Netflix continues 2023 cancellation spree as two fan-favorite shows are axed
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We’re less than two weeks into 2023, but Netflix’s wave of cancellations shows no signs of slowing down.
Just days after news broke that Netflix had canceled the supernatural horror show 1899 after one season, the streaming giant has taken down the ax on two more popular series.
Inside Job, an adult animated sci-fi comedy series, is the second victim of Netflix’s brutal 2023 cancellation session. The original Netflix show had actually been renewed for a second season in June 2022; However, showrunner Shion Takeuchi, who took to Twitter on Jan. 9, confirmed the news that Inside Job would not be moving forward with its second episode after all.
I’m sorry guys it’s true.💔#insidejob pic.twitter.com/MQZJ3S7gRDJanuary 9, 2023
The dust hadn’t settled on Inside Job’s cancellation before more bad news came out.
The Chair, starring Killing Eve’s Sandra Oh as the first chair of the English department at Pembroke University, has also been canned by Netflix. At the 2023 Television Critics Associations (TCAs) event on Jan. 10, Amanda Peet, who co-created the series with Annie Julia Wyman, confirmed that The Chair would not be picked up for a second season.
“We weren’t picked up,” said Peet TribLive (opens in new tab) (thanks to What’s on Netflix (opens in new tab) for the find). “Sandra and I wish we had been.”
Understandably, fans of both TV shows have taken to social media to voice their dismay at the cancellations. The hashtag #saveinsidejob was trending on Twitter in the hours after it was dropped by the world’s top streaming service (according to The cartoon news (opens in new tab)), while fans of The Chair – such as Twitter user No, now (opens in new tab) – are annoyed at its cancellation.
What makes each show’s cancellation all the worse is how highly they were rated by fans and critics alike. Per review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Inside Job has a 79% approval rating among critics (opens in new tab), while the audience rating is even better, with Inside Job’s only season earning a 90% certified fresh rating. In the meantime, The chair was more popular among critics (opens in new tab) (86%) than general subscribers (79%), but the scores suggest it may have been worth staying with the show for another season.
Unfortunately, the ratings of Inside Job and The Chair are the main reason for their cancellations. The chairman just succeeded 14 million hours watched in the first week (opens in new tab) on Netflix. Inside Job fared slightly better – 21.2 million hours streamed (opens in new tab) after its debut – but both shows paled in comparison to those of Clickbait and You season 3, which aired around the same time.
If Netflix wants to renew a show for another season, the streamer needs some form of guarantee that it will be successful. Despite their positive critical reception – and, in the case of Inside Job, the fact that it was actually renewed before the launch of Season 1 – neither show received enough views to make Netflix feel they were worth continuing. to invest in. That won’t be much comfort to Inside Job and The Chair fan bases, though.
The two shows are the latest in a long line of canceled Netflix shows, which include other animated offerings like The Midnight Gospel and high-priced live-action series like Resident Evil. Inside Job and The Chair are probably seen by some viewers as some of the best Netflix shows out there, but ultimately they weren’t popular enough for Netflix’s liking.
Yet there has been some good news for the Netflix series in 2023. Netflix’s mega-hit Addams Family show returns Wednesday for a second season, which isn’t surprising. The coming-of-age comedy-horror drama is the third most-watched Netflix series of all time, with Stranger Things Season 4 and Squid Game Season 1 being the only shows streaming more.
For more Netflix-based content, find out about the best Netflix movies and best Netflix documentaries.