TV The 21 show cancellations that hurt the most in 2024 Our tribute to the premature ends that broke our hearts this year. By EW Staff Published on December 6, 2024 09:00AM EST Comments For TV fans, there's no greater tragedy than your favorite show getting canceled. And 2024 was an absolute bloodbath when it came to shows unexpectedly getting the axe. From beloved new series The Acolyte and My Lady Jane to longer-running cult favorites Evil and 9-1-1: Lone Star, there were almost too many shocking cancellations to count. So grab a tissue and prepare to cry one last time as Entertainment Weekly pays tribute to the 21 TV show cancellations that hurt the most this year. 01 of 21 'The Acolyte' (Disney+) Amandla Stenberg in 'The Acolyte'. Lucasfilm Ltd. We finally got a true dark side romance in the Star Wars universe, and then LucasFilm and Disney just canceled it. This is not the way! Set 100 years before The Phantom Menace in the final days of the High Republic, The Acolyte actually managed to break new ground in a galaxy far, far away in so many ways. With the diverse cast, heart-stopping action, extremely high stakes (and Jedi body count), and yeah, even that Darth Plagueis tease, the eight-episode first season charted a thrilling new direction for the franchise. But it was the shocking twist of Amandla Stenberg's Osha breaking bad and joining Manny Jacinto's the Stranger (a.k.a. Qimir) as his apprentice, teasing a future "Oshamir" romance as they held hands over a lightsaber in the finale, that made losing season 2 all the more soul crushing. Is it too late to memory wipe LucasFilm and Disney to reverse this decision? —Sydney Bucksbaum Seeing red: Inside The Acolyte's shocking bloodbath and big villain reveal 02 of 21 'My Lady Jane' (Prime Video) Emily Bader on 'My Lady Jane'. Jonathan Prime/Prime Video This cancellation really sucketh. A vibrant, irreverent take on history, this series sees doomed Lady Jane Grey (Emily Bader) transformed into a kickass heroine with a hunky hubby, Guildford Dudley (Edward Bluemel), who also happens to be a horse. For those craving shows akin to Bridgerton, My Lady Jane was just as romantic and far more fun. It really had it all: a playful, anachronistic approach; a swoony, sexy romance; and a deliciously entertaining cast of characters. With its The Princess Bride meets The Tudors vibes, My Lady Jane had the potential to go down in the annals of television history as one of the greats — now, it will just be remembered as an appalling case of TV executives fumbling the bag. —Maureen Lee Lenker 03 of 21 'Evil' (Paramount+) Mike Colter on 'Evil'. Elizabeth Fisher/Paramount+ Five words: Demon baby at the Vatican. What the hell was Paramount+ thinking, canceling Evil when creators Robert and Michelle King ended season 4 on such a wickedly enticing note? Though when we left Kristen (Katja Herbers) and Father David (Mike Colter) in Italy, they were no longer solving spooky mysteries with their favorite atheist, Ben (Aasif Mandvi), the adventures don’t have to be over. The Kings have plenty of ideas for a potential season 5 — and/or a spinoff featuring Sister Andrea (Andrea Martin) — so we’re not giving up hope yet. Come on Netflix, Hulu, Prime Video ... answer our prayers! —Kristen Baldwin 04 of 21 '9-1-1: Lonestar' (Fox) Rob Lowe on '9-1-1: Lonestar'. FOX via Getty The station 126 firefighters of 9-1-1: Lone Star are superheroes of sorts: first responders who put themselves at risk every episode and always make it out alive — even if they must survive a coma fever dream first. But just ahead of the season 5 premiere in September, Fox announced it would be the show’s last (a decision likely impacted by Disney’s acquisition of the studio behind the 9-1-1 franchise, also why the mothership series moved to ABC in 2023). It’s a shame, because Lone Star has delivered five-alarm drama all season, with Sierra McClain’s exit as Grace leading to fresh (and sometimes tragic) character journeys. And Carlos’ mission to solve his father’s murder brought some of the series’ tensest moments yet. Tommy’s cancer, Tarlos’ potential adoption journey ... there was so much story left to tell. At least we have three more episodes in the spring before the final flame dies out. —Patrick Gomez 05 of 21 'Walker' (The CW) Jared Padalecki on 'Walker'. The CW Walker got four seasons, which is more than a lot of shows on this list, so at least we can be thankful for that. But we can also still be completely devastated that the story of Cordell (Jared Padalecki) and his family feels like it was cut short. When Walker premiered in 2021, there was a lot of talk around reimagining the beloved Chuck Norris series, but the show quickly set itself apart from the original by diving into the world of a man grappling with the loss of his wife. And yet, it evolved to be so much more than that, creating a full cast of characters that you just wanted to spend time with, whether