Netflix's Dumbest Cancellations Ever

Netflix may have turned us all into TV-bingeing zombies, but even zombies have feelings. And when the shows we love are suddenly cancelled — often without a fair explanation — we aren't exactly thrilled.

From one-and-done treasures like Everything Sucks! and Teenage Bounty Hunters to acclaimed shows like GLOW — which were promised additional seasons, only to have the rug pulled out from under them — TVLine is taking stock of the cancellations that we wish never happened.

To Netflix's credit, the streaming giant has been known to occasionally save beloved shows cancelled by other networks. (It did so with NBC's Manifest just a few hours ago, in fact.) But that doesn't give it a free pass to get us hooked on its own shows, only to unceremoniously cancel them without giving us closure. No, sir.

Read on to see the shows we picked as Netflix's most egregious cancellations, then drop a comment with your own additions to the list. Which shows were done dirty by the streaming giant?

Netflix's on-record reason for cancelling this coming-of-age teen dramedy was that, while it "had a passionate and good audience coming in, there were far few people than average who were completing the season. The audience size really just wasn't there." (If you say so!)

The only thing worse than cancelling a popular show is doing so after it's already been renewed. Such was the baffling fate of GLOW, which will no longer get the fourth season it was promised to tie up its many loose ends.

Never has the title of a show so accurately summed up how we feel about its untimely end. Netflix's official statement attributed the decision to "circumstances created by COVID," but that doesn't mean we have to accept it.

This is an especially difficult one to wrap our heads around. The adaptation of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely's graphic novels was cancelled less than a month after the debut of its eight-episode season, only for Netflix to announce that it's keeping the franchise alive via Supercrooks, a super villain-themed spinoff set in the Jupiter's Legacy universe... but featuring an entirely new cast.

Say what?

"For the viewership that it had, it was an expensive show," executive producer David Fincher told Vulture in late 2020. "I honestly don't think I [could make Season 3] for less than I did Season 2. And on some level, you have to be realistic about dollars have to equal eyeballs."

OK, but hear us out: Do we have to be realistic?

Shortly after it was revealed that this mind-bending sci-fi drama wouldn't be returning for a third season, co-creator and star Brit Marling posted, "The first time I heard the news, I had a good cry. So did one of our executives at Netflix who has been with us since the early days." You read that right — this cancellation was so egregious, it actually made Netflix cry.

This diverse reimagining of Norman Lear's classic '70s sitcom — for which Lear returned as an executive producer — developed a dedicated fan base, which was heartbroken when Netflix axed the show after three seasons... then thrilled when it briefly found new life on Pop TV. A true rollercoaster of emotions, this one.

We'll give Netflix some credit on this one — the streamer eventually released a wrap-up special in 2018, more than a year after crushing fans' spirits with a cancellation. But this compelling sci-fi trip, a triumph of queerness and creativity, still deserved so much better.

Real talk: This Lord of the Flies-esque drama was better than most teen fare being pushed out by the major broadcast networks. Even worse, it had already been renewed for a second season before Netflix changed its mind and decided to drop the axe. Rude!

Executive-produced by Jenji Kohan, this quirky dark comedy starred Maddie Phillips and Anjelica Bette Fellini as a pair of Christian-school students who became bounty hunters overnight. Under the tutelage of a professional (played by A Different World's Kadeem Harrison), the sisters got pretty good at hunting their prey — until the "season" finale, which tragically left viewers on a mother of a cliffhanger.

Netflix's loss was Adult Swim's gain. This bonkers cartoon about two beaked besties (voiced by Tiffany Haddish and Ali Wong) was rescued by Cartoon Network's late-night programming block shortly after Netflix gave it the boot. The second season proved so successful for Adult Swim, in fact, that a third season is currently on the way.