Picture: Netflix / 20th Television
A New Year is just around the corner, and Netflix’s upcoming roster of Original titles includes over 100 returning shows that will be back for new seasons. Some Netflix shows remain unclear on whether they’ll ever return, and in the case of the below, we suspect they’ve all been quietly canceled.
For these shows, we refer to them as ghost canceled. This means they’ve been effectively canceled behind the scenes but haven’t been publicly announced. These announcements are either because Netflix won’t confirm or nobody behind the show publicly announced the cancelation.
As always, cancelations are due to a number of reasons. With a few of these, it’ll be purely down to the length of time since the last season premiered, and then you’ve got the usual issues of performance.
You can find our expanded full list of shows we believe are at risk of cancelation in our list of all canceled shows for 2023.
It’s important to note that Netflix hasn’t officially confirmed the cancelation of any of these titles and is based purely on the opinions of us here at What’s on Netflix.
Black Summer
Picture: Netflix
This year marked the two-year anniversary since the second season of the zombie apocalyptic series starring Jaime King dropped onto Netflix, and just given the amount of time that’s come since, we’re going to be calling it time on Black Summer and suggest it’s never coming back.
That’s despite the second season being a noticeable improvement over the first.
We have requested comment from The Asylum on multiple occasions over the past couple of years to no avail, and Netflix declined to comment on the future of Black Summer, too.
Master of None
Picture: Netflix
At one point, Master of None was quickly on its way to becoming Netflix’s biggest and most critically acclaimed comedy series. Starring Aziz Ansari, the show was effectively derailed following season 2 due to allegations against the comic. The show was given a third season (although it was dubbed Master of None Presents: Moments in Love), but the magic was lost, and we’ve heard nothing about any future since its May 2021 release.
Russian Doll
Picture: Netflix
Sticking with comedy, we have Russian Doll, which could’ve easily been a limited series following its eight-episode first season in 2019. After its success, however, it did get a second season renewal, which dropped in April 2022.
The show didn’t achieve the same level of buzz in its second season, even though it received more critical acclaim. Since the three-year gap between seasons 1 and 2 suggests a third season might be expected following the same timeline next year, we suspect the show may be concluded. This is likely due to Natasha Lyonne’s involvement in a multitude of other projects.
Ratched and The Politician
Pictures: Netflix
A Ryan Murphy one-two now. Acclaimed showrunner and writer first came to Netflix with his two shows developed at 20th Television before signing his lucrative Netflix deal and, more recently, signing back with Disney.
Ratched, starring Sarah Paulson, was initially given a two-season order, with the first batch of episodes touching down in 2020. Since then, we’ve heard not a peep from Netflix or anyone else about the future. We’ve spoken to a few sources on Ratched who all say that the show has gone dead for a few years now, and given the length of time that’s now between us and the first season dropping (despite the show’s success), none think it’ll get revived again.
In the case of The Politician, that got a two-season run at Netflix, but a third season has never been hinted at or confirmed likely, meaning it’s highly unlikely ever to return.
Never say never to either, though. Although Murphy is back with Disney, he remains working with Netflix on future seasons of The Watcher and MONSTER plus 20th Television itself has recently begun working with Netflix again on a new comedy project.
A Bunch of Comedy Shows from 2020
Picture: Netflix
Over the past few years, Netflix has improved significantly in decision-making for its shows. Nowadays, most shows are presented as limited series, setting expectations from the start or receiving early renewals. Alternatively, when they are canceled, it’s announced through trade publications in a timely manner. However, many shows that debuted in 2020 were not subject to this streamlined decision-making process. As a result, the future of a few comedies and dramas from that year remains uncertain. With almost four years having passed, it’s probably time to make a decision on the following:
- Medical Police – This Errin Hayes and Rob Huebel comedy series from Rob Corddry, Krister Johnson, Jonathan Stern, and David Wain served as a spin-off to Children’s Hospital but doesn’t look to be coming back now four years later.
- The Iliza Shlesinger Sketch Show – No word on this sketch comedy series since its debut in April 2020. Didn’t get critical acclaim or much viewership based on the available figures at the time.
- Brews Brothers – A scripted comedy series from Greg Schaffer and starring Alan Aisenberg and Mike Castle. Debuted in April 2020 with no word on its future since.
- Sneakerheads – Jay Longino was behind this six-episode series that got good reviews but looks like it didn’t get the viewership required for future seasons.
Mulligan
Picture: Netflix
Finally, we round out with the animated sitcom Mulligan. Coming from Bento Box Entertainment and 3 Arts Entertainment, we suspect Mulligan will go the way of many animated shows aimed at adults for Netflix in that if your name isn’t Big Mouth, you’re going to struggle to get renewed.
When the show was ordered, 20 episodes were picked up in total, with 10 of those releasing in the summer of 2023. What we don’t know, however, is whether another ten will see the light of day. As you may know, another animated show, Captain Fall, was given a similar upfront order. Still, only the first ten episodes dropped before getting canceled as the Hollywood strikes came to an end in November.
Like Captain Fall, Mulligan failed to get critical or audience acclaim and failed to enter the global top 10 series.
What show do you think is at risk of cancelation or has already been ghost canceled at Netflix? Let us know down below.
If you have any information on these shows – you can reach out to me anonymously over email [email protected].