Eight Shows That Appear to Have Been Quietly Cancelled: Astrid & Lilly, Firebite, Hit Monkey, and More

The 2021-22 season is effectively over, but there are quite a number of shows still waiting for word on their fates (including holdovers from last season).  I am at the point that I am cleaning up the cancellation/renewal status of this season’s shows and I am going to be moving all of these to cancelled or ended because it certainly appears that their networks are done with them.  In the Peak TV era, there are so many shows on that apparently the network execs believe they can just quietly shuffle some of their originals off to the TV Wasteland and nobody will notice.  But I know that at least some of these shows had people tuning in, and some even developed dedicated fan followings.  There is a chance that a few of these could get a late renewal or move to another network, and a Call to Action on the social networks from the fans might help out.  But in general, I consider them to be done at this point.

Astrid & Lilly Save the World (Syfy)

Each year Syfy acquires originals to give the appearance that it is still active in the scripted programming arena, and often these are given little promotion and little chance to succeed.  Astrid & Lilly at least had Resident Alien as its lead-in, but the lack of promotion beyond internal ad spots kept this fun little show from finding much of an audience.  Its same-day ratings were low and Syfy only makes money on these acquisitions from the advertising that is driven by those numbers.  The network has not officially cancelled the show, but failed to include it on its 2022-23 schedule.  This one did develop a small fanbase, and it could still shift to another venue, but that will require fans making some noise to help it out.

Black Summer (Netflix)

This sleeper zombie series (that may or may not be linked to Z Nation) has never received much promotion from Netflix.  It did quietly receive a second season renewal, though, and that debuted with little fanfare in Summer 2021.  There has been no word on the show since then, though, so I am going to assume that this one fell to the Netflix Red Queen’s “Off With There Heads!” verdict even though nothing official was ever announced.  Perhaps it could shift to another venue when the Netflix streaming rights expire, but that would likely require a push from the fans.

Blade Runner: Black Lotus (Adult Swim)

This animated Blade Runner spin-off may have been intended as a mini-series even though it had the potential to continue its story.  The ratings on Adult Swim were decent if not spectacular, and I never saw any viewership stats from its streaming runs on Crunchyroll or HBO Max.  There has been no word on the show since it wrapped up its first season in February, so I am going to count it as ended for now.

Day of the Dead (Syfy)

This is yet another acquisition that Syfy threw onto its schedule with little in the way of promotion.  Apparently, they thought that word-of-mouth from fans of the film series would help it find an audience, but that may have had the reverse effect.  This show actually received a fair amount of negative buzz from what I saw, and it sank in the ratings while airing by itself on Friday evenings.  The series covered a twenty-four-hour period after the start of the zombie-pocalypse, and it looks like that is the only day we will get from this one.

Firebite (AMC+)

This Australian-made vampire romp is one of the first scripted originals for AMC’s streaming service, and I figured that they would want to keep it going at least into a second season.  It certainly can’t be too expensive of a show to produce and new streamers are usually supportive of their originals.  But there has been no word on the show’s fate since it wrapped up its eight-episode run in February, and since then AMC+’s sci fi entry Moonhaven received a quick second season renewal.  At this point, I am going to consider Firebite done, though it is not impossible that it could return from the grave at some point.

Hit Monkey (Hulu)

Hulu appears to be the place where former Marvel Television entries go to die, and it sure looks like Hit Monkey will continue that trend.  When Marvel Studios absorbed the Marvel TV group, multiple projects were cancelled (Howard the Duck, Tigra & Dazzler, The Offenders), and the few that survived were sent to Hulu.  Both the live-action Helstrom and the animated MODOK have since been cancelled.  There has been no word on Hit Monkey since it released its first season in November 2021, and almost certainly the silence is a de facto cancellation.  It took a year for an official announcement on MODOK, and it might be the same for this one as well.  In any case, don’t be expecting a second season at this point.

Super Crooks (Netflix)

This appears to be another Netflix original that has been cut down by the Red Queen without an official cancellation announcement.  The streamer has been silent on the status of the show and it did not place in the viewership Top 10 when it was released in November 2021. A live-action series based on the same source material is in the works (to be titled Supercrooks) and perhaps the animated series is considered a lead-up to that with no plans for a continuation.

Two Sentence Horror Stories (CW)

This horror anthology appeared to fall off The CW’s radar last year then suddenly re-appeared on the schedule in January 2022.  But with new ownership now headed to the network, and with plans for more “wholesome” programming, this show finds itself in limbo.  It was not included in the 2022-23 schedule and may not fit well with the new direction or the network.  It is an acquisition, though, so perhaps its could shift to another venue at some point.  A push from its fans could certainly help it bounce back for another year.

More Shows Awaiting Word on Their Fates

There are several more shows that have not received a cancellation or renewal announcement, but I will give them a little more time before pulling the plug.  The Book of Boba Fett certainly set itself up to continue into a second season, but reactions on the first year were mixed.  Perhaps Disney+ will carry the character back over to The Mandalorian.  Netflix’s Disenchantment seems like one that could stick around longer, but there has been no word on the show since it released its latest round of episodes in February.  Showtime’s The Man Who Fell to Earth did not find much of an audience in Spring (better promotion sure would have helped), but perhaps they will give that one another season to build its viewership.  And Netflix’s Russian Doll continues to get good buzz from critics if not great viewership numbers, so its fate is currently uncertain.  A Call to Action from fans could certainly help any or all of these shows.

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