TV shows canceled or ended in 2021
"Keeping Up With the Kardashians," "Black Lightning" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" were among the TV series and streaming shows that dropped their final new episodes in 2021.
Here's a roundup of some of the biggest titles from ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC, Netflix and more that audiences said goodbye to in the past year. Some of the shows were canceled, while others were voluntarily retired.
"Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist"
NBC canceled the musical dramedy starring Jane Levy after two seasons.
In a measure of good news for fans, Roku stepped in to revive the franchise for a holiday-themed "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist" movie, to debut on the ad-supported streaming service the Roku Channel.
"NCIS: New Orleans"
Scott Bakula starred as Special Agent Dwayne Pride on "NCIS: New Orleans." The "NCIS" spin-off ran for seven seasons on CBS, from 2014-2021.
"Superstore"
America Ferrera played Amy Sosa on the workplace comedy "Superstore." She left the main cast after Season 5, but returned in Season 6 for the series finale.
"Superstore" ran on NBC from 2015-2021.
"Black Lightning"
In the DC Comics-based action series, Cress Williams starred as a school principal who moonlights as a superhero.
"Black Lightning" concluded its four-season run on the CW in May 2021.
"Mixed-ish"
A spin-off of the long-running "Black-ish," "Mixed-ish" was canceled by ABC after two seasons.
Tika Sumpter and Mark-Paul Gosselaar starred on the 2019-2021 comedy as the parents of Tracee Ellis Ross' "Black-ish" character.
"The Crew"
Kevin James returned to the three-camera TV sitcom form — and made his Netflix series debut — with this comedy set in a NASCAR garage. But unlike "The King of Queens" and "Kevin Can Wait," "The Crew" was not long for the world.
Netflix did not reup the show for a new season after its initial batch of 10 episodes was released on the streamer in February 2021.
"Judge Judy"
Judy Sheindlin is seen here in 1997, during the second season of her hit reality court show.
Sheindlin, a retired family court judge, presided over "Judge Judy" for 25 seasons, from 1996-2021.
"The Bold Type"
Set in the world of the magazine publishing, "The Bold Type" produced five seasons of drama for Freeform, from 2017-2021.
"Younger"
"Younger" concluded its seven-season run on Paramount+. The comedy series previously called TV Land home.
Sutton Foster starred as a fortysomething who masquerades as a twentysomething in order to land a job in publishing.
"Lucifer"
"Lucifer" could've ended after Season 3, when it was canceled by Fox. Or it could've concluded after Season 5, when Netflix announced it was ending the series (before reversing its decision). But "Lucifer" couldn't outrun TV death forever.
The end came for the DC Comics-based fantasy-procedural after Season 6.
Tom Ellis starred as the crime-solving "Lord of Hell." In all, the show ran from 2016-2021.
"Good Girls"
Retta, Mae Whitman and Christina Hendricks starred in "Good Girls" from 2018-2021.
The drama series, about a crime of desperation that morphs into an enterprise, was canceled by NBC in June 2021.
"Mom"
"Mom" star Allison Janney won two Primetime Emmys for playing Bonnie Plunkett on the CBS sitcom.
"Mom" ended in May 2021 with its Season 8 finale.
The show suffered a major shakeup after Janney's main co-star, Anna Farris, who played Bonnie's daughter, departed the sitcom after Season 7.
"Lou Dobbs Tonight"
The onetime CNN anchor's self-titled Fox Business Network show was canceled in February 2021. The move came one day after Dobbs was named in a defamation lawsuit triggered by conspiracy theories concerning the 2020 presidential election. and filed by the manufacturer of electronic voting technology.
Fox Business Network called the cancellation of "Lou Dobbs Tonight" "part of ... planned changes."
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine"
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" was another hard-to-kill series that met its end for good in 2021.
The Andy Samberg-led ensemble police comedy originally ran on Fox. When the network canceled it after Season 5, NBC gave the series three more years.
In all, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" produced more than 150 episodes from 2013-2021.
"MacGyver"
The original version of "MacGyver" ran for seven seasons on ABC, from 1985-1992. The same-titled action-series reboot, led by Lucas Till, survived for five seasons on CBS.
The updated "MacGyver" aired its final episode in April 2021.
"Conan"
Conan O'Brien is seen at a media event in 2019. The comic's TBS late-night show, "Conan," signed off on June 24, 2021, after 11 years.
"Last Man Standing"
Canceled by ABC after its sixth season, "Last Man Standing" scored three more years on Fox.
After nine seasons, and nearly 200 episodes in all, the Tim Allen-Nancy Travis sitcom said farewell with a May 2021 finale titled, "Keep on Truckin'."
"For Life"
The legal drama "For Life," starring Nicholas Pinnock, was not renewed by ABC. The series ran for two seasons, from 2020-2021.
"American Housewife"
Katy Mixon starred as Katie Otto for five seasons on the Connecticut-set comedy "American Housewife."
ABC didn't reserve a spot for the show in its fall 2021 schedule. The comedy dropped its final new episode in March 2021. It ran for five seasons.
"Pose"
The Emmy-winning "Pose," featuring Mj Rodriguez, ran for three groundbreaking seasons on FX, from 2018-2021.
"A Little Late With Lilly Singh"
In 2019, "A Little Late with Lilly Singh" assumed the NBC late-night spot vacated by "Last Call With Carson Daly." The new show aired its final episode in June 2021.
