TV Shows That Were Canceled In 2024 (So Far)
Getting canceled is the worst — especially when it happens to your favorite TV shows. Though audiences invest their precious time into every TV show they watch, sometimes they don't get much return on investment. Increasingly, shows are canceled after one or two seasons — and the "Netflix and chill" fun is over before it begins.
Studios swing the ax on series for a variety of reasons, not all of them good. Some shows are budget behemoths, while others don't find an audience fast enough. But for every cancelation that seems slightly pennywise, plenty are pound-foolish. Sometimes great shows seem to just get randomly sent to the big tax write-off graveyard in the sky.
This is already shaping up to be a brutal year for saying bye-bye to beloved media. Did any of your faves hit the chopping block? Read on to discover the way-too-long list of TV shows that have been canceled in 2024.
Obliterated
"Obliterated" is a raunchy action-comedy thriller series that ran on Netflix from 2023 to 2024. The show follows a ragtag anti-terrorist team as it disarms a bomb meant to destroy Las Vegas and then party hard after a huge success ... only, they disarmed a decoy bomb. Oops! Now they must fight their various highs and hangovers to stop the real bomb and save the city.
The show stars Nick Zano ("Legends of Tomorrow"), Shelley Hennig ("Teen Wolf"), and an ensemble cast that even includes Costa Ronin ("The Americans") as an arms dealer the group must contend with. It was brought to life by "Cobra Kai" creators Jon Hurwitz, Josh Heald, and Hayden Schlossberg. But even that show's relatively lengthy (for Netflix) season count couldn't save "Obliterated" from being, well — obliterated.
The show was canceled in February 2024, after one season, eight episodes, and four weeks in Nielsen's Top 10 streaming charts. While viewership numbers weren't grim, most reviews were. Aramide Tinubu wrote in Variety, "'Obliterated' is a baffling, nearly unwatchable hodgepodge of nonsense littered with penises and explosives." Regardless of lackluster reviews, the creators had hoped for a Season 2. "If there's a demand for it, we're certainly going to be looking for that next party city where our team could get into mischief and have another adventure," co-creator Hurwitz told Inverse. Schlossberg agreed, saying, "It's the 'White Lotus' of action comedies." Too bad "Obliterated" got pushed overboard — maybe it would have marked the start of an anthology series for hard-R action-comedies if it had been renewed for a Season 2.
This Fool
"This Fool" is a Hulu comedy that centers around comedian Chris Estrada, who plays Julio Lopez — a thirtysomething social worker who works at a South Central Los Angeles felon rehab program called "Hugs Not Thugs," where he is constantly challenged by his freshly-out-of-jail ex-gang-member cousin, Luis (Frankie Quiñones). Michael Imperioli, of "The Sopranos" and "The White Lotus" fame, rounds out the cast as an unlikely mentor figure for the two men.
"This Fool" took the streaming comedy world by storm during its 2022 debut year. In addition to being solidly funny, the series also explores a culture not often seen on-screen, and certainly not in such a quirky, ultimately positive and heartfelt light. Critics loved the show, and it ended up on "Best of" lists ranging from The New Yorker to Collider. Quiñones was even nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.
The show packed tons of talent on-screen and off. Fred Armisen ("Portlandia") produced the series and made a cameo appearance, and the show also features cameos from Miguel Sandoval, Rob Corddry, Bill Pullman, and David Arquette. But none of the show's heart and high-level talent could save it from cancelation after two seasons. The chop was announced in February 2024 via The Hollywood Reporter. The announcement confirmed that July 2023's "This Fool" Season 2 would be the show's last. Fans, critics, and columnists took the blow hard, and the hashtag "#savethisfool" tried to save the show on social media, but to no avail.
Schmigadoon
"Schmigadoon" is an Apple TV+ musical comedy series that follows a couple trying to reunite with each other during a hiking trip, but instead of walking into the woods, they walk into a literal musical. The show takes its name from the classic Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe musical "Brigadoon." The couple, played by Cecily Strong and Keegan-Michael Key, spend the first season in a world inspired by Golden Age musicals. Season 2 sees the couple search for their happy ending in Schmicago — a seedy, sexy world inspired by musicals of the 1960s and 1970s.
