‘The Waterfront’ Canceled After One Season; One Of The Most Watched Cancelations in Netflix History

In a shocking surprise, Deadline has reported that The Waterfront, Netflix’s summer drama starring Holt McCallany, Melissa Benoist, and Jake Weary, won’t be coming back for a season 2. It makes the show one of Netflix’s most-watched cancellations in its history for a debut show. 

Released in late June, the series had a big ensemble cast and told the story of the Buckleys, the owners of a North Carolina fishing empire that’s in heavy decline and made worse by the patriarch of the family having a new diagnosis. The series definitely set up more adventures for future instalments, with the series picking up good reviews across the board. 

For full disclosure, we had heard in recent weeks that things were looking good on the renewal front, but reporting from Deadline suggested the cancellation came relatively recently, and Netflix declined to comment when we reached out. Deadline notes that the bar may be higher for bought-in shows (Universal TV produced it) and also stated that their sources had also been optimistic about its renewal prospects. 

In our initial season 2 renewal post, we had also been tracking the numbers and predicted a renewal there, too. We’ve often now used Obliterated, a canceled show from the creators of Cobra Kai, as a benchmark for the “most watched” cancellation and used that as a bar that high-end productions need to get over.

In its first 4 weeks, it had picked up 24.4M views, something The Waterfront, albeit narrowly, managed to beat with 29.1M views. Ransom Canyon from earlier this year is another good comparison, which pulled in fewer views but did manage to get renewed. At the same time, PULSE and The Residence were also axed after their debuts. 

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Stacking up the performance against Obliterated, you can see the second week is where The Waterfront gained the most ground on it, but clearly, it wasn’t enough. 

In the daily top 10s, things looked pretty good there, too, with 35 consecutive days in the US top 10s. On average, it spent 23 days in the Netflix top 10s in 90 regions around the globe, which is usually enough. 

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Cast and Crew Reaction to The Waterfront Cancelation

Showrunner and creator, Kevin Williamson, was the first to confirm the cancellation with a heartfelt post on Instagram Stories saying:

“A big thank you to everyone who watched The Waterfront. While I’m sad the Buckley’s won’t be back for a season 2, I’m celebrating the joy that was Season 1. I had the pleasure of working with a dream cast and crew. My heart is full of gratitude for all the people who brought their talents to the show both in NC and LA. You were all amazing. Thank you to my partners at Universal TV. And thank you to Netflix for taking a chance on a very personal story. You were truly a joy to work with! It was one of the best experiences of my life! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”

Humberly Gonzalez, who plays Jenna Tate in the series, followed that message up with:

“So many beautiful memories, a stunning experience and connections made – We don’t always get a chance to continue certain stories but it doesn’t take away from what we shared. Appreciate all your love and support and I I am looking forward to what comes next.”

Brady Hepner, who played Diller Hopkins, wrote on Instagram stories, “Cannot explain what this show meant to me. To everyone on the project, I love ya more than life.”

J. Elliott, who plays Tommy, thanked everyone who watched the show in an Instagram story. 

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The show joins a growing list of cancellations for 2025, including Territory, PULSE, The Residence, as well as select unscripted and international shows confirmed to have now ended. 

Are you disappointed that The Waterfront won’t be returning for season 2? Let us know in the comments.