Many viewers long for a return to the golden age of Black television – a time from the late 90’s to early aughts when one could turn on their television screen and instantly see faces like their own reflected in any number of hilarious or heart-wrenching scenarios.
While the doors have been steadily flying open over the years for successes from Black creators, showrunners, writers, executive producers, and of course on-screen actors, and viewers have more options than even five or ten years ago to see stories and scenarios that reflect and expand their own experiences, naturally, not every show that falls into that category gets the opportunity to live to its full potential.
These are the shows that either had promising premieres full of potential in the last year, have come to an abrupt end after several fan-beloved seasons, or were tragically ordered, produced, and shelved before ever even airing a single episode in 2023.
One of the first casualties of the now infamous Discovery-Warner merger, the popular anthology dramedy dissecting the complicated journey from singlehood to marriage (and beyond) in the modern age was eliminated from HBOmax after a wildly popular season starring William Jackson Harper and Jessica Williams.
After 6 seasons on Freeform, the popular Gen-Z-leaning Black-ish spinoff focusing on the college experience, starring Yara Shahidi, Trevor Jackson, Luka Sabbat, and Marcus Scribner, is coming to a close.
Despite its nontraditional late-night format and wildly popular segments grilling guests on their personal biases and views on culture, the hot-pink-hued comedy series has been cut amid Showtime’s rebrand and merger with Paramount+.
After two highly buzzed about seasons on HBOmax, the multi-culti reboot of the salacious early aughts teen drama has been chopped from the lineup.
Phoebe Robinson’s comedic portrait of a hot-mess 30-something podcaster trying to pull it together and figure out adulthood in New York City was not picked up for a second season at Freeform after premiering last July.
Despite a 2-season order and completion of Season 2 production, the crime and legal drama starring Courtney B. Vance and Aunjanue Ellis was shelved at AMC after only airing one season. Season 2 will reportedly not be aired on any of AMC’s platforms.
After three seasons, the Ballroom competition celebrating queer Black cultural traditions was also cut from HBO’s MAXoriginals lineup amid the streamer’s big merger.
After launching at Comedy Central in 2019 and moving to HBOmax in 2021, the comedy following two community college grads searching for their avenue to success in Chicago’s South Side was axed from the HBOmax lineup after three seasons – despite a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
This much buzzed-about sci-fi comedy featuring the inter-dimensional/multiversal adventures of a 33-year-old Black man exploring different versions of his own life was shelved by AMC, despite their order for and completed production of a full first season. There are currently no plans to air the show on any of AMC’s platforms.
The FX original based on Octavia E. Butler’s original novel, following a young aspiring writer ready to claim a future all her own but being pulled back and forth into her ancestral past, was canceled after just one season.
Issa Rae’s reality hit following a group of young black professional friends, lovers, and associates was cut from HBOmax’s MAXoriginals lineup after just two seasons.
