Not every Netflix show is created equal — some are, sadly, here for a good time, but not a long time.
Case in point: Netflix just reportedly canceled two of the streaming service’s most recent additions, “The Residence” and “Pulse” (h/t The Hollywood Reporter).
This means that both shows will unfortunately be one-and-done series now that the streamer has opted not to renew either for a second season.
Which is a shame. Led by Uzo Aduba as wildly eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp, “The Residence” is a “screwball whodunnit set in the upstairs, downstairs, and backstairs of the White House, among the eclectic staff of the world’s most famous mansion,” per the show’s official logline, with Aduba’s character arriving on the scene to solve a murder that occurred during a state dinner for the Australian prime minister.
Hailing from some successful stock — Shonda Rhimes’ Shondaland, with Scandal’s Paul William Davis as creator-slash-showrunner — the original plan for the show was for it to be an anthology, with Detective Cupp taking on a different case every season.
It premiered to some success, too. “The Residence” spent four weeks in Netflix’s global top 10, logging 177.4 million hours of viewing.
Alas, it seems like all those hours weren’t enough to save the murder-mystery series, which also starred Giancarlo Esposito, Molly Griggs, Ken Marino and Randall Park, among others.
Also cancelled after a single season is the Netflix medical procedural “Pulse,” a “The Pitt”-esque drama that follows a group of emergency and surgical residents at Maguire Hospital in Miami, Florida as they navigate both medical crises and personal drama amid the aftermath of a sexual harassment claim.
The cast includes Willa Fitzgerald, Colin Woodell, Jessie T. Usher, Justina Machado and Jack Bannon.
After it dropped on Netflix on April 3, the series spent four weeks in the streamer’s global rankings, drawing 20.2 million views and 162.1 million total viewing hours. However, middling reviews from critics (the drama only has a 48% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where the critical consensus reads: “Pulse has its finger on the genre’s zeitgeist but pales in comparison to its contemporaries.”
That tepid response might well have contributed to the show’s cancellation.
Netflix reportedly not done canceling new shows
“The Residence” and “Pulse” might sadly soon be joined by a third Netflix cancellation: “No Good Deed.”
This black comedy came filled with a starry cast that included Linda Cardellini, O-T Fagbenle, Abbi Jacobson, Lisa Kudrow, Dennis Leary, Ray Ramano and Luke Wilson. The darkly comic series follows three families vying to buy the same house.
But it still hasn’t yet been picked up for a second season by Netflix, despite being released back in December 2024.
Reports now indicate that it might not return for a second season at all, and is on “indefinite hiatus.”
