Netflix cancels hit comedy after 2 seasons but star vows to shop the show around

If you’ve been holding out hope for a third season of That ‘90s Show on Netflix, we have some incredibly disappointing news for you. Netflix has quietly pulled the plug on its hit series after just two seasons. 

News of That ‘90s Show broke late on Oct. 3 as star Kurtwood Smith, who reprised his role as Red Forman, took to Instagram to share the news with his fans and confirm that Netflix had indeed passed on picking the show up for a third season. 

“I know you have been asking me when Season 3 is coming, but I have tough news…Netflix will not be renewing,” Smith shared in an Instagram post confirming the show’s fate. 

While the show’s time on Netflix seems to have reached its end, Smith made it clear when thanking the fans that the show is going to be shopped around. After all, as he put it best “we will shop the show because good grandparents would try hard to get these kids graduated from high school.” 

 “I just want to take a minute to say THANK YOU to all of the fans everywhere who supported and watched the show. You have come up to me in random parts of the world when I’m traveling and reached out to me through social media and just been so wonderful. I’ve loved every minute of getting to bring Grandpa Red to life for you all. I’ve said it before but it’s worth mentioning again…this show had so much heart behind it and the most wonderful cast, writers, directors, producers and crew an actor could hope to work with,” Smith continued. “Thanks for letting Red and Kitty, their grandkid, all their grandkids friends and neighbors, the original cast members of That 70’s Show and all of our wonderful guest cast members entertain you for two seasons. To steal Red Forman’s words…we aren’t going to be dumbasses…we will shop the show, because good grandparents would try hard to get these kids graduated from high school.”

Of course, just because the show is being shopped around doesn’t mean season 3 will happen, but with the series being a spinoff of such a popular property, we could see interest from competitors. The show is, of course, a continuation of That ‘70s Show set two decades after the events of the original series. 

In addition to Smith, the series brought back several original members from the original series including Debra Jo Rupp as Kitty Forman, Laura Prepon as Donna Pinciotti, Topher Grace as Eric Forman, Ashton Kutcher as Michael Kelso, Wilmer Valderrama as Fez and Mila Kunis and Jackie Burkhart, while also introducing a new generation to the series in following the daughter of Donna and Eric as she spends the summer with her grandparents Red and Kitty. 

Given That ‘70s Show is streaming on Peacock, it’ll be interesting to see if Peacock might show any interest in the series by looking to renew it for season 3. It would be a perfect fit in bringing the spinoff home to Peacock where it could stream alongside the original series, which could help the show’s performance as fans watching the original series could go right from it to That ‘90s Show. 

We’ll have to wait to see if Peacock or any other network expresses interest in the show, but we’re hoping the show might find a new home so that fans can continue to enjoy the spinoff beyond a second season. Given season 2 ended with quite a cliffhanger, we're hoping that this isn't really the end for That '90s Show, but only time will tell whether the show can find a new home or if it'll join the growing list of Netflix shows to end without a proper ending.