to the finish line not only for the fans but the entire family, according to Hawk on her podcast Mina AF. Following the series finale, she revealed she and former Good Bones co-star Cory Miller are also no longer on speaking terms after people noticed they unfollowed each other on social media. But a new HGTV show for Hawk may be on the horizon after all.
Young Rock
In the same breath as the network canceled Grand Crew, NBC also let go of Dwayne Johnson’s autobiographical series Young Rock. It showcased the wrestler-turned-actor in different chapters in his life, from growing up in a strong and resilient family to being surrounded by the wild characters of his professional wrestling family to playing football at the University of Miami. With Black Adam flopping, his show ending, the XFL losing $60 million, and burying his feud with Vin Diesel to return to the Fast and the Furious franchise, has Johnson hit Rock Bottom?
The Grand Crew
It was initially on our radar as one of several shows that could probably get axed, and our suspicions were deemed true when NBC announced on June 9 that it would not renew the series. The Grand Crew ratings weren’t grand, sadly: Its average 18-to-49 rating was 0.17, and its average total viewership was 1.2 million, ranking the friend-group sitcom last among NBC shows on both counts. It followed friends who always found the humor in career moves, dating drama, and more as they lived their best lives as young Black professionals in LA.
The Goldbergs
Deadline broke the news about the ’80s-set comedy series, revealing that the season finale set to air this May will also serve as the show’s series finale. The news may not come as a major surprise as the show’s undergone some significant changes in recent seasons with the loss of the late George Segal, who played Pops, and the exit of Jeff Garlin as patriarch Murray Goldberg. But it certainly came as a shock to the cast, especially Wendi McLendon-Covey, who told TV Insider about visiting the set during the Season 10 finale.
“Oh, the final day I wasn’t even working, but I came in just to see everybody. At that point, we didn’t know that it was gonna be our last [episode], she said. “We’ve been on for ten seasons; it was gonna go one way or the other. We knew our time was coming to an end, so I went to take films of every single crevice of our set and take pictures and just see everybody and smell those smells just in case it was forever.”
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is set in 1930s Los Angeles and follows the titular character as he transitions from private investigator to the lawyer made famous in Erle Stanley Gardner’s books and the original TV series featuring Raymond Burr. The series premiered strongly in June 2020, which would see Rhys earn an Emmy nomination for his leading role. However, in June 2023, HBO announced that it would not be moving forward with a third season.
Let the Right One In
Let the Right One In is a television series based on a Swedish vampire novel (and movie of the same name), which depicts a father caring for his 12-year-old daughter, who happens to be a vampire. Unfortunately, the show has been canceled and removed from Showtime’s streaming service. The removal occurred on January 30, along with another show, American Gigolo. TV Insider gave the show a 3 out of 5, saying, “Aiming for a more grounded realism, creator Andrew Hinderaker (Penny Dreadful) clutters this once-haunting fable with traditional TV elements including the police procedural and a sci-fi thriller subplot.”
Three Pines
The mystery series followed Alfred Molina as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, who was juggling several murder investigations in an idyllic Quebec village. On the way, he uncovered long-buried secrets and faced a few of his own ghosts. It was based on Canadian author Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache novel series.
The season, now series finale, ended on a life-threatening cliffhanger for Molina’s character. Showrunner Emilia di Giorlamo expressed her disappointment with the cancellation on Instagram.
“I was not involved in the conversations and negotiations around renewal,” she said, “But I have been told Left Bank, Sony & Prime Video all wanted to bring the show back but were unable to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.”
The L Word: Generation Q
In March, Showtime terminated Generation Q, the sequel series to The L Word, after three seasons.
Chris McCarthy, the CEO of Showtime and Paramount Media Networks, name-dropped the L Word franchise in December 2022 when he announced his plan “to lean into Showtime’s strengths” and cited three key areas for the channel’s brand: “Complex and subversive antiheroes like Dexter and Yellowjackets, powerful high-stakes worlds like Homeland and Billions, and unconventional cultural takes like The L Word and The Chi — all to make the biggest hits possible and build them into hit franchises as we have done very successfully across the company.”
A revival of the original 2004 show is in progress under the working title The L Word: New York, with creator Ilene Chaiken on board.
Willow
Disney+ experienced a challenging beginning to 2023, as evidenced by the loss of 2.4 million subscribers. The future of Willow, the follow-up series to George Lucas and Ron Howard‘s 1988 movie, appeared uncertain when reports surfaced that it had been canceled following the completion of its initial season. However, showrunner Jon Kasdan later clarified that no official decision had been made to scrap the show, leaving room for a potential revival.
NCIS: Los Angeles
NCIS: Los Angeles has over 300 episodes and is a beloved procedural. However, due to high production costs, the show had to end. Although NCIS: L.A. is ending with its current season, fans can expect a conclusion to the series when it ends in May. Although the signs of its cancelation were there, it’s still rough to see the show go.
Ziwe
Ziwe Fumodoh‘s talk and variety show, known for its clever and cunning approach, originated as a web series before gaining popularity through viral Instagram Lives during the pandemic. Showtime eventually scooped it up and showcased Ziwe frequently engaging in contentious discussions with her guests in an attempt to provoke them into making prejudiced comments. However, on April 5, Showtime canceled the series, followed by executive Chris McCarthy explaining the network’s new approach to content will focus on franchises, anti-hero shows, and diverse cultures.
1899
1899 is a television series with a puzzle-box concept that takes place on a ship journeying from England to New York in the year 1899. The show was co-created by Jantje Friese and Baran bo Odar, the same creative team behind Netflix’s time travel drama Dark. On January 2, the creators announced the cancellation of the show. “We would have loved to finish this incredible journey with a second and third season as we did with Dark,” said Odar. “But sometimes things don’t turn out the way you planned. That’s life.” It appears this show’s puzzle will never be solved.
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