In the golden age of streaming, an increasing number of television shows are being released, offering endless entertainment options across platforms like Netflix, Max, Hulu, Disney Plus, and more. However, this abundance comes with a price. Every year, new and promising series are released, captivating audiences and building fan bases—only to be cancelled just as quickly, leaving viewers with unresolved plotlines and unanswered questions. 

In the past, traditional television networks heavily relied on advertisers and long-term viewer loyalty to make shows profitable and to sustain new episodes. Studios allowed time for shows to find their audiences, which enabled initial strugglers, like Parks and Recreation, to become iconic cultural staples.

However, the business model for streaming services is different. Prioritizing subscriptions over advertiser revenue, platforms are in constant competition with each other to produce fresh, enticing content to attract and retain subscribers. Yet this relentless drive for novelty often means that there is less incentive to continue funding shows that have already fulfilled their role of drawing in viewers. 

Here are some of the main reasons for these cancellations:

• Viewership Metrics: Streaming services meticulously track metrics, including how many users watch a show, how quickly they finish it, and whether they stay on the platform. If a series doesn’t perform exceptionally well within a short window of time after its release, it’s often cut.

• High production costs vs. short-term gains: As shows grow in popularity, production costs typically rise. For streaming platforms, it is often more cost-effective to replace these series with newer, cheaper content that could potentially become a larger hit. Moreover, many times, this focus on cost-efficiency drives platforms to replicate the formats of past successes, favoring spinoffs, reboots, and formulaic storytelling over experimental, original ideas. Consequently, more unique series are cancelled in favor of “safe bets,” leading to a noticeable decline in individuality and creativity across streaming content. 

• Binge Culture and high expectations: The binge model, where platforms release all episodes of a new season at once, allows fans to devour entire seasons in a weekend. However, it also leaves little room for shows to grow over time. Unlike traditional television with a weekly release schedule, bingeing compresses a show’s lifespan, making it simple to quickly assess its impact. Thus, even if a show has potential, if it doesn’t immediately become viral or create buzz, it risks cancellation.

For fans, the “curse” of these cancellations is deeply frustrating. Seasons often end on cliffhangers, leaving audiences emotionally invested in stories that are never properly concluded. 

Netflix’s Shadow and Bone is a recent and painful example of a show falling victim to this curse. Cancelled in November 2023 in the wake of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, the show’s demise came despite a passionate fanbase, solid reviews, and impressive viewership metrics. It hit #1 on multiple international charts and remained in Netflix’s top 10 most-watched shows in 86 countries for over six weeks. What added to the devastation was the cancellation of a spinoff series, Six of Crows, whose script was completed even before the release of Shadow and Bone’s second season. Fans protested, creating a Change.org petition that amassed 120,000 signatures in four days and funded two billboards. Nonetheless, despite its success and loyal audience, Netflix ultimately cited viewership metrics that fell just short of their high expectations and financial strains from the strikes as reasons for the cancellation.

Beyond Shadow and Bone, the pattern of cancellations is even starker when it comes to shows with more diverse representation, especially ones that prominently feature LGBTQ+ characters and storylines. Despite solid viewership and rampant fanbases, series such as I Am Not Okay With This or First Kill were cancelled after a single season. Netflix, in particular, has drawn criticism for this pattern—of the 28 original LGBTQ+ shows it released by the end of 2022, only seven were active past 3 seasons. This trend suggests a hesitancy among studios to commit to diverse storytelling, particularly when it comes to underrepresented queer identities. For instance, First Kill, which stars a Black lesbian lead, was cancelled despite almost 100 million hours viewed in its first month, outperforming other critically acclaimed queer series. Meanwhile, shows with queer male leads like Heartstopper or Young Royals that performed worse have enjoyed renewals, raising concerns about the diversity and authenticity of LGBTQ+ narratives.

These cancellations have created a cycle of hesitancy for viewers; many are reluctant to commit to watching a new series in fear that it may not last. This reluctance, another factor contributing to lower initial viewership, creates a paradox: fans avoid watching something new because they are afraid of being let down, leading to an ironic increase in the likelihood of a cut.