Hello fans of television shows and limited series! If you’ve clicked on this article, you’ve probably endured heartbreak after your favourite show was cancelled after just one season, and trust us; we understand the terrible pain. From Netflix to Amazon Prime to Disney+ to Crave, no streaming service is safe from your favourite show being put on the chopping block. With new series being put out in a never-ending stream, it’s sometimes hard for a show to make its mark with just one season.
Here’s a list of five TV show-stopping series that definitely deserved more time.
Everything Sucks (2018)
Netflix’s series Everything Sucks takes place in high school during the formative years of their young, “misfit” teen characters. The first season takes place over a year and follows the chaotic mixings of the school’s theatre and audiovisual club. Euphoria’s Sydney Sweeney plays Emaline, an eccentric friend and dramatic diva who develops a romantic relationship with the protagonist, Kate.
The series was fresh and ahead of its time, as it showcased young Queer stories in a fast-paced episodic format. The high school setting was authentic, and its references to theatre and AV club culture resonated with many fans. After just one season, though, the series was cancelled due to lower viewership, despite the massive cliffhanger it left for season two.
I’m Not Okay With This (2020)
Another of Netflix’s biggest mistakes was cancelling its supernatural mystery series I’m Not Okay With This after just one season of the show. The series, which came out in 2020, starred Sophia Lillis and Wyatt Oleff, previously known for their work in the movies It and It Chapter 2. Only six episodes in length, the series left audiences angry with many unanswered questions when, due to raised production costs due to COVID-19, it was cancelled.
The series stood out on Netflix for its dynamic use of colour and supernatural symbolism for its strong Queer characters. As the story progresses, the series’ protagonist, Sydney, develops feelings for her best friend, Dina. It’s a show that highlights uncontrollable queer power through Sydney’s telekinesis, missed for its dry humour and shocking visuals.
A League of Their Own (2022)
Amazon Prime’s A League of Their Own is a brilliant historical series that focuses on Queer and unmarried women during the period of the 1940s. It centers around an independent women’s baseball team, the Rockford Peaches, as they attempt to snowball the first all-female league in America. Based on the 1992 film, A League of Their Own, the series dives deeper into the sexualities of these female baseball stars and how that would have clashed with the politics of the time.
The show features The Good Place’s D’Arcy Carden as the leading romantic love interest, and let me tell you, she’s HOT. Her chemistry with co-star and show writer, Abbi Jacobson, is phenomenal, and their steaming affair will keep you on the edge of your seat! Unfortunately, the show was cancelled due to the writer’s strike in 2023.
The Society (2019)
It’s a shame that Netflix has to appear three times on this list, but it would be wrong if I didn’t mention their awful choice of cancelling The Society after so much hope for a second season. The teen dystopian society series did well on the streaming services until it was ultimately cancelled, causing a huge uproar on social media. The ending of the first season left audiences with a mystery that placed the fate of their favourite characters in a very dire situation, and people still are mad about it.
Similar to I’m Not Okay With This, Netflix went on to explain the cancellation by blaming it on COVID-19. The lockdown halted production and made the show too expensive to continue. Fans of the series have continued to advocate for its renewal since the news, with a #SaveTheSociety trending on Twitter/X. There were talks of a graphic novel being released in 2024, but nothing has been announced.
Genera+ion (2021)
A true hidden gem, HBO Max’s Genera+ion is a series that can be watched on Crave and Amazon Prime. It’s a show that acts as an intensive character study, as it follows a close group of friends who meet and their school’s Gender and Sexualities Alliance club. From episode to episode, the series carries us from plotline to plotline through title cards that identify specific characters. At times, you’ll see a story play out of order as you watch events unfold from different perspectives throughout the episode.
It’s a complex series with a killer four-part episode cold-open that covers teen pregnancy, thoughts of suicide, experiences of Queerness, the fears of coming out, life with abusive parents, inappropriate relationships, and so much more. Each episode is stylistically creative with its use of title cards and fractured storytelling—you never expect what to see in its compelling 16 episodes. Although it was cancelled, gen-z producer Zelda Barnz stated on Entertainment Weekly that the show’s purpose “was simply to exist, as something intimate and honest for queer people.” If you haven’t gotten the chance to watch it yet, it’s a show to put on the top of your list.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?
When you look at these series and the characters that are in them, it becomes apparent that a lot of the best shows that are being cancelled center around Queer storylines that are often unrepresented. Of course, there have been unique LGTBQ+ series like Netflix’s Heartstopper and Yellowjackets from Paramount+ that have survived past one season, but there has also been a shocking amount of cancellations when it comes to shows with Queer identities. In Netflix’s The Society, there is even a deaf character who experiences heart-stopping gay romance, so is it a coincidence that all three of these series had Queer characters that didn’t like past one season?
To read more about the cancellation of LGBT+ TV shows, check out my article “Do Streaming Services Hate Lesbians?”