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It’s a bleak time for streaming. Despite the fact that there’s more diversity and TV shows than ever, streamers have made it incredibly difficult for programs to move past a season or two, a discouraging prospect for anyone interested in making or watching serialized television.
A new and alarming trend that’s appeared this year is the fact that streamers like HBO Max can cancel and shelve project that were approved or in mid-production. It’s all contributing to a landscape that’s frightening for any kind of showrunner or working actor.
In the case of fans, this is mostly just sad. Over the years, TV programs have crunched their seasons and storylines in service of better quality, but also with the aim of reelng in more viewers with something digestible and punchy. And while we’re all watching more TV than ever, the streaming model favors big titles, those that are consumed globally and land awards, cutting opportunities for up and coming storytellers.
Warrior Nun
Despite a passionate fanbase that rallied to promote the series and spread the word over social media, “Warrior Nun” was canceled by Netflix after two seasons. The series premiered its second installment last month, with a season that was better and tighter than its first.
The Babysitter’s Club
“The Babysitter’s Club” was canceled by Netflix after two seasons this March. The series acquired a devoted fanbase and even won a couple of awards earlier this month at the Children & Family Emmys.
Minx
“Minx” was greenlit for a season 2, only for HBO Max to pull the plug at the last minute. Cast and crew had already wrapped production and now appear to be looking for a new home for the show.
Love, Victor
The Hulu series was greenlit for a third and final season that aired this year. Despite the fact that showrunners were warned ahead of time that the series would be its last, “Love, Victor” was the type of show that could have aired for longer, having plenty of storylines to dive into.
Gordita Chronicles
The series, produced by Eva Longoria, was canceled after one season. “Live-action kids and family programming will not be part of our programming focus in the immediate future, and as a result, we’ve had to make the very difficult decision to end Gordita Chronicles at HBO Max,” said a rep for HBO Max to Entertainment Weekly.
Los Espookys
“Los Espookys”, created by Fred Armisen, Ana Fabrega and Julio Torres, was canceled after two seasons. Aside from the fact that it’s was a show made by bilinguals for bilinguals, it was also a critical darling, earning top spots at some of the leading publications in the country
Love Life
The HBO Max anthology series was canceled following its second season, despite great reviews and a good following. To add insult to injury, HBO Max will be pulling the series from their website.
The Midnight Club
“The Midnight Club” appears to have been the last of Mike Flanagan’s projects with Netflix, a partnership that resulted with some of the streamers’ biggest hits. The series was canceled after one season.
“This was designed to be ongoing,” said Flanagan of the series. “If there isn’t one, I’ll put them up on Twitter. Then we’ll at least all be able to talk about it.”
Dollface
The Hulu series was canceled after two seasons. The series starred Kat Dennings, Brenda Song, Shay Mitchell and Esther Povitsky.
FBoy Island
Despite generating a lot of conversation on social media, “FBoy Island” was canceled after two seasons on HBO Max. “It was a huge success; season 2 more than season 1. And we can’t wait to make another, but we have no word yet,” said host Nikki Glaser to Entertainment Weekly before its cancellation. “But I’m really confident that there will be more. I’ve never been so sure of anything in my life when it comes to a show being picked up again.”