Nearly four months after its conclusion, Netflix has canceled another show after just one season with Lockwood & Co.. Based on Jonathan Stroud's book series of the same name, the series revolves around a teenager with the ability to hear supernatural sounds and voices who runs away from home after an incident with her ghost-hunting agency and applies for a job at a smaller group. Developed by Attack the Block's Joe Cornish, Lockwood & Co. scored widespread acclaim, leaving the door open for more.In the latest example of the streamer's troubling trend, it's been confirmed by author Jonathan Stroud on Twitter that Lockwood & Co. has been canceled by Netflix after just one season. In an emotional letter penned on faux Lockwood & Co. stationary, Stroud admits disappointment over the cancellation, but also praising the work that went in to the sole season of the series. Check out Stroud's announcement below:
Netflix Has Canceled Many Shows After Just One Season
Since 2016, by some estimates, Netflix has canceled over 60 shows after just one season. Looking at 2022 alone, Netflix's list of one-season originals includes The Midnight Club, Blockbuster, First Kill, Partner Track, and 1899. These cancelations are often even more frustrating because streaming services like Netflix don't release traditional viewership data. Even for shows that get renewed for season 2, creators and producers have sometimes admitted that they're in the dark about exactly how well their project is performing.
This is reflected in Stroud's Twitter post regarding Lockwood & Co.'s cancellation, with the author noting how the series featured in Netflix's global Top 10 charts for three weeks and garnered nearly 80 million hours. Though that sounds positive, it seems like it wasn't enough for Netflix, resulting in the short-lived nature of the show and Stroud and the cast being left unable to continue exploring their supernatural world.
A solution to this ongoing cancelation confusion for both fans of the content and the creators themselves would be for Netflix to share more useful viewership metrics, including potentially how many subscribers completed a series, in which timeframe, and how many episodes were watched. This would be a more straightforward way to assess interest in shows like Lockwood & Co. and Warrior Nun, avoiding some of the shocks of these abrupt cancelation announcements. As the WGA continues to strike for fair pay, they are also fighting for more knowledge about viewership on streaming.
Source: Jonathan Stroud/Twitter