in a super dramatic life-or-death situation or by simply hanging out at the Side Step. To lose even a minute with them is sad. —Samantha Highfill 06 of 21 'Julia' (Max) Sarah Lancashire on 'Julia'. Seacia Pavao/HBO MAX At a time when TV schedules are filled with era-spanning dramas and action-packed procedurals, Max’s dramedy Julia was refreshing. It was a deep-dive into the world of Julia Child as she struggled to get her public television show about cooking, The French Chef, off the ground in the 1960s. That’s it. It featured very human emotions — insecurity, jealousy, and frustrations with sexism — as well as the always optimistic Child, played deftly by Sarah Lancashire. With funny and compelling storylines for the excellent supporting players, including Brittany Bradford, Judith Light, and Bebe Neuwirth, there was little else like it. So long to a show that felt as warm and cozy as digging into your favorite comfort food. —Raechal Shewfelt 07 of 21 'Our Flag Means Death' (Max) Rhys Darby on 'Our Flag Means Death'. Aaron Epstein/HBO Max People just don’t want to experience joy anymore. That’s the only reasonable explanation for what happened to Our Flag Means Death. How could HBO executives drink in all that is Rhys Darby playing a "Gentleman Pirate" as a glistening, golden mermaid, and Taika Waititi fully giving Blackbeard his unkempt silver daddy era and simply say, "Walk the plank?" The crew aboard the Revenge ship were like their own dysfunctional workplace comedy through scurvy scares, mutiny attempts, and sexual escapades, while Rhys' semi-delusional but always upbeat Stede Bonnet and Waititi's grumbling pirate savant gave us an older gay Heartstopper dream fantasy but with a lot more swashbuckling. Do we really want to live in Zaslav's reality, where we have 22 seasons of Bill Maher but no season 3 for the merriest of men? The math isn’t mathing. —Nick Romano How Our Flag Means Death transformed Rhys Darby into a merman 08 of 21 'American Born Chinese' (Disney+) Guanyin (Michelle Yeoh) and Wei-Chen (Jimmy Liu) in 'American Born Chinese.'. Disney+ "Exquisite" and "charming" are among the terms that have been used to describe this well-received adaptation of Gene Luen Yang's absorbing graphic novel, American Born Chinese, which featured power players Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Daniel Wu. What exactly warranted the axe? The rich storyline rooted in ancient Chinese mythology? The thrilling fight sequences featuring some of the most venerable action stars in the biz? The stacked guest stars (James Hong! Stephanie Hsu! Jimmy O. Yang!)? It was, reportedly, viewership. If only the powers that be at Disney invested the same energy that goes into those never-ending Marvel productions and better championed this gem, led by the underrated Ben Wang and Jimmy Liu. And don’t even get me started on that finale cliffhanger. —Jessica Wang 09 of 21 'Dead Boy Detectives' (Netflix) George Rexstrew as Edwin Payne, Jayden Revri as Charles Rowland and Kassius Nelson as Crystal Palace on 'Dead Boy Detectives'. Ed Araquel/Netflix The first (and now only) season of Dead Boy Detectives achieved what every spinoff attempts: It built out an incredibly rich world that was connected to its flagship series, The Sandman, but could also easily stand on its own. With the world’s two most precious dead boys, Charles (Jayden Revri) and Edwin (George Rexstrew), at the center of it, the show gave viewers magical fun, intriguing mystery, a bit of romance, and most of all, something that felt entirely unique. (And that’s not even mentioning the superb supporting characters, including two very funny Sprites!) To be canceled after one season? Those boys deserved a better afterlife. —SH Dead Boy Detectives stars highlight their favorite cases of the season 10 of 21 'That 90's Show' (Netflix) Ashley Aufderheide, Sam Morelos, Max Donovan, Mace Coronel, Callie Haverda, 'That '90s Show'. Patrick Wymore/Netflix We're not going to pretend That '90s Show was as good as its parent series That '70s Show — not even Kelso (Ashton Kutcher) would be dumb enough to believe that. But it still felt just as good hanging out down the street (the same old thing we did last week) with the new generation of teens taking over the Forman's basement in Netflix's sweet and easily bingeable revival. What made the cancellation worse was that Part 3 ended on a massive emotional cliffhanger, as Eric (Topher Grace) and Donna's (Laura Prepon) daughter Leia (Callie Haverda) got caught by her disappointed mom and grandparents Kitty (Debra Jo Rupp) and Red (Kurtwood Smith) smoking weed on the roof of the school. Now we'll never know what happens next. —SB 11 of 21 'Minx' (Starz) Idara Victor, Jake Johnson, Ophelia Lovibond, and Oscar Montoya on 'Minx'. HBO MAX What’s worse than being canceled? Being canceled twice. Minx met that ignominious fate after first being canceled in late 2022, despite being