As it usually goes in this modern era of overstuffed television lineups, the 2024 TV schedule has been pockmarked with a plethora of major cancellations and series endings. Some of the unfortunate decisions were made with everyone’s agreement, as it went with The Conners’ final season announcement, but plenty of other shows suffered sudden axings that shocked all involved, including viewers.
Of all the dozens of TV cancellations that were announced throughout 2024, a relative handful hurt far more than the rest, which is what we’re focusing on here. Hopefully by talking things out here, I’ll be able to shed all my disappointment over not seeing these unfinished stories.
Chucky - Syfy/USA
Arguably the least predictable horror TV show in recent memory, Don Mancini’s Chucky brought the masochistic and murderous doll to the small screen for a host of new victims and surreal scenarios to dig his plastic teeth into. Every season found ways to pay homage to past eras of the Child’s Play franchise, but the third season turned everything up to 11, making it all the more disappointing when NBCUniversal chose to pop the batteries out the back of the doll, metaphorically speaking, in August 2024. Mancini has promised that Chucky’s story is far from over, but it’s unclear what platform’s logo he’ll be torturing next.
The Brothers Sun - Netflix
When Brad Falchuk and Byron Wu’s multi-genre series The Brothers Sun dropped on Netflix in January, viewers quickly celebrated the action, comedy and drama on display from cast members such as Michelle Yeoh, Justin Chien, and Sam Song Li, among others. Despite the early success, however, The streaming giant added it to its list of one-season cancellations just two months later, despite drawing in millions of early viewers.
Death And Other Details - Hulu
The always great Mandy Patinkin paired quite nicely with Violett Beane in Hulu’s murder-mystery Death and Other Details, created by Chicago P.D. producer Mike Weiss and The 100 writer/producer Heidi Cole Adams. And though its initial popularity waned due to viewer complaints about plotting and characters, more than enough positives were present to balance the arguable missteps, and the new mystery introduced in the first season finale seemed promising. Unfortunately, the audience turnover was apparently too noteworthy for Hulu execs to wave away, and the series’ new-murder cliffhanger became its official ending when Hulu canceled it eleven days after the finale debuted.
NCIS: Hawai'i - CBS
Despite the unspoken TV rule that as many NCIS shows as possible need to be airing in any given season, CBS made the shocking and fan-angering call to cancel NCIS: Hawai’i before its third season was even finished. The reasoning seemed to be a combination of costly Hawaiian productions and a lack of primetime real estate going into Fall 2024. Fans attempted to get the show a new home, but have failed thus far, making it unlikely that we’ll see Vanessa Lachey’s Jane Tennant and others back ont he small screen.
Dead Boy Detectives - Netflix
Based on the DC characters co-created by Neil Gaiman and Matt Wagner, Dead Boy Detectives began its existence in 2021 as a (then-HBO) Max pilot before getting snatched up by Netflix in early 2023, only to not actually get a release until April 2024. Fans thought it was worth the wait, however, and ate up George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri’s respective performances as Edwin and Charles. The supernatural cheer was short-lived, however, as Netflix canceled Dead Boy Detectives in August, and attempts to find it a new home have seemingly gone unfulfilled.
The Acolyte - Disney+
Live-action Star Wars purposefully veered away from the familiar with The Acolyte, created by Russian Doll’s Leslye Headland and set in an era that predated the Skywalker Saga chronologically. From character traits to story beats to casting decisions, The Acolyte was a constant target for vitriolic trolling, and despite earning a large amount of legitimately positive goodwill, Disney+ canceled the sci-fi adventure after a single season.
The Other Black Girl - Hulu
Author Zakiya Dalila Harris and Rashida Jones developed the former’s 2021 novel of the same name into the Hulu series The Other Black Girl, and it was a masterclass in exploring office-place mysteries, microaggressions, and bonkers conspiracies. With acclaimed performances from Sinclair Daniel and Ashleigh Murray as somewhat competitive workmates Nella and Hazel-May, the genre-bending series ended with a solid set-up for a second season, only to be canceled in May 2024, eight months after its September 2023 premiere.
Our Flag Means Death - Max
Creator David Jenkins pulled off a completely bonkers premise for a streaming comedy with Our Flag Means Death, telling a tale of a dysfunctional pirate crew headed up by Rhys Darby’s Stede Bonnet. With its stellar ensemble cast — including Taikia Waititi, Rory Kinnear, Ewan Bremner, Leslie Jones and many more — OFMD built up a dedicated cult fandom who celebrated the offbeat comedy and LGBTQ+ focus, and were sad about its dwindling plot threads not being explored in a won’t-happen-now third season.
So Help Me Todd - CBS
Amidst all the extremely heavy dramas in recent years was CBS’ cozy legal drama So Help Me Todd, with Marcia Gay Harden and Skylar Austin starring as one of TV’s best mother-son pairings in recent years. Fans loved it, and audiences were watching in far bigger crowds than they would if the show was on a different network. Unfortunately, CBS’ overstuffed schedule this year forced cutbacks and sent So Help Me Todd to the chopping block, and not even creator Scott Prendergast’s new show can soothe the pain.
One of my favorite comedic TV duos in recent years is easily Chris Estrada’s Julio Lopez and Frankie Quiñones as Julio’s cousin Luis in Hulu’s cholo-embracing This Fool. For two seasons, the acting duo brought a different kind of hopeless man-child to the small screen, and shined a light on the importance of post-prison rehabilitation. I suppose the cancellation news should have been expected after a lack of updates following Season 2’s July 2023 drop, but it was still heartbreaking to hear the cancellation news in February 2024.
Battlestar Galactica Reboot - Peacock
This one stands out from the others in the way that it was never actually produced and released for audiences to watch. Rather, NBCU's Battlestar Galactica reboot went into development all the way back in 2019, with Mr. Robot creator Sam Esmail spearheading it. Sporadic updates came in the years that followed, but in July 2024, the studio officially dropped development on the project, with a goal of shopping it around, though no one has picked it up just yet.
