It's that time of year when major networks must decide to renew or cancel TV shows in their current lineups. With 2023's pilot season coming to an end, networks will be forced to make decisions on which shows will stay and which will be scrapped. Some shows will be canceled and forgotten about, while other cancelations have already sparked major backlash from fans across the internet and from stars themselves.
Amidst the cancelations, several popular shows have been renewed for further seasons into 2024. The Joel McHale-led Animal Control on Fox got picked up for a season 2. S.W.A.T. on CBS will air its seventh and final season later this year. It had initially been canceled but was renewed for one more season three days after the cancelation announcement. While these shows were fortunate enough to make the cut, some weren't so lucky. Here are 10 of the biggest shows that just got canceled by their networks.
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Big Sky has been canceled at ABC after three seasons. Its first season premiered in 2020 to impressive ratings but had not returned to those heights during its second and third seasons. There is a possibility that Big Sky could find a home on another network because of David E. Kelley's involvement as creator and showrunner. The mystery-crime series starred Katheryn Winnick and Kylie Bunburry and featured season 3 appearances from Jensen Ackles and Reba McEntire. However, this was still not enough to inspire Big Sky season 4. It is one of multiple shows ABC canceled in May 2023.
Alaska Daily has been canceled at ABC after only one season. Hilary Swank starred as a journalist looking for a fresh start in life who moves to Alaska to work for an Anchorage-based newspaper. The show was generally well-liked, but Alaska Daily struggled to find an established following to justify a second season. As a result, the show will not be returning on any platform unless a new home is found in the coming weeks.
Trues Lies has been canceled at CBS prior to the conclusion of its first season. The TV reboot of the popular Arnold Schwarzenegger film was meant to be one of the network's top shows but failed to achieve the desired ratings. True Lies was canceled by CBS after the network decided to reverse the cancelation of S.W.A.T. season 7. Reportedly, the issue has to do with negotiations over the budget. The True Lies series finale will air on Wednesday, May 17th.
The Company You Keep has been canceled at ABC after one season. Milo Ventimiglia starred and was the executive producer of the drama series. ABC was forced to cut The Company You Keep because of its low ratings in comparison to its other new shows, Will Trent and Not Dead Yet. It would seem that Ventimiglia's star power wasn't enough to pull in a consistent audience on The Company You Keep, which debuted later than most shows during pilot season due to its shorter 10-episode format. The late start could have ultimately affected the show's ability to gain satisfactory ratings for ABC.
CBS has canceled East New York, which has yet to finish its first season. The procedural drama series ran for 22 episodes. Amanda Warren starred as Deputy Inspector Regina Haywood with an ensemble that included Jimmy Smits, C.S. Lee, and Richard Kind. The show was created by William Finkelstein who had previously written episodes of The Good Fight, NYPD Blue, and L.A. Law. The season finale of East New York, which airs on Sunday, May 21st, will now officially be the series finale of the show.
9-1-1 has been canceled at Fox after six seasons, but was saved by ABC who picked it up for its seventh season. Fox's decision to cancel one of its most popular franchise shows came as a surprise to many. ABC jumped on the opportunity to make 9-1-1 season 7 still happen by adding the show to their primetime arsenal. The intense drama series focuses on emergency response situations and stars Oscar-nominee Angela Bassett. Brad Falchuk, who has created other wildly successful shows with Ryan Murphy such as Glee and American Horror Story, created the series and will still be overseeing production going into 9-1-1 season 7.
The CW won't be renewing Walker: Independence. The series was a prequel to the Jared Padalecki-led series Walker, which the CW renewed for a fourth season. Walker is one of the CW's most watched series, but Walker: Independence did not gather nearly as much of an audience. The CW's decision to cancel Walker: Independence comes from a network-wide transition to invest in scripts that will allow for productions with lower costs (via Deadline). The Walker: Independence season 1 finale aired in March 2023.
Kung Fu has been canceled at the CW after three seasons. Kung Fu was a reboot of an original series that aired in the 1970s on ABC starring David Carradine. Similar to the situation with Walker: Independence, the cancelation of Kung Fu also comes as a result of large-scale programming changes at the CW that are heavily influenced by major stakeholder parent company Nexstar (via Variety). Kung Fu starred Olivia Lang and was developed by Christina M. Kim who served as a writer on NCIS: Los Angeles, Blindspot, and Lost.
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61st Street was canceled at AMC, but has since been saved by the CW, which will revive it for a second season. The serious AMC drama found an unlikely home at The CW after AMC decided not to renew the project themselves due to financial restraints. The eighth and final episode of 61st Street season 1 aired in May 2020 with season 2 set to premiere sometime in 2023.
Though Supernatural ended in 2020 after 15 seasons, there was a sense that The CW still had some degree of confidence in the franchise when it greenlit The Winchesters, a prequel series about the main characters' parents. But, The CW has decided to cancel the spinoff after just one season. There's a strong push from the fanbase for The Winchesters season 2 to still happen, but it's unclear if any network or streaming service would have any interest. Even Jensen Ackles himself has expressed disapproval online of the CW's decision to cancel the show. Ackles teased a five-season story plan for The Winchesters after the CW canceled the show in an effort to gain momentum for season 2.