"The Kominsky Method"
The Emmy-nominated "Kominsky Method" was an single-camera comedy about an acting teacher (played by Michael Douglas) from sitcom giant Chuck Lorre ("Two and a Half Men," "The Big Bang Theory").
The series dropped its third and final season on Netflix in May 2021.
"The Moodys"
Originally a Christmastime-set family comedy, "The Moodys" was canceled in advance of its summertime-aired Season 2 finale.
The 2019-2021 show was based on a same-titled Australian series. It starred Dennis Leary and Elizabeth Perkins.
"The Unicorn"
"The Unicorn" starred Walton Goggins as a widowed father reentering the dating scene. It was canceled by CBS after two seasons.
"Debris"
The short-lived "Debris" ran from March 2021 to May 2021 on NBC. The sci-fi drama starred Riann Steele and Jonathan Tucker as government agents on the hunt for, yes, debris from a space-alien craft.
"Keeping Up With the Kardashians"
After 20 seasons and nearly 14 years, a TV era ended when "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" aired its final new episode on E! on June 20, 2021.
The show didn't invent the reality show, but its family of stars, including Kim Kardashian West, Khloé Kardashian, Kourtney Kardashian and Kris Jenner, helped elevate the profile — and influence — of the reality star.
"Rebel"
Katey Sagal has starred in a number of long-running TV series, including "Married... With Children" and "Sons of Anarchy." "Rebel," one of her latest projects, however, was a one-season-and-done legal drama for ABC.
The show premiered in April 2021, and dropped its final new episode in June 2021.
"Prodigal Son"
The police drama "Prodigal Son" ran for two seasons on Fox, from 2019-2021. Tom Payne starred as a former FBI profiler — and offspring of a serial killer.
"Home & Family"
"Home & Family" concluded a nine-year run on the Hallmark Channel in August 2021. The show was a reboot of a same-titled morning chat-fest that ran in the 1990s on what was then known as the Family Channel.
Cameron Mathison and Debbie Matenopoulos hosted the show's most recent iteration.
"Good Witch"
On "Good Witch," "JAG" vet Catherine Bell starred as the bed-and-breakfast-running title character.
The show ran for seven seasons on the Hallmark Channel, from 2015-2021.
"Shameless"
The profane, Primetime Emmy-winning "Shameless" managed to match the output of its same-titled British forerunner: 11 seasons.
The U.S. version, starring William H. Macy, aired on Showtime, and produced more than 125 episodes from 2011-2021.
"Dear White People"
"Dear White People," featuring Ashley Blaine Featherson, and based on the same-titled 2014 film, debuted on Netflix in 2017. The college-life comedy series dropped its fourth and final season in September 2021.
"Shrill"
"Shrill" put "Saturday Night Live" player Aidy Bryant in the spotlight, and earned her a Primetime Emmy nomination.
Based on the non-fiction title, "Shrill: Notes From a Loud Woman," the comedy series dropped its third and final season on Hulu on May 7, 2021.
"Call Your Mother"
"Call Your Mother" marked Kyra Sedgwick's first starring role in a sitcom, however briefly.
The "Closer" star's comedy ran on ABC for 13 episodes, from January 2021 to May 2021.
"Betty"
"Betty" ran for two seasons on HBO, from 2020-2021. The comedy series focused on teen skateboarders.
"Bosch"
In "Bosch," Titus Welliver starred as author Michael Connelly's crime-novel creation, Los Angeles homicide detective Harry Bosch.
The crime series produced 68 episodes for Amazon Prime Video in a seven-season run that ended in June 2021.
"Bless the Harts"
This animated comedy ran for two seasons on Fox, from 2019-2021.
"Bless the Harts" starred the voices of "Saturday Night Live" alums Kristin Wiig and Maya Rudolph.
"Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!"
Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx co-created and starred in this traditional family sitcom made for Netflix.
"Dad Stop Embarrassing Me!" was about a father (played by Foxx) and his teen daughter (played by Kyla-Drew). It released what proved to be its one and only season on April 14, 2021.
"Atypical"
In Netflix's "Aytpical," Keir Gilchrist starred as a teen with autism. The streaming service dropped what it said would be the series' fourth and final season on July 9, 2021.
"Wynonna Earp"
Melanie Scrofano starred as the title character in this Canadian-production that ran in the United States on Syfy.
About a descendant of the Old West's Wyatt Earp, the supernatural-tinged "Wynonna Earp" produced four seasons, from 2016-2021. It was based on the comic-book series of the same name.
"The Republic of Sarah"
This one-season-and-done CW series packed a lot of premise into its 13 episodes: "The Republic of Sarah" concerned a New Hampshire city that, through a series of events, becomes its own country — a country led by a high-school teacher named Sarah (played by Stella Baker).
The show premiered in June 2021 and was done by September 2021.
"Country Comfort"
"Country Comfort" was another of Netflix's short-lived, three-camera sitcoms. This one played like "The Nanny" with a Southern accent, and starred Katharine McPhee as a Nashville country singer who finds a job as a live-in nanny to three children.
What proved to be the lone season for "Country Comfort" dropped on Netflix in March 2021.
"Punky Brewster"
A revival and continuation of the same-titled family sitcom of the 1980s, Peacock's "Punky Brewster" starred much of the franchise's original cast, including Soleil Moon Frye.
The 2021-launched version was not renewed past its initial, 10-episode first season.
"Goliath"
In "Goliath," Billy Bob Thornton starred as lawyer Billy McBride.
The legal drama series debuted in 2016. It concluded its run on Amazon Prime Video in September 2021, with the release of its fourth and final season.