The show is sweet and life-affirming and packed with a showstopper cast that includes Tituss Burgess, Dove Cameron, Alan Cumming, and Kristen Chenoweth. While plenty of theater kids and critics were fans, the show was canceled in January 2024 — despite Season 3 having already been written. That season, some have speculated based on the Season 2 chandelier drop, might have been based on the Andrew Lloyd Weber power musicals of the 1980s. "The season is written (including 25 new songs), but we unfortunately won't be making it," show co-creator and songwriter Cinco Paul wrote on Instagram. However, even if the show isn't going on, all theater kids know the show must go on. Paul added on his Instagram post: "The optimist in me is convinced it's not the end of Schmigadoon...and maybe it's even a happy beginning." We'll sing to that.
Wolf Pack
Into every generation, a Slayer is born ... and then grows up to investigate a forest fire after a werewolf stampede. The Paramount+ teen drama "Wolf Pack" marked Sarah Michelle Gellar's return to supernatural TV, this time in the form of a sort of Watcher-figure, instead of the watched. Sadly, not even the "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" star could save "Wolf Pack" from that killer called Cancelation.
"Wolf Pack" was created by Jeff Davis, who also created the MTV Series "Teen Wolf." "Wolf Pack" was based on a successful YA series by Edo van Belkom and stars Armani Jackson, Bella Shepard, Chloe Rose Robertson, and Tyler Lawrence Gray as an unlikely pack of teens doing their best to survive high school — and being werewolves.
The first season ended on a cliffhanger in March 2023, but the decision to not make any more dropped in January 2024. Gellar, also an executive producer, once told The Hollywood Reporter there were plans for Season 2. Many outlets have speculated that production delays due to strikes contributed to the streamers' decision. The news came as a bummer to fans and to author van Belkom. "I'm sad myself," van Belkom posted to X (formerly known as Twitter), adding, "I feel more for the young actors and others who felt this was going to be their big break."
The Flight Attendant
"The Flight Attendant" is a comedic thriller about a hard-partying international flight attendant and the dead passenger she wakes up next to after a wild night out. This show has got it all: sex, lies, spies, travel — and journeys to sobriety. What "The Flight Attendant" didn't get, however, was a Season 3.
The show debuted on (what was then known as) HBO Max in 2020. It was a cultural hit right out the gate. Critics loved the show, and fans adored former "Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco's performance as the flight attendant herself, Cassie Bowden. HBO Max announced the show's Season 2 renewal the day after the Season 1 finale. The show (and Cuoco) received nine Emmy nominations for its first outing, and Season 2 aired in spring 2022. The official announcement that the show was canceled came in January 2024 — but the unofficial one came a bit earlier.
"There's definitely interest in doing a third season," Cuoco told People in 2022, after Season 2 came to a close. "I think for me, at this moment, the plane has landed." At the time, Cuoco didn't commit to doing more of the show — or not doing more, telling People it "could definitely be done or it's definitely open to continuing." Though ultimately, Cuoco turned in her flight attendant uniform, she seems to have found a niche in mystery thriller TV. She stars in Peacock's "Based on a True Story" — which was renewed for a Season 2 in 2023.
American Born Chinese
"American Born Chinese" debuted on Disney+ in 2023. Created by actor and producer Kelvin Yu, who also produces and writes for "Bob's Burgers," the show is a coming-of-age action comedy based on a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. The show follows average Chinese-American teen Jin Wang (Ben Wang) as he tries to fit in at school. Things get complicated when a new student arrives from China and gets stuck to Ben like glue.
Sun Wei-Chen (Jimmy Liu) is anything but average. He's loud, proud of his identity, and the son of Sun Wukong (Daniel Wu), the mythical Monkey King. Sun pulls Jin into a quest full of prophecies, dreams, and epic battles with Chinese legends. The show grapples with issues of identity and belonging through emotional moments, thrilling action, and sweet comedy — plus, its guest stars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, James Hong, and Stephanie Hsu make the show a de facto "Everything Everywhere All at Once" reunion.
