2024 TV Cancellations That Really Sting

We generally prefer to focus on positive things at the start of a new year, but the fact is that every good show must come to an end, and we’re about to say goodbye to some truly beloved series in 2024. We’ve already lost so many shows recently, including NCIS: Los Angeles and Magnum P.I.

But here we are to discuss it some more! Some of the shows on this list are going out on their own terms after long, successful runs. Others are being unceremoniously kicked to the curb due to low ratings, massive budgets, or departing stars.

One thing they all have in common? Their loss will really sting.

But one they all have in common is that they’re shuffling off the airwaves sometime within the next 12 months, so join us as we bid farewell to the following series from across the TV landscape.

We can’t say we’ll miss all of these shows, but our hearts go out to the fans of each and every one of them!

Blue Bloods

First on the chopping block is the long-running CBS family cop drama Blue Bloods.

You might have realized it was still on the air, but as the one thing they can still agree on, it’s a very important show to your parents. (Your mom, like all moms, maintains a deep, abiding love for Tom Selleck.)

We jest. As one of TV Fanatic’s biggest hits, we know how much this show will be missed. It’s one of the few shows that consistently gets the story right, and that’s why viewership hasn’t waned.

Blue Bloods will kick off its fourteenth and final season beginning on February 16. We (and Moms everywhere) will be inconsolable.

Bob Hearts Abishola

Another long-running network stalwart that’s checking out in ’24 is the beloved CBS sitcom Bob Hearts Abishola.

The show developed a devoted fan base over the course of its five-year run, but as we previously reported, the cancellation of Bob Hearts Abishola did not come as a surprise, as casting shakeups indicated that the series was not long for this world.

Comedy series have taken a beating in recent years, and we have to wonder how much longer the traditional sitcom, as we’ve come to know it, will be around.

Bob Hearts Abishola Season 5 is set to premiere on February 12.

Cobra Kai

A light-hearted drama? A comedy with serious undertones?

No matter what you call it, there was an awful lot of kicking involved in Netflix’s Karate Kid sequel series Cobra Kai, and now, the show is being kicked to the curb.

If you had told us 30 years ago anyone could pull off a revival of this magnitude, adding beautifully to the history while showing incredible character growth, we would have laughed. Yet, Cobra Kai is one of the most successful revivals of its kind simply by honoring what has come before.

Netflix has not yet announced a release date for the sixth and final season of Cobra Kai.

Elite

The longest-running Spanish-language scripted series on Netflix, Elite is set to end its eight-season run in 2024.

No release date for the final episodes has been announced, but showrunner Carlos Montero has confirmed that filming is completed and production “ended on a high note.”

The series — which centers around a group of working-class friends at a tony private school — became a surprise global hit for Netflix when it debuted back in 2018.

The show has changed drastically since its premiere, but we’ll always remember how these students wormed their way into our hearts.

Good Trouble

It was a good run for Good Trouble, but the Freeform series will call it quits with the conclusion of Good Trouble Season 5B, which premiered in early January.

A spinoff of the popular family drama The Fosters, Good Trouble made its parent season proud with a successful run of its own.

But fans and stars seem to agree that the show has run its course with our reviewer even using the word “unwatchable,” albeit only briefly. It’s truly the end of an era, following these characters from childhood into young adulthood.

Hopefully, this one will go out on a high note.

The Handmaid’s Tale

Formerly one of the most buzzed-about shows on television, some think The Handmaid’s Tale has been limping along in a zombified state for the past two or three years, but we know better.

The Handmaid’s Tale Season 5 was one of its best, setting up the series for a satisfying conclusion. Sadly, this adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s spellbinding dystopian novel will come to an end in 2024 — and it will do so under new leadership.

Showrunner Bruce Miller has stepped aside, and Eric Tuchman and Yahlin Chang will take his place. We can only imagine how that will affect things, but since Elisabeth Moss is deeply involved with production, we’re not too worried.

Fans can also take heart in the news that Miller is already hard at work on a spin-off series, The Testaments, that’s also based on Atwood’s work. Praise be!

Hulu has not yet announced a release date, but you can check out everything we know about The Handmaid’s Tale Season 6 in the meantime.

La Brea

After just three seasons, everyone’s favorite dino drama is about to go extinct.

Thankfully, network execs have decided to give the show a chance to go out in style with a full season that’s set to debut on January 9. Unfortunately, we’re getting an extraordinarily truncated season.

La Brea may not have been a hit with critics, but its devoted fan base, who have been starved for sci-fi content on broadcast, will certainly miss this tar pit-based oddity.

Outlander

Hotter than a wool kilt on a summer’s day, Outlander gained an instant cult following when it premiered on Starz in 2014.

The adaptation of Diana Gabaldon’s beloved novel focused on time-traveling nurse Claire and her romance with the dashing Highland warrior Jamie.

