Friday the 13th sounds like a good day to talk about bad luck — and plenty of TV shows experienced that lately! Even the most promising titles on this list were ultimately canceled by streaming platforms and TV stations alike. Read on for four stories you’ll never get to see wrapped up!
Westworld (2016-2023): canceled after four seasons, Westworld was a popular Western/sci-fi show based on a 1973 movie under the same title. In the year 2050 (that cuts it stressfully close, doesn’t it), in a technologically advanced amusement park modeled after the Wild West, those rich enough to afford it are entertained by Hosts, androids perfectly resembling humans. The guests can not only partake in various scenarios the park offers but also indulge in reenacting any fantasies they might have, as the Hosts supposedly feel no pain or emotions — you can probably guess where that premise was headed. Unfortunately, due to low viewership and gradually decreasing ratings from both critics and fans alike, HBO decided to cancel Westworld. Now we’ll never know how the conflict between humans and Hosts ends.
1899 (2022-2022): here’s a gripping period mystery tale balancing on the edge of horror — sounds neat, right? We thought so too, but no matter the hype it reaped, 1899 still got the axe from Netflix. At the break of the 19th and 20th centuries, an immigrant ship is headed from the UK to New York, carrying passengers of various origins and statuses; different as they may be, the people aboard Kerberos unite against their troubled captain when he decides to investigate the unexplained fate of a sister vessel to his ship. Two more seasons of the show were planned, but after cancelation, the plot twist ending 1899 won’t see any more explanation.
Paper Girls (2022-2022): Paper Girls, based on popular comic series from the mid-2010s, was named a girl-run answer to Stranger Things. The show sees four young paper delivery girls who get unwillingly caught up in a war between different groups of time travelers; what follows is a wild adventure across time where the heroines encounter the future versions of themselves and, ultimately, have to save the world. Unfortunately, Paper Girls didn’t pull in numbers high enough to warrant a second season on Amazon Prime, so we’re left to wonder about that world-saving business.
Blockbuster (2022-2022): remember those Friday night Blockbuster dives with friends? The excitement to dig up a hidden gem of a movie to enjoy later with pizza? (If you do, remember to take your daily painkillers.) Blockbuster TV show was supposed to bring back that nostalgia with a story of the last store of the franchise; put in a sitcom/office comedy format, the show had it all: a long-time crush, a juxtaposition of young and older employees, good intentions gone wrong and so on. What it didn’t have, however, was a success with either the viewers or the critics, so Netflix got rid of Blockbuster. Again.
With an avalanche of cancellations happening in recent months, has your new favorite title been taken out to pasture?