After two seasons, Netflix is canceling That ’90s Show. I watched the first season out of nostalgic curiosity, and it wasn’t terrible (buoyed by a few cameos from the original cast). Nostalgia was not enough, however, to compel me to watch the second season, which must have been true for many Netflix viewers. It’s only a shame that Kurtwood Smith and Debra Jo Rupp won’t be able to continue inhabiting those characters.
Meanwhile, over on Apple TV+, the streamer *says* it’s tightening its budget, but it continues to renew some of its more mediocre offerings, including Criminal Record, Palm Royale, Dark Matter, and now Colin Farrell’s Sugar. The cast is great, but the twist is dumb. What does it even take for Apple TV+ to cancel a series? How bad does the show have to be? Hello Tomorrow! bad, or Constellation bad, I guess.
Now that I have MGM+ to watch From, someone tell me if it’s worth checking out Billy the Kid, which the streamer has renewed for a third and final season. I like a good Western, and this one comes from Michael Hirst, the creator of The Tudors and Vikings, but I haven’t heard a thing about it.
These two cancellations came last week, but Hulu has also pulled the plug on UnPrisoned and Black Cake. The former featured a hell of a cast (Kerry Washington, Delroy Lindo), and the latter was based on a very good book. I’ll admit, however, that I quit UnPrisoned after one season and never bothered with Black Cake. I am part of the problem.
In renewal news, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives has been picked up by Hulu for another 20 episodes, if you want to understand Hulu’s priorities (and mine, I guess, since I watched the hell out of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives and can’t wait to watch the next ridiculous season).
In ratings news, ABC’s Doctor Odyssey gained a massive 14 million cross-platform viewers in its first week. That is huge, and good for Joshua Jackson. It’s the top show on Hulu and ABC’s best drama premiere in four years. I don’t know how well it will hold up, but that pilot was a blast. Likewise, Brilliant Minds on NBC has had a strong start with 9.2 million cross-platform viewers.
In other ratings news, Nielsen streaming ratings take a month to roll in, but The Perfect Couple is not just the top show this week—it’s the fifth biggest streaming series of the year so far, behind only Fool Me Once, Fallout, Bridgerton, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Expect to see a lot more Elin Hilderbrand adaptations in the future.