On June 2, 2026, Not Suitable For Work premiered its first episode on Hulu. Created by Mindy Kaling, producer of The Office and The Mindy Project, this workplace sitcom follows five tenants living in the same building as they navigate their careers in New York City. It all begins when AJ Pascarelli, a young and tenacious investment banker, moves in with her best friend Abby Chilukuri, a designer’s intern with an apartment that isn’t truly hers. Across the hall lives Davis Barrett, AJ’s coworker, Kel Washington, an aspiring actor, and Josh Teitelbaum, an old flame who will do anything to get the girls evicted. As time wears on, the five become close friends, living through the insane ups and downs of being in your twenties in the most famous city in the world. The series quickly garnered a fanbase due to its youthful humor, addictive character chemistry, and riveting plot twists. Weekly releases kept fans begging for more, and Not Suitable For Work drew comparisons to classic millennial sitcoms such as How I Met Your Mother, New Girl, and Friends. It seemed the series possessed all the attributes to become a Gen Z classic – from solid comedy to palpable romantic tension – until August 25th, when Hulu officially cancelled it.
Why?
At first glance, Not Suitable For Work’s swift cancellation is shocking, but it’s also an unfortunate reality for newer TV fans. Since the birth of the ten and eight episode orders, show cancellations have risen to an eerie degree. In the past year alone, Netflix has cancelled around twelve shows prematurely, with many only in their first season. A show’s renewal on streaming services is often tied closely with performance metrics, meaning that if a series isn’t outperforming its competitors, it can easily end up on the chopping block. Even so, platform performance does not always accurately measure fans’ dedication and series popularity. I Am Not Okay With This, a supernatural drama, was cancelled by Netflix over five years ago and yet social media is still buzzing about its memorable characters and fascinating arcs. Similarly, Netflix also opted to cancel popular book adaptation Shadow And Bone, which led to months on end of their marketing accounts being flooded with angry comments. Both of these shows, alongside Not Suitable For Work, had the potential to succeed and accumulate multiple seasons, so what exactly caused their downfall?
Designed To Fail
Once upon a time, the series standard was set at twenty two episodes. Through this format, famous comedy and drama shows such as One Tree Hill, The Office, and Gilmore Girls gained their fanbase. These lengthy seasons gave fans time to form intimate connections with the characters, as the bulk of episodes allotted for greater arcs and development. Even highly successful shows in recent years, namely Prime’s Off Campus, have felt the lack that comes with shorter seasons, with fans online dreaming of filler episodes. The assumption that attention spans have reduced to merely eight episode sections has been hurtful to the television industry as a whole. With such limited time, episodes are rushed to fit in as many plot points as possible, giving fans far less time to actively engage with the characters. This is especially true for sitcoms, where spontaneity is crucial. Shows in recent years have been so short that some fans don’t even bother to tune in, and opt to rewatch completed series instead.
Kaling’s newest series was likely cancelled because viewership fell below projections. Yet, as the creator herself points out, the series debuted at number one and remained in the top five throughout weekly releases. While Not Suitable for Work has a chance to come back if an offer arises from another streaming service, its brutal cancellation is a lesson to both those in the industry and outside: don’t get too attached.