picked up for a second season by Max and nearly having completed filming. Starz swooped in to save the audacious, feminist comedy, giving season 2 a home. But alas, glorious bell bottoms, sex-positive storytelling, and Jake Johnson looking absurdly sexy in shirts unbuttoned to his navel were all too pure and good for this world. Minx’s reprieve was short-lived with season 2 being felled by limited press opportunities during the 2023 strikes — and sadly, third chances aren’t really a thing. —MLL 12 of 21 'The Girls on the Bus' (Max) Carla Gugino and Melissa Benoist on 'The Girls on the Bus'. Francisco Roman/Max This dramedy starring Melissa Benoist, Carla Gugino, Christina Elmore, and Natasha Behnam as four very different reporters covering a fictional presidential campaign was exactly the soothing, silly, and hopelessly idealistic series we needed during this dark and contentious election year. And now that the votes are in ... ? Well, we could really use another season of The Girls on the Bus' gentle, "if we work together, it’ll all be okay" energy. —K.B. The Girls on the Bus bosses talk season 1 finale, season 2 plan 13 of 21 'Schmigadoon!' (Apple TV+) Keegan-Michael Key, Cecily Strong, 'Schmigadoon'. Musical theater is having a moment (hi, Wicked box office numbers), a common occurrence when the real world is too terrible to face. That’s why we could sing a depressing ballad about the cancellation of Schmigadoon!, a clever, ingenious send-up and celebration of the musical genre. After season 1 spoofed the Golden Age musical, season 2 turned to the darker content of the 1960's and '70s. Season 3 was clearly headed to the 1980's and '90s and the age of the mega-musical, which is perhaps the Broadway era most ripe for skewering. Not only was the show full of easter eggs for diehard musical theater nerds, but it also boasted brilliant songwriting and an insightful examination of the ways that musicals allow us to face our own darkest fears and buoyant hopes. Sadly, now the show will remain just a memory, all alone in the moonlight. —M.L.L. How Schmigadoon crafted that hilarious dream ballet joke 14 of 21 'UnPrisoned' (Hulu) Delroy Lindo and Kerry Washingon on 'UnPrisoned'. Kelsey McNeal/Hulu Look, we know it’s tough out here for streaming comedies, but did Hulu really have to kill this sweet and funny series from Tracy McMillan? Starring Kerry Washington as Paige, an Instagram-famous therapist, and Delroy Lindo as Edwin, her ex-felon father, UnPrisoned delivered dysfunctional-family comedy with heart, whimsical humor, and a string of fabulous guest stars (John Stamos, Oliver Hudson, Brandee Evans). Infuriatingly, season 2 ended on a cliffhanger — Paige’s biological mom showed up out of nowhere! — and now we’ll never know why. And streamers like Hulu wonder why viewers have commitment issues. —K.B. 15 of 21 'Chucky' (Syfy) Devon Sawa, Lara Jean Chorostecki, Callum Vinson, and Jackson Kelly on 'Chucky'. Shane Mahood/SYFY The Child's Play franchise, with its foul-mouthed, animatronic puppet star Chucky, had become one of the most inventive and constantly surprising series on television — and far and away the best horror comedy — since its 2021 premiere. The key to Chucky's wild originality and compulsive watchability is Don Mancini, writer of the original Child's Play film, who's been involved with nearly every project in the extended cinematic universe. You will not find the burdensome lore of Halloween, the wildly imbalanced tonal swings of Friday the 13th, or recent cliff dive in quality of Scream, here with Mancini at the head of the table. Alas, you won't find anything any longer either, as SyFy and USA canceled the series after its third season. White House coup plots, Jennifer Tilly playing herself possessed by the spirit of the demon doll Tiffany, and Chucky grappling with his own morality couldn't save this tenacious little series. But thanks to Mancini's relentless creative energy, we at least get to savor a whole hell of a lot packed into three seasons in perpetuity. —Ryan Coleman 16 of 21 'Station 19' (ABC) 'Station 19'. John Fleenor/ABC via Getty Images Station 19 was a chosen family for its characters as well as the show’s viewers, and the series finale did a disservice to all of us. During the hour, Captain Andy Herrera (Jaina Lee Ortiz) saw aspirational potential futures for her work family when she was knocked out during a wildfire, which means we’ll never know what actually happens to most of the characters viewers loved. In the end, a flash forward reveals three facts: Maya is Captain of Station 19, young Pure follows in her father's (the late Dean Miller, played by Okieriete Onaodowan) footsteps as a probationary firefighter, and Andy herself is Fire Chief. The series was built around Andy working her way up the ladder at the department, so for Station 19 to barely allow viewers to enjoy her being Captain and jump straight to Fire Chief is a