While "American Born Chinese" was a hit with critics, Disney+ canceled the show after one season, announcing the decision in January 2024. Per Variety, sources close to the production claimed viewership wasn't high enough to continue producing such an expensive show. The show never broke into any Nielsen Top 10 rankings, either. As of this writing, no other streamer or network has picked up the show — despite its 94% Tomatometer rating and 81% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Julia
TV cancelations are not usually kind to TV shows about TV shows. And so it goes with "Julia," the Max series about 1960s cooking show pioneer Julia Child. The immaculately designed period piece was created by Daniel Goldfarb of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" fame. It stars British TV legend Sarah Lancashire in the title role; David Hyde Pierce as Julia's husband, Paul; and a stacked cast including Bebe Neuwirth, James Cromwell, and Isabella Rossellini.
While most of the storylines on "Julia" are drawn directly from Child's memoirs, the show takes some creative license with characters and composite characters to make the show as much about the joys and difficulties about being a "wonderful woman succeeding in a mediocre man's world" as it is about Child's own success story. The show centers on the loving, if increasingly complicated, dynamic between the Childs, as well as between Child and her friends and collaborators. It's also mostly a gentle, comforting, and super-stylish dramedy — that only got two seasons.
The show made its debut in 2022, and the cancelation announcement came in January 2024, along with a slew of other shows Max was slicing from its roster. In a statement shared with Variety, a Max spokesperson said: "Thanks to ... this heartful, sensual, and inspiring show, we can forever celebrate the incredible legacy of Julia Child." The show "Julia" is on Max to be discovered and celebrated by any foodies and Child fans (until Warner Bros. Discovery decides to delete it from its streaming library entirely). Bon appetit!
Secrets of Sulphur Springs
It's hard enough when a grown-up's favorite show gets canceled, but for a kid? Kids have utter devotion to their favorite shows, so it stings that the mystery series "Secrets of Sulphur Springs" was cruelly, suddenly dropped after its third season. The Disney Channel show follows a Chicago tween who moves to a possibly haunted hotel in a possibly haunted Louisiana town — and discovers a time travel portal that will let him and his friends save a present-day ghost from going missing back in her own time.
Time travel, ghosts, and tween hijinks sound like Disney Channel staples, and they're all here in one series. The kid cast of "Secrets of Sulphur Springs" is charming, too, featuring Preston Oliver ("This Is Us") and Kyliegh Curran ("Doctor Sleep") in lead roles. The young actors help sell the show's spooky but sweet sleepover energy, while the grown-ups in front of and behind the camera help the show emulate a family-friendly version of "The Shining."
Though no official reason for its cancelation was given in the January 2024 announcement, since the show's producers were working with a young cast and dealt with many pauses in production due to COVID-19, time may have run out to keep shooting for continuity with the young cast. Who knows? Maybe the writers just ran out of time puns for their episode titles.
Ratched
The world's most intimidating nurse started out as the terrifyingly tyrannical antagonist in Ken Kesey's 1962 novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," then became a pop culture icon in the 1975 film adaptation, and finally lived again — briefly — in the Netflix TV adaptation, "Ratched." The role was brought to life by Sarah Paulson, in a cast that also includes Cynthia Nixon and Sharon Stone.
The show was created by industry newcomer Evan Romansky and developed by producer Ryan Murphy. "Ratched" is a prequel to the events of "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and watches a slightly sweeter Nurse Ratched slide into a more sinister state — and plot twists that might even make a season of "American Horror Story" blush. The show is also visually stunning, employing a vibrant Technicolor aesthetic and colorful costumes to accompany the torturous tale.
