Cancellation Watch: The Fall of the House of Usher Tops the Nielsen Rankings, Beacon 23 Will Have a Second Season, and More

Cancellation Watch: Status updates for the sci fi and fantasy shows on the broadcast networks, cable channels, and streaming services as well as breaking news on the currently airing, returning, and upcoming genre entries. 

Status Updates

The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix, Completed 1st Season, Mini-Series): This show made it into the Nielsen Streaming Rankings for the week of October 9th to 15th, topping that chart at the Number 1 spot with an estimated 1.2 billion minutes of viewing. The show also spent four weeks in the Netflix Top 10, averaging 44 million hours of viewing per week. It was intended as a mini-series, but it is possible that series creator Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House) had more stories planned based on the works of Edgar Allen Poe. He has since departed to develop projects for Amazon’s Prime Video, but perhaps the strong viewership for The Fall of the House Usher will get Netflix to consider developing its own Poe-verse of shows spinning out of this one.

Beacon 23 (MGM+, Airing 1st Season, Renewed): This sci fi entry had its series premiere on Sunday, but we will not be seeing any viewership numbers for it. Nielsen does not track the linear channel, nor is the streaming platform covered by that service. But the show will be coming back for a second season as revealed by executive producer Glen Mazzara in a recent interview. Beacon 23 had originally been a joint production by AMC and Spectrum and had been picked up for two seasons, and shooting on the second season was completed before the show was shifted to MGM+ (and also apparently before the strikes). That will likely air next year and Mazarra has plans for additional seasons beyond that.  If viewership is good, perhaps it could stick around for a few years.

Loki (Disney+, Streaming 2nd Season, Renewal Possible): Just one week after Loki Season 2 got off to a good start in the Nielsen Streaming Rankings and I reported that a third season could happen (according to Kevin Fiege), it now looks like this one could wrap up with its second season. It improved to Number 4 with 588 million minutes of viewing, but the season finale seemed rather . . . final. And in an interview this past week, Tom Hiddleston has said that Loki’s journey has ended as the character has come “full circle”. Of course, this is the world of superheroes, so never say never. But there do not appear to be any immediate plans for a third season. I am still keeping this one at Renewal Possible until we hear an official announcement, but don’t be surprised if the second season is the last for Loki, especially as Disney is trimming back its Marvel content.

Bodies (Netflix, Completed 1st Season, Mini-Series): This time-bending series based on the DC Vertigo graphic novel of the same name has now spent four weeks in Netflix’s Top 10, averaging 38 million hours of viewing per week. Writer Paul Tomalin pitched the show to Netflix as a “one and done” series with no plans for a second season. But the final moments did tease a possible continuation, so perhaps Netflix will consider going that route based on the decent viewership numbers the show has pulled.  But for now, I am considering it as ended.

Pluto (Netflix, Streaming 1st Season, Renewal Possible): This Anime entry has not made it into the Netflix Top 10 across the first two weeks of its first season, but that is not uncommon with the streamer’s animated entries. This one has been well-received by critics and viewers so far, holding a 100% Fresh Rating and 97% Audience Score so far on Rotten Tomatoes. But the eight-episode first season adapted the full story from the Manga, so it is unclear if this one will continue beyond that point. I am still keeping it at Renewal Possible, though, until there is an official announcement.

You can see the status of all the shows from the current season at our Cancellation Watch Page.

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Cancellation/Renewal Score:

As mentioned above, MGM+’s Beacon 23 has already been renewed for a second year, so that is getting added to this season’s tally. That brings us to twelve sci fi and fantasy shows that have been renewed so far (36% of shows tracked) vs four cancelled and ending (12%). Below are this season’s numbers, and you can see the list of shows and keep up with the score throughout the week at our Cancellation Watch Page.

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Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and you can see the premieres for all the upcoming genre entries at this link.