8 Netflix shows that went on for too long — sorry
- Although Netflix has the reputation of canceling shows before their time, that doesn't mean that some shows don't overstay their welcome.
- While "House of Cards" started out as critically acclaimed and a full-blown phenomnenon, it quickly became too much for some viewers to bear.
- "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" only had one season, and that was still too much for some fans of the original.
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To date, Netflix has canceled 42 of its original shows (not including co-productions like "Anne with an E"), many of them before their time. But that doesn't mean some Netflix originals don't go on way too long — and sometimes, that makes the cancellation of another show sting all the more.
Did "Fuller House" need to last for more than one season? No. Neither did "13 Reasons Why" nor "Insatiable."
Keep scrolling to see which eight Netflix Originals lasted longer than they should have.
While Claire Underwood deserved her chance at the top, "House of Cards" should have ended after the Kevin Spacey accusations.
"House of Cards," based on a British TV show of the same name, rightfully earned its critical and fan acclaim for the first two or three seasons, but even before Spacey's diabolical Frank Underwood had been killed off in between seasons five and six, the show was wearing thin. There is only so much backstabbing, murder, and political machinations one can take.
Though Claire (and Robin Wright) deserved to have her moment in the Oval Office, the show lost something integral to its success when Spacey was written off — not that he should have remained, but the season five finale was more than enough to show that Claire was officially taking the power back into her own hands.
"Orange Is the New Black" was, and is, an important show in terms of representation, but after the death of Poussey, the show lost its heart.
"OITNB" began as one of Netflix's first forays into prestige TV, and it had a buzzy premise: It was based upon a real memoir of Piper Kerman, who spent a year in a woman's prison. "OITNB" is the first scripted show to really delve into the prison industrial complex, and made strides towards more trans representation on TV and more same-sex relationships on TV. It also educated viewers about what life was like inside a prison.
However, when Black people are getting killed by the police in real life, it seemed almost cruel to viewers to show the murder of Poussey, a Black woman, by a white prison guard during a riot. While it was heartbreakingly realistic, it seemed more like tragedy porn than anything else, and it unfortunately played into the "Bury Your Gays" trope, since Poussey identified as a lesbian.
The first few seasons of "OITNB" should be required viewing, but seven seasons and 91 episodes was just too much. And, while some got a "happy" ending, many other characters along the way suffered more injustices and tragedy, like Tiffany, Maritza, and Red.
With original comedies getting canceled after one or two seasons, there's no reason "Fuller House" should have lasted five seasons.
We'll admit, seeing the entire extended Tanner clan (give or take an Olsen twin) was really fun — for a season.
The awkwardness of Aunt Becky's mysterious disappearance aside, it's hard to justify keeping "Fuller House" on the air for five seasons when groundbreaking new content like "One Day at a Time," "I Am Not Okay with This," and "The Get Down" only get a season or two.
"13 Reasons Why" was an adaptation of a novel — the story was over after the first season.
You might also call this "Big Little Lies" syndrome — aka, when what should have been a limited series based on a novel needlessly drags on the story. The Jay Asher novel was the complete story of high school student Clay dealing with the trauma of his high school crush Hannah Baker dying by suicide.
However, the show, in addition to being graphic and problematic in its depiction of suicide and other sensitive subjects, dragged on the story for another three seasons, putting characters through an unbelievable amount of pain and suffering. Hannah didn't stick around past season two, even though the show was ostensibly about her and Clay.
"The Ranch" lasted for 80 mediocre episodes.
There was nothing actually wrong with "The Ranch" — at least not after Danny Masterson was written off — but it was just … boring. It seemed like it would have been more at home on CBS than Netflix, a platform that prides itself on pushing the limits of television. It was just a sitcom about a family living on a cattle ranch in Colorado.
As already stated, it's hard to explain why this show gets four seasons and 80 episodes, when other, more original shows get half that.
Although "Making a Murderer" was a smash success, the second season was wholly unnecessary.
The first season of this true crime series (though at the time, we didn't know there'd be a season two) was a phenomenon when it was released in 2015. It was shot over 10 years, and focused on the case against Steven Avery, who first served 18 years in prison due to a wrongful conviction, but was then tried and convicted of a different crime (this time a murder) a few years after he was released. He's currently serving a life sentence.
If the first season took 10 years to make, and there had been no significant updates on Avery's case, how could a second season three years later be worth 10-plus hours investing in? Spoiler: It wasn't.
While "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" only got one season, many fans of the original wished it hadn't happened at all.
"Gilmore Girls" lasted for seven seasons on network TV, though only six were under the stewardship of co-creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino. The last season is generally panned by fans, and the Palladinos maintain they've never seen it. After the show's end in 2007, Sherman-Palladino has expressed that she's always known how the series would end, down to the last four words.
So, when Netflix announced they'd be reviving the show in 2016, fans were elated. But when the four episodes dropped, fans were left disappointed and bewildered due to Rory's apparent turn into an entitled brat who constantly forgot about her boyfriend and believed she deserved every journalism job out there. They also weren't happy about the lack of development and communication between Luke and Lorelai almost a decade into their relationship — and don't even get us started on those infamous last four words.
Now, there are plenty of fans who wished "Gilmore Girls" had stayed in 2007.
"Insatiable" shouldn't have made it to air, let alone to two seasons.
When the trailer for "Insatiable" dropped, it became abundantly clear that Netflix had miscalculated. While the show thought it had achieved a black comedy "Heather"-esque tone, it was more mean than biting, more cringe-worthy than funny, and generally fat-phobic. It was surprising when it got renewed — but even just two seasons was more than enough from this crew.
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