TV Shows Cancelled in 2021
Every TV show whose run ended in 2021 and now carries a cancelled verdict — across every network and streamer in the catalogue. The biggest names are explained below, followed by the full list.
98 shows cancelled in 2021
The biggest cancellations of 2021
1. MacGyver
CBS's reboot of MacGyver had a decent enough run by modern broadcast standards, lasting five seasons and 94 episodes, but it never really escaped the shadow of the original or built the kind of passionate audience that keeps a procedural alive when the numbers start slipping. The show settled into CBS's reliable but aging Friday night lineup, which is not exactly where you park a show you believe in. Ratings eroded steadily over the course of its run, and by season five the audience had thinned to the point where renewal became a harder sell than cancellation.
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2. Good Girls
Good Girls was a solid mid-tier performer for NBC, but it never quite became the breakout hit the network needed it to be. The show pulled respectable numbers in its first season, drawing viewers with its premise of suburban mothers turning to crime, but the ratings declined steadily as it continued. By season four, viewership had dropped significantly from the pilot, and the cost of production outweighed what NBC could justify spending on a show that wasn't consistently winning its time slot or generating the kind of cultural conversation that might have sustained it through weak ratings.
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3. American Gods
American Gods arrived on STARZ with considerable fanfare, adapted from Neil Gaiman's beloved novel and showcasing the kind of ambitious world-building and high production values that prestige cable networks were pursuing in the 2010s. The show had a strong opening and critical credibility, but it never quite translated that into the sustained viewership numbers that networks need to justify expensive fantasy dramas. Over three seasons, the audience gradually contracted, a pattern common among genre shows that fail to break into the mainstream despite their devoted fans.
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4. Why Women Kill
Why Women Kill arrived at an awkward moment for CBS All Access, a streaming service still finding its footing and burning through money to build its original content library. The show itself was well-made and well-reviewed, with an 8.3 IMDb rating that reflected genuine quality in its writing and performances across its anthology format. But critical acclaim and a solid user base were not enough to overcome the economics of prestige television on a younger streaming platform that was simultaneously hemorrhaging subscribers and trying to figure out what kind of service it wanted to be.
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5. Prodigal Son
Prodigal Son had the misfortune of arriving during a period when Fox was scaling back its drama output and struggling to maintain viewership in an increasingly fragmented television market. The show debuted to solid ratings in 2019, with Tom Payne and Michael Sheen anchoring a stylish crime drama about a forensic psychologist assisting the NYPD while grappling with his serial killer father. But like many network dramas, it experienced a noticeable decline in its second season, dropping from around 8-9 million viewers to roughly 4-5 million by the time it wrapped. That kind of audience erosion matters enormously to broadcast networks, which depend on ad revenue and can't rely on the streaming economics that allow cable services to nurse shows along.
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6. Bonding
Netflix's decision to cancel Bonding after two seasons reflects the streamer's familiar pattern of cutting loose shows that fail to generate sustained momentum, regardless of critical reception. The show, which followed a woman entering the world of BDSM sex work, had built a modest fan base and earned a respectable 7.1 rating on IMDb, but those metrics apparently did not translate into the viewing numbers Netflix demands to justify continued investment. The gap between the second season's January 2021 release and the show's cancellation suggests the viewership had simply dwindled too far for the platform to see commercial value in a third outing.
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7. Condor
Condor arrived on AT&T's Audience network as a prestige spy thriller with solid bones, adapted from a James Grady novel that had already been twice adapted for film. The show found an audience that appreciated its deliberate pacing and thoughtful approach to espionage, as evidenced by its respectable 7.7 IMDb score. But critical acclaim and quality do not guarantee survival on a streamer, especially one as volatile as Audience proved to be.
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8. Good Witch
Good Witch ran for seven seasons on Hallmark Channel before the network decided not to renew it for an eighth season, ending the show's six-year run. The series had developed a loyal audience in Hallmark's core demographic, maintaining a solid IMDb rating of 7.3 throughout its life, but by the time the seventh season wrapped in July 2021, viewership patterns and network priorities had shifted. Hallmark Channel, like many traditional television networks, was facing pressure to manage budgets and retool its slate during a period when cord-cutting was accelerating and streaming services were fragmenting audiences.
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9. The Nevers
The Nevers arrived on HBO as an ambitious period fantasy series created by Joss Whedon, but it never found the audience size the network needed to justify its costs. The show aired only six episodes in spring 2021 before being shelved, and HBO ultimately cancelled it that November rather than commit to a second season. For a prestige drama set in Victorian London with extensive visual effects and a large ensemble cast, The Nevers was expensive to produce, and its ratings simply didn't match that investment. The show pulled decent critical scores and found passionate viewers, but HBO's economics demanded broader reach.
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10. Debris
Debris arrived on NBC in March 2021 with an intriguing premise: mysterious objects fall to Earth from a parallel universe, and two agents from rival nations must work together to investigate them. The show had the bones of something that could appeal to fans of procedural science fiction, yet it never found an audience. After just one season of 13 episodes, NBC cancelled it in May, cutting the story short before any real resolution could emerge.
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All shows cancelled in 2021
Frequently asked
- How many TV shows were cancelled in 2021?
- IsItRenewed tracks 98 TV shows with a cancelled verdict whose run ended in 2021.
- What was the biggest show cancelled in 2021?
- By audience popularity, MacGyver is the most popular 2021 cancelled show on this list.
- How does IsItRenewed decide a show was cancelled in 2021?
- A show is grouped under 2021 when its last episode aired that year and its current verdict is cancelled. The news archive does not reach that far back, so the last-aired year is used.