It often feels like Netflix can’t do any wrong - everything it makes ends up becoming massive, creating the closest we have in the 21st Century to ‘water-cooler moments’ as everyone rushes to devour as many episodes in as little time as possible. Black Mirror, Stranger Things, Orange is the New Black - everything Netflix does becomes a monster hit with entire weekends disappearing for millions of people as soon as a new season is dropped. Amazing!
Except, just occasionally, a show won’t go down as well as they’d hoped - even if it’s critically acclaimed.
Here are all the shows they’ve cancelled over the years, would you bring any of them back?
'Lady Dynamite'
Stand-up Maria Bamford’s cult meta-sitcom, which used a non-linear narrative to dive into mental health issues and weird fantasies, has just been cancelled after two seasons - while moving, hilarious and silly, it didn’t strike as much of a chord with wider audiences as it did with critics.
Total episodes: 20
Netflix audience rating: 6.6/10'Love'
Co-created by Judd Apatow, Love starred Gillian Jacobs and Paul Rust and was a sweary, warts-and-all, down-to-earth look at dating and relationships in this day and age. Well, sort of - in the first episode Rust’s character accidentally gets into a threesome with two sisters, which maybe isn’t the most “We’ve all been there” of incidents.
Total episodes: 22, although a final season filmed pre-cancellation is yet to come out
Netflix audience rating: 7.5/10'Haters Back Off!'
One of the first scripted comedy series on a mainstream delivery network to grow out of a YouTube series, HBO! (not to be confused with HBO the channel, which was actually turned town as an avenue for HBO! the show, possibly due to confusion at the whole initial-sharing thing) starred and was created by Colleen Ballinger, better known as Miranda Sings. Part surreal family sitcom, part deconstruction of society’s obsession with fame, cancellation didn’t kill the character - Bollinger still tours a Miranda Sings show, and counts Jerry Seinfeld among her fans.
Total episodes: 16
Netflix audience rating: 7.1'House of Cards'
Recently cancelled in the wake of Kevin Spacey’s appallingness, HoC began life as an adaptation of a BBC miniseries before growing into its own thing, the story of a ruthlessly ambitious couple who’ll do anything to advance themselves politically. A really important show in terms of the ‘legitimising’ of Netflix, it was the first web-only show to win major awards. The yet-to-be-broadcast final season is Spaceyless, centering instead on Robin Wright’s Claire Underwood.
Total episodes: 65, with eight final ones coming this year
Netflix audience rating: 7.5/10'Chelsea'
Netflix’s first attempt at a chat show, the thrice-weekly Chelsea was released on the platform 12 hours after each episode was filmed. It might have fared better on traditional television where timeliness and topicality have more cachet than on one where evergreen content is king.
Total episodes: 120
Netflix audience rating: 5.2/10'Gypsy'
This psychological thriller starring Naomi Watts unfortunately just couldn’t find its audience, leading to it being canned after one season.
Total episodes: 10
Netflix audience rating: 7.5/10'Sense8'
Matrix creators the Wachowskis conceived this beloved sci-fi show looking at aspects of life they felt were often ignored by science fiction - sexuality, spirituality and identity. Featuring an impressively diverse cast of both newcomers and big names, it won high acclaim both for its intricate plotting and its sensitive, empathetic handling of various issues.
Total episodes: 23, with a two-part finale coming this year
Netflix audience rating: 8.2/10'Girlboss'
Adapted from Sophia Amoruso’s bestselling autobiography, Girlboss polarised critics - the deliberately unlikeable lead character put some people off, although Britt Robertson’s portrayal was praised. Opinion was also divided on how positive the pro-ripping people off message of the show was.
Total episodes: 13
Netflix audience rating: 5.5/10'The Get-Down'
Baz Luhrmann’s love letter to the early days of hip-hop, punk and disco in New York was at the time the most expensive show Netflix had ever made, something which may well have factored in the decision to cap it at one season.
Total episodes: 11
Netflix audience rating: 7.8/10'Marco Polo'
Starring the awesome Benedict Wong as Kublai Khan, and Literally Just Some Bloke as Marco Polo, this massively expensive series failed to live up to Netflix’s expectations and was cancelled after just two seasons. Considering it was touted as “the new Game of Thrones”, that’s a shame, huh. If it was called Kublai Khan and just had Benedict Wong being ace, it would still be on.
Total episodes: 20, plus a Christmas special
Netflix audience rating: 8/10'Bloodline'
You know when something starts off great, but slowly slips in quality, with everything pining for the brilliance of the first season to return? That’s what happened to Bloodline - the first season got rave reviews across the board, being hailed as the new Breaking Bad in several corners. Then the second season left viewers a bit nonplussed, and the third led to it finally being cancelled.
Total episodes: 33
Netflix audience rating: 8.1/10'Lilyhammer'
The Sopranos’ Steven Van Zandt played a character remarkably similar to Silvio Dante in Netflix’s first original series. Van Zandt played Frank, a New York gangster who relocates to Lillehammer in Norway, and also co-wrote and scored the series.
Total episodes: 24
Netflix audience rating: 7.6/10'Hemlock Grove'
Like a sexy, grown-up Eerie, Indiana, Hemlock Grove dealt with all the mysterious goings-on in a small town. Produced by Eli ’Hostel’ Roth and starring Famke Janssen and Bill ‘Pennywise’ Skarsgård, it outdid House of Cards in terms of viewers on its first weekend, but only managed 33 episodes.
Total episodes: 33
Netflix audience rating: 6.7/10