Big things were expected for "Ratched" at the onset. Back in 2017, Netflix had reportedly set the show up for two seasons. The show premiered in 2020 at the No. 1 spot in the Nielsen ratings — but then COVID-19 hit. In 2022, Paulson told Variety she wasn't sure if there would be a Season 2 of "Ratched" after all. In 2023, Murphy set his sights on leaving Netflix for a new deal with Disney, further throwing the show into limbo. In February 2024, Paulson confirmed via a "Ratched" fan account video on X (formerly known as Twitter) that there would be no more "Ratched." Talk about torture.
Rap Sh!t
Issa Rae made herself a star by writing, starring in, and producing five seasons of relationship dramedy "Insecure." "Rap Sh!t" is her second major outing as a TV impresario — but the Max show got cut by Warner Bros. after just two seasons. "Rap Sh!t" is a rap dramedy with a stylish, socially conscious bent. The show revolves around two former childhood friends who reconnect as adults and ultimately form a rap duo that takes at least part of the world by storm.
Shawna Clark (Aida Osman) and Mia Knight (KaMillion) struggle to gain fame — but audiences root for them every step of the way. A central question of the show is whether an artist can stay true to themselves while also making money and getting famous. The show features a number of record producers and rappers playing themselves.
After the show's cancelation notice hit in January 2024, Rae told Porter: "You're seeing so many Black shows get canceled, you're seeing so many executives — especially on the [diversity, equity and inclusion] side — get canned. ... It's made me take more steps to try to be independent down the line if I have to." Rae also commented on the idea that studios are just "tightening belts" during an interview with Time, saying, "There is a bitterness of just like, who suffers from you guys pulling back? People of color always do."
Minx
"Minx" is a show so nice, it got canceled twice. The '70s-set series tracks the unlikely rise of a Playboy-style magazine geared toward women. It stars Ophelia Lovibond as the magazine's feminist creator and Jake Johnson as her smarmy yet sweet publisher. It's a role Johnson and his flowing '70s hair were born to play.
"Minx" is heartfelt, hilarious, and sometimes a bit hot under the collar — so of course, after a 2022 Season 2 renewal, HBO Max shockingly canceled the show. It's tough being in the cost-savings business, and "Minx" learned that lesson early on. While it had a strongly positive critical response, audiences took their time finding the show — and it cost "Minx" its wide-lapeled life.
Starz saved Season 2 from obscurity, but not long enough to make Season 3 happen. In 2023, Johnson told Deadline he was doubtful the quirky, funny, thoughtful show would be saved again. "I think the move to Starz, I think HBO kind of doing their HBO thing, or HBO Max, whatever it's called now, I think that was brutal for [the show]," Johnson explained, adding, "My guess is you can't beat something up that many times and keep going."
Our Flag Means Death
Sometimes a sweet, silly little pirate comedy about dismantling toxic masculinity and tapping into the power of love comes out of nowhere. Starring "Flight of the Conchords" alums Taika Waititi and Rhys Darby as Blackbeard and gentleman pirate Stede Bonnet, respectively, "Our Flag Means Death" is a sleeper hit that launched a fiercely devoted fandom. Unfortunately, the show got canceled for seemingly no reason after its Season 2 finale.
Created by David Jenkins ("People of Earth") and populated by an all-star comedy cast, the show managed to be romantic, heartbreaking, and hilarious. It enjoyed almost universal critical praise, especially for its queer characters and storylines. Plus, you can't swing a bit of fine red silk around Etsy or the internet without landing on a piece of "Our Flag Means Death" fan art or appreciation posts.
Still, in January 2024, Max announced that the show would not return. Fans didn't take the news lightly. Some of them raised enough money to pay for a billboard in Times Square asking for a renewal. "This is truly the best fandom. I am speechless. You make me feel like I belong to something," Jenkins posted on Instagram, along with a photo of the billboard. And isn't that what the best TV shows do, for however long they stay on? They make us feel like we belong to something.
Quantum Leap
The original "Quantum Leap" followed Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), a physicist who builds an accelerator that can send people back in time. Unfortunately for Beckett, when he decides to test his new machine, he's sent hurtling through the past and winds up inhabiting random bodies across different decades. The show lasted five seasons and ended with a title card that let us know Sam never made it back home, damned to spend the rest of his life leaping through time, albeit helping many people along the way.
