Viewership Wasn’t Enough: Netflix Has Canceled Two More Series After Just One Season

Netflix has pulled the plug on two of its newer shows, Pulse and The Residence, after just one season. Even though both series had some early promise, they couldn’t gather enough attention or strong viewership to survive. The cancellations were first reported by Deadline.

The Residence came out on March 20 and stars Uzo Aduba, best known from Orange Is the New Black. She plays a detective looking into a murder that takes place during a fancy state dinner at the White House.

The show was meant to be a fun mystery with a political twist and had some solid reviews. It holds an 85% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and an audience score of 78%. That’s even better than the scores for hits like Squid Game.

But the show’s production was expensive. According to Deadline, it’s believed to be one of the most costly White House recreations ever made. That high budget made the show hard to renew.

On top of that, its release timing didn’t help. The Residence came out just a week after Adolescence, a surprise hit that quickly blew up and became one of Netflix’s most-watched English-language shows ever. That meant The Residence got pushed to the side in terms of buzz and audience interest.

Reviews for The Residence were mostly good. Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 82% approval rating based on 39 reviews. One review summary said, “The Residence situates itself in the White House for a lighthearted murder mystery that won’t tax the brain, but Uzo Aduba’s eccentric sleuth brings a welcome level of sophistication to proceedings.” Metacritic gave it a 66 out of 100, showing generally favorable opinions.

On the other hand, Pulse, which came out on April 3, didn’t fare as well. The show was a medical drama set in a Miami trauma center during a hurricane, all while a sexual harassment complaint creates tension among the staff. It starred Willa Fitzgerald from Reacher and Jessie T. Usher from The Boys.

But Pulse didn’t connect with critics or viewers in the same way. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of just 48%, and Metacritic also gave it a 48 out of 100. One review from Variety said, “Despite the sound acting, the poorly formatted narrative, an appalling depiction of sexual harassment and a few insufferable characters don’t exactly make for a pleasurable watch.” Another outlet criticized the series for having an “underdeveloped” storyline around the #MeToo topic.

In terms of viewership, Pulse had around 20 million views in its first four weeks, which sounds decent but doesn’t hold up next to other shows. For example, Adolescence hit 24 million views in just two weeks, and Squid Game season 3 drew 60 million in only three days.

Even with strong casts and decent ideas, both shows struggled to stand out on a platform where competition is intense. Netflix has a history of canceling shows that don’t immediately make a splash, and in this case, neither Pulse nor The Residence made enough of an impact to stick around.

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