10 Unfortunate TV Cancelations of 2022

From Jan.1 through the end of June, there were around 357 scripted originals in the U.S., according to FX Networks chairman John Landgraf. That's 16% more than the previous year, which marked a new high of 559 overall. With so many series and shows, you can't expect everything to find an audience. And, unfortunately, TV cancel culture can strike at any time and for any reason. Still, that doesn't lessen the blow for viewers. And in 2022, fans were feeling the sting, as there were more than 100 series that were canceled or ended, including everything from big-budget prestige dramas to longtime critical darlings and comedy favorites. In honor of all the shows we lost, here are Adweek's 10 most disappointing cancelations: TV Ad Sales Chiefs and Buyers on How the Ad Market Changed in 2022 Westworld Created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy and based on a 1973 film of the same name, the android-driven, Western dystopian was the show HBO leaned on while Game of Thrones was on hiatus. The series had a big-name cast, including the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Ed Harris, Evan Rachel Wood and Tessa Thompson, and with a $100 million budget for Season 1, the company was, seemingly, all in on the series. Initially, the investment paid off for HBO. Following its 2016 debut, Westworld averaged 12 million viewers across platforms, ranking as the most-watched first season of an HBO show. Unfortunately, things short-circuited after that. Though Season 1 weaved together tangled timelines and complex stories, later seasons devolved into pure confusion, with even the series' actors—notably Harris—publicly acknowledging that they had no idea what was going on in the show. Despite that, it was still a surprise when HBO decided to pull the plug on its big-budgeted robot series as negotiations were already taking place for Season 5. Now the company is shipping the show off to FAST channels to improve the bottom line. Because when it comes to the series' former prestige and legacy, HBO says, "It doesn't look like anything to me." —Bill Bradley Los Espookys HBO’s marquee shows like Succession, House of the Dragon and Barry get the bulk of buzz and accolades, but the network’s peripheral programming is often every bit as rewarding. And that most certainly includes Los Espookys, the surreal comic gem about a group of friends in an unnamed Latin American country who are hired to help trick people by recreating various horror cliches. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the bizarre—yet somehow wholly coherent—dream logic that the entire show operates under. Co-creators Julio Torres (who plays the self-centered Andrés) and Ana Fabrega (free spirit Tati) exquisitely crafted 12 episodes of comedy perfection that must be seen to be believed (and even then, you might second-guess yourself). HBO pulled the plug on Los Espookys earlier this month after two seasons, all but guaranteeing its place as a Peak TV casualty that people will be discovering—and then lamenting its shamefully-too-brief existence—for years to come. —Jason Lynch Most of The CW Slate We're cheating a little bit here, seeing as The CW alone canceled more than a dozen series this year. Rest in peace to Batwoman, Charmed, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Dynasty, In the Dark, Legacies, Legend of the Hidden Temple, Naomi, 4400, Stargirl, Tom Swift and Roswell, New Mexico. It’s truly the end of an era at The CW, which axed nine series this spring—nearly half of the network’s entire slate—before announcing further cuts in the fall. The sheer amount of cancelations is an outlier for the network, which used to be one of the only Big Five networks to renew most of its series. But that all changed when The CW came under new ownership, with Nexstar Media Group acquiring 75% of the network this year. For a network that skews younger, The CW is going to look very different next year as it pares down content and tries to produce cheaper shows in an effort to be profitable by 2025. Signature series The Flash is speeding towards a final season next year, as are cult-favorites Riverdale and Nancy Drew. Hopefully, those three series will be able to wrap their seasons in ways that satisfy fans—unlike Legends of Tomorrow. —Mollie Cahillane Queer as Folk When Peacock announced the reboot of the hit series that ran for five seasons, fans were excited to see how the streamer would modernize such a cult favorite. The Peacock series took place in New Orleans and featured a more diverse cast than the previous version. The show tackled tough conversations like attacks on LGBTQ+ spaces, LGBTQ+ parenting and trans identity in a way that didn’t seem cliche. Although the show ended after one season, it served as proof that the desire for more LGBTQ+ content is there if the resources needed for success are provided. —Colin Daniels First Kill In one of many blows to LGBTQ+ fans this year, Netflix killed First Kill. The lesbian, campy teenage vampire drama series won’t be getting a sophomore season, prompting outrage from fans who found representation in the queer, Black storylines. First Kill followed the story of Juliette (a vampire) and Calliope (a monster hunter) accidentally falling in love as both teenagers attempted to make their first kill. According to reports, Netflix axed the series because of low viewership, a decision that baffled showrunner Felicia D. Henderson (who also pointed blame at the streamer for failing to market the show adequately). When the eight-episode first season premiered in June, it stayed in the global Netflix top 10 for three weeks, coming in only behind Stranger Things and Peaky Blinders. It’s one of the latest cancelations from Netflix of a series centering on romantic relationships between women, following the fate of Warrior Nun, Everything Sucks, I Am Not Okay With This, Teenage Bounty Hunters, One Day at a Time and Sense8. —M.C. Full Frontal With Samantha Bee One of the many casualties of the Warner Bros. Discovery merger, Full Frontal With Samantha Bee was canceled after seven seasons as the company continued to shape its new programming strategy. During its run, the series was critically-acclaimed and a staple of award shows. Samantha Bee's late-night show had been nominated at the Emmys for four consecutive years from 2017-2020 for Outstanding Variety Talk Series and recently earned a nod for Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series. Fortunately, the show got in one last joke following the cancelation news, tweeting, "We’re so thankful for our loyal audience, our amazing team, and that we got to annoy the right people every week—that there wasn't wrestling or baseball or a very special episode of Big Bang." Full Frontal's cancelation leaves just two women, Amber Ruffin on Peacock and Ziwe on Showtime, in a largely male-dominated late-night landscape. It also adds to a rough year for late-night overall. Trevor Noah left The Daily Show in December after hosting for seven years, and Desus & Mero ended earlier in the year after the comedy duo split, concluding the series after four seasons. —B.B. 25 TV Execs and Insiders on 2022’s Most Important, Yet Overlooked, Trends The Wilds The experiment is over, and oh, Prime Video, this one hurts. Amazon canceled young adult drama The Wilds three months after Season 2 premiered in May—yet another example of a series with prominent LGBTQ+ characters biting the dust in 2022. The show was one of the first young adult pilots ordered by Amazon Studios after Jennifer Salke took the streaming reins, the first YA pilot to premiere and the first of the genre to go to a second season. The Wilds first premiered in Dec. 2020 and followed a group of teenage girls stranded on a desert island after a plane crash under suspicious circumstances. Following the Season 1 premiere, Amazon swiftly renewed the series. However, The Wilds was initially pitched with a four-season narrative, so it seems its ending will remain in the wild. —M.C. E!'s Daily Pop and Nightly Pop When it comes to all things celebrity and entertainment news, E! is the go-to we all have trusted for years. It’s hit afternoon and night shows Daily Pop! And Nightly Pop kept everyone in the know on their latest celebrity couples, fashion trends and more all day long. Late this year, the network decided to take a new direction and ended both shows. Fans truly enjoyed not only the latest tea on Hollywood’s elite, but the natural chemistry the hosts of both shows shared. —C.D. Gordita Chronicles Created by Claudia Forestieri, and with high-profile executive producers Zoe Saldaña and Eva Longoria, Gordita Chronicles is a story through the eyes of Cucu Castelli (Olivia Goncalves), a reporter who narrates her childhood in the ’80s as a “gordita,” a.k.a. a slightly chubby child. Despite positive reviews and a growing fanbase, HBO Max canceled the series after one season, causing a social media backlash, with the hashtag #SaveGorditaChronicles trending shortly after the news. Warner Bros. Discovery later announced the series would leave HBO and possibly wind up on a third-party FAST provider. Forestieri previously told Adweek that if the series ever continues, future stories would explore the concept of developing an American identity as Cucu reinvents herself, falls in love with rock and roll, makes new friends (and enemies) and runs for class president. —B.B. Saved by the Bell Peacock's Saved By the Bell reboot started with California Governor Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) closing underfunded schools and sending students to other financially stable establishments, including Bayside. The new students brought realism to the show, where issues such as class, race, inclusion and sexuality couldn't always be solved in a quick 22 minutes. Saved by the Bell was a strange cancelation at the streamer. In Dec. 2020, NBC announced that its comedy reboot was its most-watched viewed original program to date. The Saved by the Bell reboot also won Outstanding Comedy Series at the GLAAD Media Awards in the spring. Despite that, not even the Bell could save this Peacock reboot. —B.B.

Year in Review

The 10 Most Unfortunate TV Cancelations of 2022

From prestige dramas such as Westworld to most of The CW slate

Westworld

Bill Bradley

About

Subscriptions

Events

Publications

Westworld

WORK SMARTER - LEARN, GROW AND BE INSPIRED.

Subscribe today!

Bill Bradley