Pretty Little Liars, My Lady Jane and Star Wars: The Acolyte are just some of the shows fans lost in 2024 that they don’t think they should have.
Prime Video’s My Lady Jane was a radical reimagining of Lady Jane Grey’s (Emily Bader) very brief time as monarch. In this version of events, Jane and husband Guildford (Edward Bluemel) aren’t beheaded. The twist? Certain people are able to transform into animals in this universe and the fun doesn’t end there.
“I think I heard someone say that every tortured female heroine in history deserves a rom-com written about her. I think they really do,” Bader told TVInsider in June 2024. “We’re focusing on the female gaze in a way that I think is really fun and unexpected. The Tudor times were, you could say, bleak, so it needed a little bit of fun. I think it’s just such a refreshing take on a female story.”
Bader, Bluemel and the rest of the cast were excited at the prospect of continuing the story, so the show’s cancellation two months later came as a surprise.
'Pretty Little Liars' Canceled at Max After 2 Seasons
Star Wars: The Acolyte is wildly different in tone and content, but it faced the same fate. The popular Disney+ series wasn’t renewed for a second season — despite Amandla Stenberg and Manny Jacinto receiving an outpouring of support from viewers who appreciated the fresh take on the Star Wars franchise.
Keep scrolling for all the shows whose cancellations left Us devastated in 2024:
‘Our Flag Means Death’ (Max)
Set in the early 18th century, Our Flag Means Death followed the misadventures of a gentleman and his crew as they tried to make a name for themselves as pirates. The show was loosely based on the life of Stede Bonnet and ran for two seasons after premiering on HBO Max in March 2022. However, the show was canceled in January 2024.
‘Minx’ (Starz)
This was just one of those shows that never stood a chance. Set in the 1970s, Minx told the story of a young feminist who joined forces with a low-rent publisher to create the first erotic magazine for women.
Minx premiered on Max in 2022 and was renewed for a second season. The network changed their mind by the end of the year, canceling the already filming second season. The series was then picked up by Starz, a short-lived win for fans. Minx was canceled once again in January 2024.
TV Shows That Were Saved After Cancellation
‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ (CBS)
NCIS: Hawai’i premiered in 2021 as a spinoff of NCIS, which is still airing new episodes on CBS. The show was the first NCIS spinoff with a female lead. Vanessa Lachey played Special Agent in Charge Jane Tennant, who ran a team of elite special agents on the island of Oahu.
Us Weekly confirmed in April that CBS was not renewing NCIS: Hawai’i for a fourth season. Since the news broke, fans have been fighting to save the show — to no avail.
‘Walker’ (The CW)
Supernatural fans were ecstatic when Jared Padalecki wrapped up his turn as Sam Winchester only to immediately score a role on another The CW.
Padalecki portrayed Cordell Walker on the reboot of the 1990s western drama Walker, Texas Ranger, for four seasons. The show built itself a decent following before Nexstar acquired the network in August 2022, which led to most of The CW’s original programming being canceled.
To make matters worse, Walker ended just as the show introduced James Van Der Beek in the role of a lifetime as a potential cult leader.
‘Evil’ (Paramount+)
Evil followed a group of people who are tasked by the Catholic Church to investigate possible supernatural incidents. The supernatural drama —which starred Katja Herbers, Mike Colter and Aasif Mandvi — premiered on CBS in 2019 and moved to Paramount+ after its first season.
Despite critical acclaim, Evil received a shortened fifth and final season. That four-episode run is is set to wrap up in August 2024. The cast, however, has remained confident that Evil could find a new home at another streaming service and hasn’t given up hope of making that happen.
TV Shows Gone Too Soon: 'iCarly' and More
‘Wolf Pack’ (Paramount+)
While a show about supernatural wolves in Los Angeles isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar return to her paranormal roots in this drama definitely is.
Wolf Pack followed the aftermath of a California wildfire that ended with two teenagers turned into werewolves. As Everett (Armani Jackson) and Blake (Bella Shepard) adapted to their new normal, chief arson investigator Kristin Ramsey (Gellar) looked for answers about what really caused the catastrophe.
The show premiered in January 2023 and Paramount+ confirmed one year later there would be no second season.
‘My Lady Jane’ (Prime Video)
This radical historical reimagining flipped the Tudor era on its head, asking what would happen King Henry VIII’s son Edward (Jordan Peters) didn’t die of tuberculosis, how would the world be different if Lady Jane Grey wasn’t beheaded, and what if historical England was full of shapeshifters?
While fans came for the chemistry between the leads, they stayed for the campy story lines and the horse (if you know, you know!). Mere weeks after My Lady Jane premiered on Prime Video, the streaming service confirmed in August 2024 that they wouldn’t be ordering another season.
The news came as a surprise given the show’s extensive online fan base. Bader was subsequently cast as the lead of Netflix’s adaptation of Emily Henry’s novel People We Meet on Vacation while Bluemel booked a role in Seven Dials Mystery.
‘Star Wars: The Acolyte’ (Disney+)
The Acolyte, which premiered on Disney+ in June 2024, shows the galaxy far, far away before the events of the Skywalker Saga. A series of murders lead Jedi Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae) to reconnect with former pupil Osha (Stenberg) — and her not-so-dead twin sister, Mae. Sol quickly learns that sinister forces are at play as Mae’s history with a mysterious Sith master is uncovered.
It didn’t take long for The Acolyte to find its audience, as viewers returned every week to see more of Jacinto’s scene-stealing performance as The Stranger. Jacinto and Stenberg had incredible chemistry from episode one, an on-screen spark that grew into a wildfire by the season finale.
Fans will be left to wonder what could have been, however, as the show was canceled in August 2024.
‘Pretty Little Liars’ (Max)
The Pretty Little Liars reboot, which debuted on Max in 2022, picked up where the original series left off by introducing Imogen (Bailee Madison), Tabby (Chandler Kinney), Faran (Zaria), Mouse (Malia Pyles) and Noa (Maia Reficco) as they get tormented by a murderous stalker named A.
Season 1 of the show was titled OG Sin while the sophomore season became Summer School. Pretty Little Liars was always raising the stakes while finding the time to tell inclusive stories about the fan-favorite characters at the center of the series. The season 2 finale hinted at what villain to look out for next season, featuring several scenes of a menacing group wearing masks representing each Liar. Fans won’t get the answers they are looking for since Max canceled the show in September.