It's always a shot to the heart when our favorite shows are unfortunately canceled, and the television industry has gotten even more volatile with the rise and domination of streaming. More and more shows are released each month and year, leaving great shows left undiscovered. Inevitably, that amounts to a landscape that doesn't allow smaller series to grow an audience and cancels far too many shows before their time.
Since beginning to create and release its own original content in the 2010s, Hulu has become home to some of the most popular television shows in recent memory, such as The Bear, Only Murders in the Building, and Nine Perfect Strangers. But the streamer also has a long list of ones that got away that fans haven't and probably won't ever get over. Here are some of the best Hulu shows that slipped through the cracks and ended too soon, beginning below with The Great.
The Great
When The Great premiered in May 2020 on Hulu, the satirical historical dramedy quickly earned critical praise and award nominations, including Emmy nominations for Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult for their performances in season 2. A few months after the show's third season debuted in May 2023, the cancellation was announced to great shock from fans and critics alike. If people loved the show and were still watching it, why would Hulu choose to cancel it instead of renew it?
A number of factors could have contributed to The Great getting the axe, including rising production costs versus its viewership numbers, but we may never really get the closure we need. Even though I know fans would have loved to keep watching the show beyond its three seasons and 30 episodes, what became the series finale did have a finality that's fitting, and when season 3 was released, some were even making cases that it should be the last season. That doesn't make it sting any less that The Great had a lot more great stories to tell and performances to give.
How I Met Your Father
In January 2022, Hulu premiered the How I Met Your Mother spinoff series How I Met Your Father, which starred Hilary Duff as Sophie Tompkins. In the future, Sophie's played by Sex and the City star Kim Cattrall as she tells her son the story of how she met his father. The kicker? Hulu canceled the show before we found out who the father was! It's honestly one of the most egregious cancellations in recent television memory, and I can't believe more people aren't upset about it.
While the series was probably missing a bit of the magic that made How I Met Your Mother a nine-season pop culture phenomenon, the cast had quick chemistry and the jokes and stories were solid. Christopher Lowell starred as Sophie's on-off love interest Jesse, Francia Raisa as her best friend Valentina, Suraj Sharma as Jesse's best friend Sid, Tom Ainsley as Valentina's boyfriend Charlie, and Tien Tran as Jesse's sister Ellen. It's such a shame they couldn't see the series through to its natural end. Seriously, who is the father of Sophie's son?!
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After a 10-episode first season, Hulu renewed How I Met Your Father for 20-episode second season, which aired weekly between January and July 2023, taking a two-month break between March and May. Somehow, the multi-cam sitcom attempting to adopt the broadcast formula of airing one episode every week killed its cultural momentum as a streaming show. This show deserved better, and Duff did too, following Disney's cancellation of the Lizzie McGuire revival before it even began.
High Fidelity
It's hard to believe that High Fidelity came and went so quickly after being such a hit with critics and fans alike. But that's exactly what happened. The series premiered on Feb. 14, 2020 with all 10 episodes released, and by August 2020, the series had been canceled. During that time of the pandemic, a lot of shows were canceled and a lot of renewals were reversed.
Based on the novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, which had already been adapted into the film of the same name in 2000, High Fidelity starred Zoë Kravitz as record store owner Robyn "Rob" Brooks as she navigates her history of bumpy romantic relationships with the help of her love of music. The series also starred Jake Lacy, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, and David H. Holmes.
High Fidelity had so much potential and could have had the opportunity to continue telling its story, getting better and better with each season. We'll never know what could have — and should have — been, but fans can always look back fondly on the show's one excellent season.
Difficult People
Do you ever feel like you're one of, like, three people watching a show that you think everyone should actually be watching? That's how it felt watching Difficult People on Hulu back in the mid to late-2010s. After every episode, I would think, "How is this not one of the most talked about shows on television and winning Emmys?!" A question that's yet to be answered.
Anyway, Difficult People was created by Julie Klausner, who starred in the comedy series alongside Billy Eichner. The pair played Julie, a recap writer-slash-aspiring comedian, and Billy, a waiter-slash-also aspiring comedian trying to make it in New York City. However, their bad attitudes tend to create more chaos for them than career opportunities. Ah, the sacrifices you make!
Difficult People only lasted for three seasons and 28 episodes. But maybe it's better to have produced three excellent seasons and been undervalued than to have been on top of the world and later jump the shark. The amazing cast also included James Urbaniak, Andrea Martin, Cole Escola, and Shakina Nayfack and lots of great guests. But the real star of the show, apart from Klausner and Eichner, was without a doubt the cutting, ahead-of-its-time writing.
Marvel's Runaways
For a minute there, superhero shows were running the small screen thanks to The CW's Arrowverse. Marvel cannonballed right into the TV landscape, bringing a number of its properties to the small screen, and continuing to do so on Disney+.
But back in 2017, Hulu debuted the teen superhero series Marvel's Runaways, which became a favorite among fans and earned steady positive reviews. Unfortunately, the series from Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage only lasted for three seasons.
Ahead of the third season's release in December 2019, the season was announced to be the final. The story was said to have come to a natural ending, and while that might be the truth to some, that series finale cliffhanger left fans wanting even more. The series was eventually removed from Hulu as the streamer cut costs, but it's currently available to stream on The CW.
The Other Black Girl
Based on the book of the same name by Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl was developed for Hulu by the author and actress-writer Rashida Jones. The Parks and Recreation star co-wrote the first episode of the series and even won a Gracie Award for her work. But the streamer still opted to cancel the mystery thriller show after only one season of 10 episodes.
The Other Black Girl earned positive reviews from critics and tackled the topic of racism in a corporate working environment, as an editorial assistant learns of her employer's history when a second Black employee joins the team. Sinclair Daniel and Ashleigh Murray led the cast (and were excellent in their roles!), which also included familiar faces Hunter Parrish, Bellamy Young, and Eric McCormack.
As a fan of Ashleigh Murray's work on The CW in the shows Riverdale, Katy Keene, and Tom Swift, the talented star deserved better than another one-and-done series. This powerful and entertaining show from Rashida Jones could have been a bigger hit for Hulu had more people tuned in. There were already ideas being considered for season 2 that will now no longer see the light of day.
Reboot
You can probably tell by the abundance of comedies on this last that you're dealing with a comedy fan. Guilty! I love comedies, and it's my firmly held belief there should be more (actual) comedies on television. Abbott Elementary and Hacks can't do all the heavy lifting! That's why it was so disheartening when Hulu decided to cancel the 2022 comedy Reboot.
From Steven Levitan, the co-creator of Modern Family, Reboot centers on the cast of a 2000s sitcom coming back together to create a reboot of their beloved show. The cast includes Keegan-Michael Key, Johnny Knoxville, Rachel Bloom, Calum Worthy, Krista Marie Yu, Judy Greer, and Paul Reiser. All those exciting names in the cast and a Modern Family connection and it still ended.
There's an irony that a show called Reboot about a reboot ended up canceled. The team behind the series planned to shop the show around, which would have made for a hilariously meta second season, but nothing has come to fruition since the plug was pulled in early 2023. Still, Reboot's eight solidly hilarious episodes are still worth watching.
What other Hulu shows do you think were canceled too soon? Stay tuned for more Hulu news, updates, and recommendations from Hulu Watcher!