The show will come to an end in 2024, but no premiere date has been confirmed for the final season. We just hope that instead of the misery that has pervaded the series through Outlander Season 6, we’ll see sunshine ahead for the beloved characters.

There is still a lot of the story left to tell, so how they conclude this time-traveling historic masterpiece will be how the entire series is judged — just ask the creators of Lost!

SEAL Team

Another CBS drama giving its final salute in 2024 is SEAL Team.

The long-running military drama will air its seventh and final season at some point in the year to come.

Sadly, no premiere date has been announced, but those who missed out on SEAL Team Season 5 and beyond have had the chance to catch it on broadcast, so that’s something.

Worse, the show made the jump from CBS to Paramount+ in 2022, so longtime fans will need a subscription to watch the final episodes.

Star Trek: Discovery

The series that successfully jump-started the rebirth of the Star Trek franchise on Paramount+ will jettison to a galaxy beyond one last time.

Captain Michael Burhman will not have an easy time of it for the last hurrah as the USS Discovery fights a new villain with plans to destroy the universe.

Our salvation in this cancellation is that the Star Trek universe lives on in multiple forms.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 will premiere sometime in April 2024.

Station 19

Grey’s Anatomy is still going strong, but another one of the show’s spinoffs is headed for the TV graveyard.

Yes, like Private Practice before it, Station 19 will soon be coming to a close. This one caught us right between the eyes. As one of the network’s higher-rated series and its connection to Grey’s, we thought it was in the clear.

Nope, when ABC revived 9-1-1, all bets were off.

We’re holding out a sliver of hope that some of the best characters may stick around for recurring arcs on Grey’s. After all, that show could use a jumpstart in viewership. Any long-running program can!

Superman & Lois

Let’s face it. Superman & Lois was doomed from the moment The CW was put on the market.

What The CW was and what it will be are entirely different animals, so we have to face the music — history doesn’t dictate the future.

The worst part of this cancellation is that it’s the last remaining tie to the Arrowverse, which at one time reigned in the hearts and minds of TV Fanatic readers. Hell, it was an internet phenomenon full stop.

Following that disappointment is that Tyler Hoechlin makes a damn good Superman. Fly high, our friend!

S.W.A.T

Back in the ’70s, the original S.W.A.T. got two seasons totaling less than 50 episodes. Still, it was an audience smash that hit when violence on TV was under scrutiny. Cancellation be damned, the series has never been far from viewers’ hearts.

If Cobra Kai was a kickass revival, S.W.A.T. is an ass-kicking reboot. It’s well-written, with plenty of action and characters with values they work hard to uphold.

S.W.A.T. has been on the chopping block more than once, and without the devotion of fans and the show’s stars alike going to bat for a proper sendoff, it might never have happened.

S.W.A.T’s final season premieres on Friday, February 16, on CBS.

Yellowstone

What a debacle this has turned out to be. Yellowstone Season 5 was already half over when we unexpectedly learned it would ride off into the sunset — without its leading man! What is Yellowstone without its patriarch, the man who has helped raise and divide a family? We’re about to find out.

Kevin Costner has departed the show, which sure gives credence to the idea Jamie might kill his adoptive father. It would make sense. He’s already killed more than once, his birth father included.

To say we will miss Beth and Rip and the bunkhouse characters would be an understatement. Our only hope is that the possible Matthew McConaughey-led spinoff will incorporate some of the best Yellowstone has to offer.

But since the OG Yellowstone characters and the actors that portray them deserve their time in the spotlight, we’re not holding our breath.

YOU

Seriously. How long can a show about a mass murderer continue? Hannibal was one thing, but YOU is an entirely different beast.

When even the leading man, Penn Badgley, finds the continuation silly, you know it’s time to say goodbye.

The series has had an extraordinary life, though. First airing on Lifetime, Netflix swooped in to save it after cancellation.

It’s even more surprising that Netflix gave YOU an additional three seasons. Then again, Dahmer was an audience and critical hit, so murder and mayhem rules at the streamer.

Young Sheldon

The prequel to The Big Bang Theory is also coming to an end. The series follows the character made famous by Jim Parsons, who also narrates.

The title alone gave away the fact that the show couldn’t continue forever. We’ve already seen adult Sheldon, and we saw enough flashbacks to his young adult years to snuff the candle early.

More importantly, viewers agree that the story comes to a natural conclusion with the death of Sheldon’s father, as that sets Sheldon on his ultimate path.

Young Sheldon’s final season begins airing on February 15, with a finale on May 16, 2024. The finale will be an hour long, which is sure to please fans.

That’s a lot of shows, but we know it’s only the beginning of our cancellation journey.

What shows will you miss the most?

Have we missed anything worth noting?

Are you worried a show you love might be in jeopardy of renewal?

Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

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Tyler Johnson is an Associate Editor for TV Fanatic and the other Mediavine O&O sites. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, cooking, and, of course, watching TV. You can Follow him on X and email him here at TV Fanatic.

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