shame. —Alamin Yohannes 17 of 21 'Arcane: League of Legends' (Netflix) Hailee Steinfeld as Vi and Ella Purnell as Jinx in 'Arcane' Season 2. NETFLIX Reportedly the most expensive animated series ever, Arcane: League of Legends' first season won four Emmys. But was the 18-episode show worth the money? If the series, based on Riot Games' League of Legends video game and boasting an engaging story and gorgeous visuals, had reached its five-season goal, it certainly would have been. Squeezing out only two seasons, however, suggests a massive mismanagement of funds. (Variety generously chalks it up to Riot's "inexperience navigating the intricacies of entertainment production.") Whatever the backstory, Arcane’s reception from Netflix viewers worldwide was huge, and professional TV critics eventually came around — Riot didn’t send screeners of season 1 to critics, opting instead to allow gamer-fans' word of mouth to sell the series. Professional critics, therefore, ignored season 1, resulting in a dearth of endorsements from "reliable sources." Season 2 of what could have been a legendary animated series just concluded. —Debbie Day 18 of 21 'Outer Range' (Prime Video) 'Outer Range'. Richard Foreman Jr. SMPSP/Amazon Prime With new streaming services cropping up all the time, proliferating more series into an already crowded TV landscape, it's harder than ever to claim that any one show is "unlike anything on TV." But Prime Video's sci-fi Western Outer Range really does stand alone. The streamer announced the series won't be returning after its second season, despite remaining on the Nielsen top 10 streaming charts for over a month following its premiere. If Outer Range could claim any ancestor it would be The Leftovers, Damon Lindelof and Tom Perotta's genre-defying, Peabody-winning exploration of faith and belonging. HBO gave that series far more creative latitude than Prime seems to have given Outer Range, which follows the discovery of a mysterious void by a rancher (Josh Brolin), his tough-as-nails wife (Lili Taylor), and an enigmatic drifter (Imogen Poots). Outer Range's first season was admittedly scattered, but compellingly so, with creator Brian Watkins testing out narrative styles, thematic concerns, and aesthetic arrangements that finally began to cohere in season 2. Outer Range had the potential to be big, as limitless and engrossing as the void. But fans will just have to be content with rewatches. —R.C. 19 of 21 'Vikings: Valhalla' (Netflix) 'Vikings: Valhalla'. Bernard Walsh/Netflix When we first heard Vikings: Valhalla would feature the adventures of Leif Erikson (Sam Corlett), our thoughts immediately turned to the historical figure’s storied first contact with North America and its Native peoples approximately 500 years before Christopher Columbus. Leif mentions his childhood sighting of the golden land throughout the series. As his story slowly inches toward the anticipated exploration, we slog through familiar stories of vikings’ pillaging and politics — how many times is Kattegat conquered between Vikings and its sequel? The series disappointingly ends with the voyage that would result in Leif’s "discovery." Guess we’ll have to rewatch Mads Mikkelsen in Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2009 film Valhalla Rising for the fix we’d so hoped to get in a fourth season of Vikings: Valhalla. —D.D. 20 of 21 'Rap Sh!t' (Max) 'Rap Sh!t'. Alicia Vera/HBO Max Let us see Shawna (Aida Osman) and Mia (KaMillion) be great, you cowards! The journey of Rap Sh!t's rap duo took some inspiration from the City Girls, but we never saw them reach stardom. Just as the show was really finding its footing, it ended. We’ll never know if Shawna ended up behind bars or see them find their way through the male-dominated industry. The last we saw the duo they were compromising some of their own morals and made a huge step forward in their career — a move that set up the friend they fired as their manager (played by fan-favorite Jonica Booth). Plus, think of all the absolute bops we’ll never hear! Instead we’ll have the lyrics of their first viral track as a reminder: "I'ma spend his cream, seduce and scheme." —A.Y. Inside the making of Rap Sh!t's bops 21 of 21 'Couple to Throuple' (Peacock) 'Couple to Throuple'. Paul Castillero/PEACOCK Come on, Peacock! We were having fun. Couple to Throuple delivered an intoxicating mix of love, lust, chaos, and chosen family. It was a unicorn of a show that gave us an in-depth look at what couples wanting a third may go through in a dating TV show landscape that often feels formulaic. Despite a slew of twists to amp up the drama, these shows often lead to the same destination: Two people in love. Couple to Throuple takes a step toward a world where dating includes more than two people living behind a white picket fence. No one is saying it’s an expansive look at non-monogamous relationships, but it was a damn good time. —A.Y.