Why Was Final Space Cancelled and Can It Be Saved from the Abyss?

The cancellation and expunging of Final Space provides a chilling look at the inner workings of heartless corporations in the entertainment industry.

What Is It?

This animated sci-fi adventure comedy follows Gary Goodspeed, an impulsive but well-meaning prisoner-turned-space-hero, and Mooncake, a mysterious and adorable planet-destroying creature. Together with a ragtag crew—including the stoic Avocato, the AI H.U.E., and others—they take on cosmic threats while unraveling the mystery of the apocalyptic realm known as Final Space.

Aired: TBS/Adult Swim, 2018-21, 4 Seasons Totaling 36 Episodes

Starring: Olan Rogers, Tika Sumpter, Coty Galloway, Steven Yeun, Tom Kenny, David Tennant

Created By: Olan Rogers

Why Was It Cancelled?

This series first premiered on TBS in 2018, and it performed well enough in viewership to get a second-season renewal, though it was shifted over to Adult Swim. It continued through a third season there, but then Warner Bros. went silent on the show’s fate. Series creator Olan Rogers finally confirmed in 2022 that the show’s third season was its last, and he indicated that the merger of Warner Bros. and Discovery led to its demise. But the story did not end there, as the mega-corp now had a fate worse than cancellation in store for the series.

New tax laws had been put in place that allowed networks and/or studios to classify a show (or movie) as a write-down, and they receive a tax credit by taking a loss on the property. And depending on how they did it, this might mean making the project no longer available for viewing. Warner Bros. did something similar with the Batgirl film, which had been completed but never released. Basically, they reduced their profits by the amount of the write-down and ended up paying less in taxes at the end of the year. This is how corporations get away with paying no taxes while you and I have to shell out money to the IRS every year. (And don’t try this at home unless you can afford the high-priced tax consultants and lawyers big business has on the payroll.)

So not only did the company take the write-down on Final Space, they basically erased it from existence. The terms of writing it off to save on the company’s bottom line mean that it can never be released anywhere, ever, in any form. It is not streaming anywhere now, nor will it be. Only the first two seasons were released on Blu-ray, and those are no longer available. The third season never received a home video release, and now it never will.

The implications of this are deeply unsettling, and you have to wonder how many other shows will be erased from existence to make the bottom line of some mega-corp look a little bit better. This is art being extinguished to save a few bucks and get better bonuses for corporate executives. Olan Rogers said it best himself: “Five years of my life. Three seasons of TV. Blood, sweat, and tears… became a tax write-off for the network who owns Final Space.”

Can It Be Revived?

Once a series has been cancelled, it is difficult to get that decision reversed and get the show back for another season. Some fans have managed to convince the cancelling network to bring it back through a “Save My Show” campaign (Jericho on CBS, Timeless on NBC) others have convinced a different venue to pick it up (Manifest moving from NBC to Netflix, The Expanse moving from Syfy to Amazon). But the fact is that those situations are rare, and it takes a lot of fans making a lot of noise to get a network or streaming service to even consider picking up a cancelled show. And sadly, in the case of Final Space, any attempt to return it from the abyss of the Television Wasteland may be insurmountable.

The fact is that the show is off the books for Warner Bros. Discovery, and they could care less about it at this point. They have written it off (literally), and they got their money back in tax breaks. Any attempt to bring the property back would mean that they would have to pay the government back, and you know how corporations hate to pay taxes. I believe the only possibility for bringing Final Space back at this point would be for somebody to compensate WB/Discovery for the amount of the tax break and possibly more (likely tens of millions of dollars at least). And I am not even sure if that is enough.

A social media campaign or online petition or paying money to put up billboards all over Hollywood isn’t going to cut it this time. And the implications are rather chilling. Final Space may not have risen to the level of a classic sci fi show when it aired, but it was pretty darn fun, and maybe a second or third watch would have elevated its status. But we will not get the chance to give it that re-watch. Olan Rogers did at least get the okay from Warner Bros. to produce a final graphic novel wrapping up the story (still in the works, and it will cost you a hefty $125 plus postage). But it looks like that will pretty much be it for the show.

Where Can You Watch It?

You can’t. At least not through any official medium. In case you were just skimming above, this show has basically been erased from existence per the terms of the write-down. It is not airing in reruns on TBS or Adult Swim, it is not streaming, it is not available VOD, and the DVD collections are out of print. Only the first and second seasons were collected together on Blu-ray, but that is currently fetching high prices from third-party sellers. You can search for bootleg DVDs of the show, and it is currently available on the Internet Archive, but there is no guarantee that it will remain there.

Did you watch Final Space, and do you think fans should make another attempt to revive the show? Chime in with your thoughts in the comments below.

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