Netflix Has Already Canceled 10 Shows This Year After Just One Season

Throughout the history of television, it's rare that a show truly hits its stride in its first season. In fact, plenty of beloved, long-running series needed time to settle into their identity. Some were even downright tough to watch early on.

Even now-iconic shows like The Office, Friends, Parks and Recreation, and even Breaking Bad got off to relatively slow starts in their first seasons before blooming into the beloved and culturally relevant series that they are today. The fact is, characters, plots, themes, and storylines usually need a season or two of development before the show reaches its potential.

Sadly, in the streaming era, most shows don't really ever get that chance.

This year alone, Netflix has already canceled shows after just a single season, cutting them off before they had really even had a chance to bloom. Here's a complete list of the shows that Netflix has canceled this year after just a single season, including one from the Duffer Brothers, even despite their success with Stranger Things.

The Boroughs

The Duffer Bros, Matt and Ross, are the creators of Stranger Things, which is the most-watched Netflix series of all time. But even that was not enough to save their new show from cancellation after just one season.

Despite strong viewership and high praise from critics, Netflix quietly canceled The Boroughs after just one season, deciding not to renew the show.

The decision came while the show was still ranked amongst Netflix's top-five most-watched shows and just weeks after it peaked at No. 1. The show was given a 97 percent "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 91 percent rating with "Top Critics" on the platform.

While Netflix never confirmed why the show was canceled, The Hollywood Reporter reported that an expensive budget played a role as well as the Duffer brothers' decision to leave Netflix for Paramount+.

The Abandons

While The Abandons seemed well positioned to ride the renewed interest in Westerns that was created by Yellowstone, the show will not get that opportunity.

After a strong start, viewership dropped off fast after a promising debut, and Netflix canceled the big-budget drama after one season, even though it was technically one of its most-watched shows.

Showrunner Kurt Sutter wasn't shy about his frustration, calling out Netflix on social media for prioritizing "algorithms" over the "potentially beautiful project."

"Dear Netflix, Next time fear compels you to choose the algorithm over a creator's vision, remember how that choice unraveled a potentially beautiful project," he wrote after the show's cancellation.

Sutter's full vision for the series will now go unrealized.

Terminator Zero

Though Terminator Zero was praised by almost everyone who gave it a chance, the high praise wasn't enough to spare it from cancellation.

Creator Mattson Tomlin confirmed earlier this year that the series, which was set in James Cameron and Gale Anne Hurd's Terminator universe, had been quietly canceled because "not nearly enough people watched it."

Tomlin had mapped out two additional seasons that will now never happen.

"It was cancelled. The critical and audience reception to it was tremendous, but at the end of the day, not nearly enough people watched it," he wrote in a post on X. "I would've loved to deliver on the Future War I had planned in seasons 2 and 3, but I'm also very happy with how it feels contained as is."

Class

Unlike the other shows on this list, Class actually was initially renewed by Netflix and given a second season. However, Netflix apparently changed its mind.

The show, a Hindi-language take on the Spanish hit Elite, followed "the turbulent integration of three working-class students into a private high school that caters to wealthy families."

Despite the initial renewal, star Gurfateh Pirzada confirmed on Instagram that a second season wasn't happening, after all.

"Unfortunately we could not give you another season because life usually has other plans… l still remember it was the last week of 2024 when I heard the news of class being cancelled and I came down with a high fever and thought not again…not another one of my projects getting shelved," he said at the time.

Netflix never made it official, but it quietly scrubbed the "It's Official: Another Season is Coming" tag from the show's page.

Miss Governor

Tyler Perry's Miss Governor, which changed its name from She the People partway through its run, is another show that was canceled by Netflix this year despite just one season.

The comedy followed Antoinette Dunkerson (Terri J. Vaughn), Mississippi's first Black lieutenant governor, as she juggles a chaotic family alongside an old-school boss.

It debuted in May 2025 and ran for a single season before What's On Netflix reported the show had been "effectively canceled."

Strip Law

Creator Cullen Crawford clearly had more story to tell with animated series Strip Law, but those plans are dead after he revealed this month that Netflix had quietly shut it down.

"So they told me there's not going to be anymore Strip Law at Netflix," he said in a post on BlueSky. "I really cant be anything but grateful. at every phase it was made by talented people in pursuit of nothing but pure chaotic delirious joy and I'm so so proud of it thank you to everyone who gave it chance I thought it was funny."

Crawford also teased what fans are missing out on, noting there was "a whole lot of [expletive] we were gonna do."

F1: The Academy

While F1: The Academy spotlighted the all-female racing tier, it couldn't replicate the success of Drive to Survive and won't return for a second season.

The docuseries premiered in May 2025, and weak viewership numbers led What's on Netflix to report that the show's run would not continue.

What's in the Box?

Netflix's December game show What's in the Box?, which was hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, had contestants tackle trivia for the chance to win mystery prizes hidden in unmarked boxes.

As with the others on this list, there was no official cancellation announcement, but Matt Webb Mitovich of Matt's Inside Line reported there are "no plans" for additional episodes, confirming that the series had been canceled after just one season.

Pop The Balloon LIVE

Netflix's live dating reality series Pop The Balloon LIVE was initially launched as part of its push into live programming, but it ultimately failed to gain lasting traction with viewers.

As a result, the show has been rather unceremoniously canceled after just one season on the platform.

Selling the City

After just one season, Netflix decided to pulled the plug on Selling Sunset spinoff Selling the City, though the streamer is not giving up on the concept entirely.

The New York-based real estate reality series, which debuted in January 2025, centered on top Douglas Elliman agents as they competed in Manhattan's high-end housing market, much like Selling Sunset does in Southern California..

With this cancellation, Netflix appears to be concentrating its efforts on the hit show Selling Sunset rather than expanding the franchise through additional spinoffs.

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Jun 20, 2026, where it first appeared in the Entertainment section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published June 20, 2026 at 6:25 AM.