Renewals and Cancellations: John Oliver, Lee Pace, 'Reacher,' Jeremy Clarkson

By Dustin Rowles | TV | December 5, 2023 |

By Dustin Rowles | TV | December 5, 2023 |

Here is what the studio and network Gods have decided since last we checked in:

— Apple TV has one of the lower cancellation rates among the streamers, in part because they have a lot of money and in part, because they typically allow their series a chance to find an audience. Alas, two seasons was enough for their basketball drama starring O’Shea Jackson, Swagger, which I swear was the next series on my catch-up list. I have only myself to blame.

— On the other hand, Apple TV has renewed Foundation for a third season, no thanks to me. I dropped out after the second-season premiere because I apparently had no patience for the series any longer, though I understand that the second season was a vast improvement over the otherwise promising first season.

— Meanwhile, Josh Gad has confirmed that Apple TV+ also nixed Central Park after three seasons. That’s not bad for a streaming animated series, to be honest.

— Back on the renewals side of the ledger, not all of HBO’s decisions have been bad, as the network has seen fit to not only renew Last Week Tomight but renew it for three more seasons, through 2026. I wish that HBO would also grab the recently canceled The Problem with Jon Stewart and air it during the many Last Week Tonight hiatuses.

— Season two of Prime Video’s Reacher premieres on December 15th. They’re so confident in it that they have also renewed it for season three. I don’t blame them. Reacher is awesome. Hopefully, they will be able to produce the next season more quickly.

— Prime Video giveth and they also taketh away, canceling Abby Ajayi’s The Riches after one season.

— However, despite Jeremy Clarkson’s cancellation, Prime Video has still decided to renew his farming series Clarkson’s Farm for a fourth season, notwithstanding his Meghan Markle tirade.

— Netflix has renewed The Upshaws for a fourth season. The popular multi-cam sitcom from creator Wanda Sykes also stars Mike Epps and Kim Fields.

— Finally, over on NBC, the network has renewed two procedurals that they’d kept in their back pocket for the Holywood strikes: Found and The Irrational. I love the leads in both shows, but they weren’t enough for me to ignore the lackluster material, but good for Jesse L. Martin, Shanola Hampton, and Mark-Paul Gosselaar.