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We’re less than two weeks into 2023, but Netflix’s cancellation frenzy shows no signs of slowing down.
Just days after news broke that Netflix had canceled supernatural period horror show 1899 after one season, the streaming giant shot down 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 Netflix original show had actually been renewed for a second season in June 2022; however, on Twitter on January 9, showrunner Shion Takeuchi confirmed the news that Inside Job would not be moving forward with its second installment after all.
I’m sorry guys it’s true.💔#insidejob pic.twitter.com/MQZJ3S7gRDJanuary 9, 2023
The dust hadn’t settled on the cancellation of Inside Job before more bad news emerged.
The Pulpit, which stars Killing Eve’s Sandra Oh as the first chair of the University of Pembroke’s English department, has also been canned by Netflix. Speaking at the 2023 Television Critics Associations (TCAs) event on January 10, Amanda Peet, who co-created the series with Annie Julia Wyman, confirmed The Chair was not being picked up for a second season.
“We weren’t taken care of,” Peet told TribLive. (opens in a new tab) (thanks to What’s on Netflix (opens in a new tab) for discovery). “Sandra and I would have liked to be there.”
Naturally, fans of both TV shows have taken to social media to express their displeasure over the cancellations. The #saveinsidejob hashtag was trending on Twitter within hours of being dropped by the world’s top streaming service (per cartoon news (opens in a new tab)), while fans of The Chair – like Twitter user Neenu (opens in a new tab) — are exasperated by its cancellation.
What makes the cancellation of each show all the more infuriating is how highly rated they were by fans and critics alike. According to review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, Inside Job holds a 79% approval rating among reviewers. (opens in a new tab), while its viewership score is even better, with Inside Job’s one and only season earning a new certified score of 90%. Meanwhile, The Chair was more popular among critics (opens in a new tab) (86%) than general subscribers (79%), but his scores suggest he might have been worth sticking with the show for another season.
Unfortunately, the ratings of Inside Job and The Chair are the main reason for their cancellations. The Chair recorded only 14 million hours of viewing in its first week (opens in a new tab) on Netflix. Inside Job fares slightly better – 21.2 million streaming hours (opens in a new tab) after its debut – but both shows paled in comparison to Clickbait and You season 3, which aired around the same time.
If Netflix needs to renew a show for another season, the streamer needs some form of guarantee that it will be successful. Despite their positive critical receptions – and, in the case of Inside Job, the fact that it had actually been renewed before the launch of season 1 – no show has been watched enough to make Netflix feel that it was worth the extra investment. This, however, will be little consolation for fans of Inside Job and The Chair.
Both shows are the latest in a long line of shows canceled by Netflix, which include other animated offerings like The Midnight Gospel and pricey live-action series such as Resident Evil. Inside Job and The Chair are likely to be considered one of Netflix’s best shows by some viewers, but, ultimately, they weren’t popular enough for Netflix’s liking.
However, there has been some good news on the Netflix series front in 2023. Netflix’s megahit show Addams Family on Wednesday will return for a second season, which is no surprise. The coming-of-age comedy-horror drama is the third most-watched Netflix series of all time, with Season 4 of Stranger Things and Season 1 of Squid Game being the only programs to air more .
For more Netflix-based content, find out which are the best Netflix movies and the best Netflix documentaries.
