The Boroughs. (L to R) Denis O’Hare as Wally, Alfred Molina as Sam in The Boroughs. Cr. Courtesy of Netflix © 2026
Netflix’s decision to pull the plug on The Boroughs after just one season has quickly snowballed into one of the streamer’s messiest and most heavily debated cancellations of the year. Following the news earlier this week that the Duffer Brothers-produced sci-fi series wouldn’t be returning for season 2, a massive media swirl has erupted. Between Hollywood trades attributing the axe to behind-the-scenes studio politics and a visibly disappointed cast breaking their silence directly to fans, there is a lot to unpack. But while the rumor mill is currently in overdrive, a deeper dive into the actual viewership metrics tells a much more familiar story.
The cancellation came at an incredibly awkward time for the show, given that the stars and creators are currently campaigning for it with FYC campaigns ahead of Emmy voting, which closes on Monday. While FYC campaigns have to paint shows in a positive light, there’s no doubt it now has a permanent dark cloud hanging over it, and we’ll see whether that affects its chances of a nomination or two.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Geena Davis broke her silence on the cancellation, expressing shock that a show with such strong viewership numbers was cut short.
“The producers, who became our dear, dear friends, were able to tell us before the news came out, and we’re all terribly disappointed,” Davis told the publication, noting that the cast was not explicitly given a reason for the decision.
“Honestly, I don’t know what happened,” the Oscar-winning actress continued. “I think it’s probably rare for a show to not get picked up and to have it announced that it’s not being picked up while it’s still in the top 10. We didn’t expect that.”
Davis did offer a silver lining for fans who might be hesitant to stream a canceled series. According to her, the creators were actively encouraged to wrap up the narrative in season 1. “The creators told us from the beginning that the series was not going to have a cliffhanger ending to the first season, that someone had advised them, ‘Make it its own thing. And if you come back to do another year, make that its own thing,‘” Davis explained to The Hollywood Reporter. “And we really did. There’s a tiny hint at the end that maybe everything isn’t fixed, but it is a complete story. And if we had made it as a limited series, then it would’ve been a big hit, and everybody would be happy.”
Now, a second cast member has broken his silence about the cancellation. Speaking in a video on Instagram yesterday, actor Denis O’Hare said:
“So it’s Saturday, and I’m just thinking about the fact that Netflix canceled The Boroughs and how really bummed I am because it was such a great show. It was such a great show, and people really seem to love it. I’ve been astounded how many people have come up to me and talked about how much they like the show—and not just, you know, old people, but I’m talking about anybody, people who are, you know, in their 30s and 40s with kids. Everyone seemed to find something to relate to.
Anyway, so I think we still have a couple of days before the end of Emmy voting, so everyone should just vote for The Boroughs. You can vote for me if you’d like, but also, like, Bill Pullman and Alfre Woodard and Alfred Molina and Geena Davis and Clarke Peters, Seth Numrich, Alice Kremelberg, and vote for The Boroughs for Best Series and, you know, stick it to Netflix and let them know that they made a mistake, you know, because I think that would be sweet revenge. Anyway, I love the show, I miss it, and, you know, whatever.”
Picture Credit: Netflix
The Growing Media Swirl Around The Boroughs’ Cancellation
The backlash and media swirl around The Boroughs has been particularly intense compared to most cancellations. It was Deadline that first broke the news earlier this week, although it’s worth noting that Netflix PR itself rarely confirms cancellations (speaking from experience), and they certainly don’t issue press releases announcing that a show has been axed unless it’s in the form of a final-season announcement.
Of course, the cancellation fire was then fanned, quite dramatically, by The Hollywood Reporter, which cites sources stating that Netflix was purposely canceling the show because of the way the Duffer Brothers, the producers of The Boroughs and creators of Stranger Things, dramatically exited Netflix for a Paramount deal, in effect getting back at them. They cite this as the main underlying reason and also mention the series’ high budget, which is important.
While I won’t argue that studio politics often play a role in cancellations, the only quibble I have with THR’s reporting is the notion that The Boroughs blew past expectations on the viewership front. It simply didn’t. As we covered when we spoke about the cancellation earlier in the week (and in our Top 10 reports since the debut and in our constantly updated renewal-status prediction guide), the series has been in the danger zone in terms of viewership from the off. We know this because you can compare the show’s performance against prior years and get a rough idea of where it’s at, something most trades don’t seem to want to do.
The best viewership comparison, we think, is putting The Boroughs against Obliterated, The Waterfront, and The Residence, three other shows that were sadly canceled over the past few years. They are all big-budget shows, and The Boroughs clocks in under all of them.
Another thread that we do think is noteworthy is what The Waterfront creator Kevin Williamson said about his show’s cancellation earlier this year, specifically when it comes to the audiences age:
I learned a lot about ‘completion.’ They can really pinpoint exactly who watched the show, how many minutes they watched it, how many episodes. It’s fascinating the way that they can measure the success of the show.
What happened was the median age was 52 for The Waterfront. People in their 50s and 60s don’t binge the way that younger people do. So meeting the metrics takes longer. My contract says you have to make a decision in this amount of time. It ultimately met the completion rate, just not in the amount of time they allow for it. I don’t know if that’s the reason or not.
We mention this because Nielsen’s Top 10 stats this week specifically mentioned, “About 57% of viewing came from the 50+ demographic,” suggesting this show could be suffering from the same underlying problems.
Given the ending, Netflix should have labeled this a Limited Series from the start, in our opinion. The story that’s told in season 1 does have a beginning, middle, and end, and while there are no doubt some smaller questions left unanswered and the glitchy mirror sets up more, I’m personally not as bothered as I was by some prior shows like 1899, which really required future installments for me to still recommend them.
