21 Shows We Lost in 2021

Insecure Lucifer Supergirl
Merie Wallace/HBO, John P. Fleenor/Netflix, Dean Buscher/The CW

There’s something for everyone in the Superstore that is the television landscape, whether you’re an elder in your Home & Family or a TV viewer from a Generation that’s Younger.

But the economics of showbiz Pose a threat to even the most beloved TV series. And the number of shows that ended this year—or were canceled by Shameless network execs—has all of us TV buffs feeling a little Insecure.

OK, we’re out of wordplay, so let’s just round up 21 of the TV shows that ended (or are ending) in 2021. At least we’ll always have reruns, right?

Superstore - Ben Feldman as Jonah, America Ferrera as Amy, and Nico Santos as Mateo
Greg Gayne/NBC

Superstore

The NBC comedy capped off its six-season run on March 25, with the Cloud 9 crew closing up shop for good (but not before paying tribute to the workplace that brought them together).

Wynonna Earp Waverly Nicol
Michelle Faye/Wynonna Earp Productions, Inc./Syfy

Wynonna Earp

Syfy’s fantasy drama ended after four seasons on April 9—with Wynonna (Melanie Scrofano) and Doc (Tim Rozon) expressing their feelings for one another, and Waverly (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) and Nicole Haught (Katherine Barrell) trading vows.

William H. Macy as Frank Gallagher in Shameless
Paul Sarkis/Showtime

Shameless

The Gallagher family said goodbye to their patriarch in the Showtime comedy’s April 11 finale. As the show wrapped up its 11-season run, Frank (William H. Macy) passes away alone in a hospital bed. “Time’s precious,” he tells his kids in a farewell letter. “Don’t f—king waste it.”

Mom Adam Bonnie
Michael Yarish/©2021 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Mom

In its May 13 finale, the CBS sitcom wrapped up an eight-season run by having Jill (Jaime Pressly) get married, revealing that Adam (William Fichtner) has cancer, and showing Bonnie (Allison Janney) singing the praises of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Nancy Travis and Tim Allen as Vanessa and Mike Baxter in Last Man Standing
Michael Becker/Fox

Last Man Standing

The ABC-turned-Fox sitcom called it a day after nine seasons on May 20, with Mike’s (Tim Allen) stolen truck serving as a not-so-subtle metaphor for the show itself. “I loved every moment of that show—I mean, truck,” Mike says.

NCIS: New Orleans Pride Rita
Sam Lothridge/CBS

NCIS: New Orleans

CBS’ second NCIS spinoff ended on May 23, following seven seasons on air. In that finale, Pride (Scott Bakula) gets hitched to Rita (Chelsea Field, Bakula’s real-life wife), and Quentin (Charles Michael Davis) gives up a job to stay with Hannah (Necar Zadegan).

Black Lightning Jefferson Cress Williams
Josh Stringer/The CW

Black Lightning

The superhero show, a retroactive addition to The CW’s Arrowverse, left the airwaves after four seasons on May 24. In the finale, the titular hero (Cress Williams) survives being buried alive and gets the upper hand on villain Tobias Whale (Marvin “Krondon” Jones III), saving Freeland in the process.

Billy Porter as Pray Tell in Pose
Macall Polay/FX

Pose

The groundbreaking FX drama about New York’s ballroom scene ended after three seasons on June 6, with Pray Tell (Billy Porter) sacrificing his life so that boyfriend Ricky (Dyllón Burnside) could get life-saving HIV meds.

Younger Liza Sutton Foster
Courtesy of TV Land

Younger

After seven seasons o TV Land and Paramount+, Younger went off-air on June 10. In the finale, Liza (Sutton Foster) gets the keys to Empirical Press and ends her on-off relationship with Charles (Peter Hermann) for good.

Keeping Up With the Kardashians Cast
Brian Bowen Smith/E! Entertainment

Keeping Up With the Kardashians

E!’s flagship reality show ended its 20-season run on June 20, with the final episode showing the Kardashian family memorializing the moment by burying meaningful objects in a time capsule. (Don’t worry: The family will be back soon on Hulu.)

Bosch - Titus Welliver and Lance Reddick
Amazon Studios

Bosch

The June 25 finale of this Amazon Prime Video drama saw the titular detective (Titus Welliver) hand in his LAPD badge—after seven TV seasons on the beat—and apply for a private investigator’s license, setting the stage for the show’s IMDb TV spinoff.

Generation Cast
Warrick Page/HBO

Generation

Canceled two months after its July 8 first-season finale, this HBO Max drama won’t get to resolve its cliffhangers—including the identity of the mystery person Chester (Justice Smith) is surprised to run into on a rooftop.

Good Girls Beth Annie Ruby
Jordin Althaus/NBC

Good Girls

Another canceled series, this NBC crime dramedy closed out its four-season run on July 22, with Beth (Christina Hendricks) taking charge of her criminal enterprise, Ruby (Retta) getting an ultimatum from Stan (Reno Wilson), and Annie (Mae Whitman) ending up in handcuffs.

Judge Judy Judith Sheindlin
Ron Jaffe/CBS

Judge Judy

Judith Sheindlin banged the gavel on her long-running court show for the last time on July 23, ending the syndicated series after nearly a quarter-century on air. Not to worry, though: She’s already back with a similar show on IMDb TV.

Home & Family Debbie Matenopoulos Cameron Mathison
Kim Nunneley/Alexx Henry Studios, LLC./Crown Media

Home & Family

Another show that launched in 1996, this Hallmark Channel daytime chat fest began its run as The Home and Family Show on The Family Channel and ended August 4, with Debbie Matenopoulos and Cameron Mathison serving as its final hosts.

Tom Ellis as Lucifer
John P. Fleenor/Netflix

Lucifer

Following six seasons on Fox and Netflix, this supernatural detective series journeyed into the afterlife on September 10, with the titular Tom Ellis character realizing his destiny is to become a “healer” of Hell.

Andre Braugher as Ray Holt on Brooklyn Nine-Nine
John P. Fleenor/NBC

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

This cop comedy, which aired on Fox and then NBC for eight seasons, wrapped up on September 16. In the final installment, Holt (Andre Braugher) and Amy (Melissa Fumero) leave the Nine-Nine to head up a police reform program—after one more heist with their soon-to-be former colleagues.

Supergirl Kara Danvers Melissa Benoist
Dean Buscher/The CW

Supergirl

This CW Arrowverse series ended its six-season run on Nov. 9. After one last battle royale—with Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) and her superhero friends on one side and Lex (Jon Cryer) and Nyxly (Peta Sergeant) on the other—Kara gets a promotion to editor-in-chief and goes public with her caped alter-ego.

Lost in Space - Robot with Max Jenkins as Will - Season 3
Diyah Pera/Netflix

Lost in Space

The third and final season of this Netflix sci-fi show started streaming on Dec. 3, and in the series finale, the Robinsons and their robot allies save the planet Alpha Centuari from SAR’s forces, and Will (Maxwell Jenkins) and Robot (Brian Steele) venture off together for destinations unknown.

Pen15 - Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle
Alex Lombardi/Hulu

Pen15

Hulu’s Y2K-set middle-school comedy ended with the release of the second part of Season 2 on Decmber 3, with Maya (Maya Erskine) and Anna (Anna Konkle) solidifying their BFF status—and imagining moments in their future friendship—after ups and downs in their first romances.

Insecure - Issa Rae
Merie Wallace/HBO

Insecure

How will it all end up for Issa (Issa Rae), Molly (Yvonne Orji), and their friends and love interests? We’ll find it soon: The HBO comedy is ending with its fifth-season finale, scheduled for December 26.