Network Scorecard: Scoring the networks based on their history of airing and supporting sci fi and fantasy television shows.
Network Overview
Hulu is one of the first streaming services, getting its start in 2007 as a free, ad-supported platform. Netflix also started its video-on-demand service that year, but Hulu had a much larger offering of acquired movies and TV shows early in its tenure, starting out as a joint venture between NBCUniversal, Walt Disney, and other partners. The streamer first began producing scripted originals in 2012 with the political mockumentary Battleground. Since then it has continued to release original programming each year, though it has not been as prolific on that front as Netflix. Disney is now the major owner of Hulu, though original partner NBCUniversal still has a licensing deal with the streamer that will last through 2024. For scripted originals, Hulu tends to have more shows aimed at a mature audience while the Disney+ streaming service typically targets more family-friendly fare. Hulu also has a deal with the Disney-owned FX cable channel with some of that network’s shows like AHS spin-off American Horror Stories and the upcoming Aliens series streaming exclusively on Hulu under the FX on Hulu banner.
What Type of Sci Fi Shows Does the Network Air?
While Hulu has released a notable number of genre entries over the past decade (25 so far including mini-series), it rarely goes for all-out science fiction. Its flagship series The Handmaid’s Tale is more of a dystopian drama, with its other scripted genre fare often leaning towards supernatural and horror (Into the Dark, Castle Rock), superheroes/comics (The Runaways, M.O.D.O.K.), or animation (The Awesomes, Solar Opposites). The streamer did add The Orville after the show was acquired in the Disney buyout of 20th Century Fox, but further seasons of that one are currently in doubt. It has also produced two notable sci fi mini-series in 11.22.63 and Devs (the latter under the FX on Hulu banner) and tried to kick off the space exploration show The First, though that one was cancelled after one season. It has also put out the anthologies Dimension 404 (sadly cut short after one season) and Monsterland as well as the sci fi comedy Future Man which ran for three seasons.
How Quick is the Network to Cancel Sci Fi Shows?
Sci fi and fantasy shows have faired pretty well on the streamer coming out of the gate, though the last year or so has seen more cancellations. Over the past decade, 35% have been cancelled after their first season, which is a little higher than Hulu’s 27% average for all scripted programming. For shows cancelled after their second season, the numbers are similar with 26% of sci fi shows getting the ax vs. an overall average of 25%. And the percentages are basically the same for shows that came to an end by their third season. Over the last couple of seasons, though, the cancellation rate after one year has jumped up to 57% with four out of seven genre shows getting cut.
Hulu New Scripted Programming 2012-13 Season thru 2021-22 Season
| All Scripted Shows | ||
| Series Count | 60 | |
| Cancelled after 1 Season | 16 | 26.7% |
| Cancelled after 2 Seasons | 15 | 25.0% |
| Cancelled after 3 Seasons | 11 | 18.3% |
| 4 Seasons or More | 4 | 6.7% |
| Sci Fi/Fantasy | ||
| Series Count | 23 | |
| Cancelled after 1 Season | 8 | 34.8% |
| Cancelled after 2 Seasons | 6 | 26.1% |
| Cancelled after 3 Seasons | 4 | 17.4% |
| 4 Seasons or More | 2 | 8.7% |
Does the Network Have a Three-to-Four Season Wall?
The success of a streaming original is based less on total viewership and more on the number of new subscriptions it drives to the service. The general trend for most scripted shows is for the audience to decline each year, and for streaming originals that means diminishing returns on new subscribers with each new season. Therefore the trend we have seen across the Big 3 Streamers–Netflix, Prime Video, and Hulu–is for shows to wrap up around their third or fourth season. To date, the only Hulu scripted original to go more than four seasons is The Handmaid’s Tale, and that one could end with its upcoming fifth season. Solar Opposites has been renewed through its fourth season and could go longer, but animated entries do tend to buck the trend. In general, expect Hulu’s live-action originals to wrap up by their third or fourth year. The streamer does not follow the same churn approach as Netflix where it is constantly cranking out originals to drive new subscriptions. But the threshold for the maximum number of seasons a show will last appears to be about the same.
Network Score
Last year, I gave Hulu a score of 2 ½ on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the highest), and this year I am dropping that to 2 out of 5. The streamer has been willing to add sci fi and fantasy shows to its lineup, and it was patient with them early on, but in the last couple of seasons the cancellation rate has jumped up. The streamer is also not carrying over many genre entries into the new season and it does not have much on the development slate beyond the Aliens series. I thought that the Netflix MCU shows would eventually find their way to Hulu because of their more mature content, but those went to Disney+. And other Marvel-related shows like Helstrom and MODOK have not fared well on Hulu. The streamer has done less in the way of science fiction with more of a focus on supernatural and horror, and that is likely due to budgetary concerns. Unlike Netflix and Amazon, Hulu has not spent big on its originals with the exception of high-profile shows like The Handmaid’s Tale and The Orville. Its budgets appears closer to those of basic cable shows, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Lower production costs can help keep a show going longer, though as with the other streaming services, Hulu originals rarely last longer than three to four seasons. And if the streamer ends up cancelling The Orville, that will definitely hurt it from a PR standpoint.
List of Sci Fi/Fantasy Originals
This is a list of the scripted sci fi and fantasy shows that have debuted on Hulu since it began producing original content. The streamer currently has four active shows carrying into the upcoming season (or waiting word on their fates) and not much more in the works beyond that. The list is sorted by number of seasons, and if the show has officially been renewed that is included in the season count.
| Series | Start | Seasons | Cancelled/Ended |
| The Handmaid’s Tale | 2016-17 | 5 | N |
| Solar Opposites | 2019-20 | 4 | N |
| Deadbeat | 2013-14 | 3 | Y |
| Future Man | 2017-18 | 3 | Y |
| Runaways | 2017-18 | 3 | Y |
| The Awesomes | 2013-14 | 3 | Y |
| American Horror Stories | 2020-21 | 2 | N |
| Castle Rock | 2017-18 | 2 | Y |
| Crossing Swords | 2019-20 | 2 | Y |
| Endlings | 2019-20 | 2 | Y |
| Freakish | 2016-17 | 2 | Y |
| Into the Dark | 2018-19 | 2 | Y |
| Light as a Feather | 2018-19 | 2 | Y |
| The Hardy Boys | 2020-21 | 2 | N |
| 11.22.63 (Mini-Series) | 2015-16 | 1 | Y |
| Devs (Mini-Series) | 2019-20 | 1 | Y |
| Dimension 404 | 2016-17 | 1 | Y |
| Hard Sun | 2017-18 | 1 | Y |
| Helstrom | 2020-21 | 1 | Y |
| M.O.D.O.K. | 2020-21 | 1 | Y |
| Monsterland | 2020-21 | 1 | Y |
| The First | 2018-19 | 1 | Y |
| The Orville | 2021-22 | 1 | N |
| Utopia Falls | 2019-20 | 1 | Y |
| Y: The Last Man | 2021-22 | 1 | Y |
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.
