Netflix Cancels Controversial Series After Just One Season

Netflix canceling shows has become commonplace, and the newest show to be canceled is a controversial series that lasted only one season.

By James Brizuela | Published

netflix q-force

Another day, another canceled show on Netflix. The streaming platform seems to not have any issues with getting rid of popular shows all the time. However, the newest series to get the proverbial ax is Q-Force. The series follows a team of LGBTQ secret agents, as they attempt to gain notoriety from their superiors. Although the series has quite a respectable audience score of 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, the low viewership is the biggest reason as to why Q-Force has now been canceled on Netflix.

Audiences had lauded the series for its LGBTQ representation, but it seems that Netflix has oversaturated its market with adult animation. Bojack Horseman was arguably the best adult animated series on there, but most of the others just fell by the wayside of viewership. The other big popular series is Big Mouth, though that has not received nearly as many accolades as Bojack Horseman has. Matt Rogers, cast and writer for Q-Force on Netflix, spoke on the cancelation. According to Rogers, “The people that loved it really loved it, and the good news is that it will always be on Netflix. It did not get a second season, but it is out there and it exists.” That is certainly a better way to look at the show being canceled. Fans can go watch the series for as long as it remains on the streaming platform, even though the second season will not happen.

Q-Force did have a great cast, which makes its cancelation that much tougher to deal with. Sean Hayes starred as the lead character, Steve Maryweather. Maryweather is a secret agent for the American Intelligence Agency (AIA). The day he becomes an agent, he comes out as gay to his superiors. This leads the department to ship him off to West Hollywood, to basically get him out of the way. However, Steve puts together an all-star team of agents who have also been given the same treatment. The cast includes Patti Harrison as Stat, Wanda Sykes as Deb, David Harbour as Rick, Gary Cole as Director Dirk Chunley, and Laurie Metcalf as V. Despite having quite a great cast, Q-Force is canceled on Netflix.

Netflix has been doubling down on canceling shows and ensuring that the company is not going under, after posting its first subscriber losses back in April’s quarterly earnings meeting. Those 200,000 losses were added to by nearly 1 million in the most recent earnings meetings, though the number was a sort of saving grace. The company had assumed it would lose nearly 2 million. Despite the sort of good news, plenty of shows were going to be done away with. That is why Q-Force is now canceled at Netflix. It joins the host of other shows that have been canceled in the past six months. There might just not be a draw for a ton of adult animation. At least, not in the way that most are marketed on the streaming platform.

There is meant to be a new ad-based tier added to the streaming platform, so that could mean that more subscribers will stay. Or it could mean that a lot of those who have left, might want to come back. However, ads are not enjoyed by a lot of people. Depending on how the company rebounds, Q-Force by not be the only canceled show on Netflix in the future. There could be even more animated shows getting canceled, as it has been stated the animation department was one of the first to be hit hard with bad news.