While the updated "Quantum Leap" didn't have such a downbeat ending, we were all pretty sad when it was canceled in 2024. The sequel series was launched in 2022, starring Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song, who finds himself in the same exact situation as Sam Beckett — leaping through time, hopping from one body to another, and solving problems across history as he tries to get back to where he belongs. Despite being a reboot of one of TV's best time-travel shows, the new "Quantum Leap" was one of NBC's lowest-rated scripted originals, leading the network to pull the plug on the sci-fi series.
So Help Me Todd
"So Help Me Todd" was a TV success story, with Season 1 being a hit for CBS during its 2022-23 season. The dramedy followed down-on-his-luck Todd (Skylar Astin), a private detective who's hired by his successful attorney mother, Margaret (Marcia Gay Harden), to work for her law firm. Since Todd doesn't mind bending the rules a bit during his investigative work, he clashes quite a bit with his mom, who has a much more ironclad view of the law. "So Help Me Todd" was picked up for a second season, but sadly, it'll be the last we see of the legal series.
The show was canceled in early 2024 — and what makes it even more painful is that "So Help Me Todd" wasn't tanking in the ratings. In fact, it had pretty decent numbers. The problem was that every CBS show was doing well, and the network also wanted to introduce new series to its slate, so something had to go. And even though "So Help Me Todd" was doing well, a bunch of other shows were doing better, so it got the ax. Unfortunately, the showrunners didn't have time to prepare, and Season 2 ends on a very big cliffhanger that'll probably never be resolved.
Speaking about the cancelation on Instagram, creator Scott Prendergast wrote, "I took a story about me and my mom and hundreds of people came together to build it into something else, something huge, something beautiful, something funny. Thank you to everyone involved, and to all our viewers. One million thank yous will never be enough."
CSI: Vegas
Featuring the likes of William Petersen, Elisabeth Shue, Ted Danson, and Laurence Fishburne, the original "CSI" series gave birth to an entire franchise, with spin-offs set in locations like Miami and New York City. And while the original was set in Las Vegas, we returned to Sin City with the sequel series "CSI: Vegas" in 2021. Original stars William Petersen, Jorja Fox, and Wallace Langham all showed up, but the new show was led by Paula Newsome as Maxine "Max" Roby, head of the CSI crime lab.
"Vegas" ran for three seasons before meeting its untimely demise in 2024. Much like fellow CBS series "So Help Me Todd," the CSI series did solid numbers. Unfortunately, every show on the CBS slate was doing good numbers, and when you started comparing stats, "Vegas" was near the bottom of the pack. With the station wanting to make room for new programs, "CSI: Vegas" was forced to hand over its gun and badge. Per Deadline, there aren't any plans for the series to move over to Paramount+, so it's probably the last time we'll see Max Roby and her CSI crew.
NCIS: Hawai'i
At CBS, early 2024 was the best of times and the worst of times. The network's scripted shows were all doing solid numbers, but in order to make room for new programs — among other issues — CBS began axing several well-liked shows. As you've read, "So Help Me Todd" and "CSI: Vegas" were the first two to go, and sadly, "NCIS: Hawai'i" followed soon after.
"Hawai'i" was the first "NCIS" property to feature a female lead, with Vanessa Lachey playing Special Agent Jane Tennant, who leads a team based out of Pearl Harbor. Sadly, "Hawai'i" is also the first "NCIS" series to end without a proper finale, as the final episode of Season 3 wasn't intended to be the last one. As you might assume, the show's premature cancelation caused dismay among fans, both because the series was doing well in the ratings and because it featured an incredibly diverse cast.
In response to the series going off the air, series lead Vanessa Lachey wrote on Instagram, "Gutted, confused, blindsided. Grateful, confident, beloved fans! Processing this news and still being present with my family. I love you all! Mahalo Nui Loa." The program ends with the shortest run of any canceled "NCIS" series, a sad stat and a heartbreaking way for such a popular series to end.