Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Dustin Rowles | TV | January 26, 2024
There have been few cancellations of late, which might sound like great news, but for the fact that there just aren’t a lot of series left to cancel. Since last we spoke, however, Apple TV+ has canceled Schmigadoon after two seasons, which is not a complete surprise. Apple TV+ has a longer leash than most, so the series likely did not gain much traction despite fans’ enthusiasm for season two. As someone who keeps track of such things, Schmigadoon didn’t spend much time on the streamer’s top 25 series, which is saying something given their relative dearth of shows (three canceled series — The Afterparty, See, and Truth Be Told — are still in the top 25, along with a few limited series that have long finished their runs).
HBO/Max, meanwhile, continues to scale back, canceling Rap Sh*t after two seasons. HBO/Max has also ended The Flight Attendant after two seasons, as well, but this was less Max’s decision and more Kaley Cuoco’s decision not to continue. She felt it had gone as far as it could go. Considering how less successful season two was compared to the phenomenal first season, I don’t disagree.
It’s also worth noting that Max is continuing to license out its archives to Netflix, the latest being Sex and the City, which is coming in April. It doesn’t speak well of its own streamer’s prospects, but I don’t have an issue with it. I watched most of HBO’s older shows on Netflix in the years before they had a streaming option (granted, many of them I watched on DVDs that were shipped to my home).
Finally, on the cancellation side of the ledger, Paramount+ has canned Wolf Pack after one season. That’s not much of a surprise, either — the series had zero buzz — but it’s too bad that Sarah Michelle Gellar still hasn’t found a successful series post Buffy.
There were no official pick-ups on the renewal front. However, Netflix has agreed to two more Harlen Coben adaptations as Fool Me Once continues to dominate the Netflix charts. Fool Me Once was the worst of the Coben adaptations I’ve seen, so I’m a little afraid of what’s left. There is no shortage of novels to choose from, as the man has written over 35, although around 10 of those are in the Myron Bolitar series, which Netflix has also licensed to adapt.
