In the world of television, whether that's network TV or streaming, there's constantly renewals and cancellations. It can be hard when we have to say goodbye to a show we love, but that's just the reality of it sometimes. However, what really hurts is when you get the news that a series has been renewed, and then that decision is reversed.
Over the last few years, that's happened to a quite a number of shows for various reasons. For some, it was the pandemic in 2020. Others, the 2023 writers and actors strikes took a toll. And then there are certain productions that are cancelled and the decision to bring them back was reversed, with no explanation given. As mentioned, there's a good number of series' that have experienced this. But here's four that we're disappointed by the most.
Glow
After three wonderful seasons, initially fans of Glow on Netflix got the good news that the series was coming back for a season 4 in September 2019. However after almost a year later in October 2020, the streamer shared that they'd reversed this decision and the comedy-drama starring Alison Brie and Betty Gilpin was officially cancelled.
According to TVLine, one of the reasons Netflix went back on its decision is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Filming on sets were on pause for months. And even when things got started again, many precautions had to be taken to contribute to a safe enviornment. The streaming service thought this would be difficult to do, as well as keeping budget in mind, with the show.
The Peripheral
The Peripheral really is one of the more disappointing cancellations because the series had so much potential. And it wasn't given the chance, even though viewers really enjoyed it and it had a good audience. I really wish Prime Video would reconsider bringing it back now. A second season was ordered by the streamer in February 2023, then it was reversed only a few months later in August.
TVLine shares that it was due to the writers (WGA) and actors (SAG-AFTRA) strikes that the platform went back on its original plan and cancelled the sci-fi series starring Chloë Grace Moretz and Gary Carr. I don't know if this was the thought process for Prime Video, but I think perhaps because of the sci-elements and CGI required for the show, it would have been expensive to keep it going with production halted for so long.
Why Women Kill
While I personally enjoyed the story of Why Women Kill season 1 much more than season 2, this anthology series on Paramount+ was still one of the best shows out there. And it definitely deserved more time onscreen! A third season was made official in December 2021. Then in July 2022, the streaming service reversed its devision.
While the shows above at least had pretty good reasons for having to let some of its projects go - all studios and networks were effected by both the pandemic and strikes - no actual reason was given for not bringing Why Women Kill back for a season 3, TVLine reports. It just happened, and unfortunately we have to accept it. There's nothing we can do.
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin's cancellation is truly disheartening because the studio behind the series isn't the one who wanted to pull it. There's other reasons for the reversed renewal. The Apple TV+ historical comedy was first announced to be coming for a season 2 in July 2024. Then just recently in January 2025, the show got cancelled.
This was due to the fact that lead star Noel Fielding "failed to come to work" following the Christmas holiday and the second season has reached the point where it "cannot be salvaged," according to Deadline. The cast and crew have officially been sent home, despite having filmed three-quarters of the season.
This is really sad for the cast and crew who didn't have anything to do with whatever complications have come up. And though this was not noted, it sounds like perhaps Fielding and the higher-ups of the production were not seeing eye to eye. Or, he could have just decided to stop coming to work. We don't know the exact details of what happened.