Netflix has parted ways with two more original series, ending The Abandons after one season and The Vince Staples Show after two. The cancellations leave both shows off the streamer’s 2026 slate, even though one arrived only in December and the other had already returned for a second run.
The Abandons, a frontier drama set in the 1850s American West, starred Lena Headey and Gillian Anderson and was created by Kurt Sutter. The Vince Staples Show, which first premiered in 2024, cast Staples as a fictionalized version of himself in a stylized Long Beach, California, with Andrea Ellsworth, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Beau Billingslea and Naté Jones also appearing.
The timing gives the two cancellations different weight. The Abandons had barely begun to find an audience after its December debut when Netflix moved to end it, while The Vince Staples Show had already had a longer runway, returning for a second season before the streamer decided not to continue. That makes the pair a useful snapshot of how quickly Netflix can move when a show does not land the way it wants.
Reactions to both series were mixed, and that split helps explain the decision. One critic called The Abandons “strangely thin,” while another found The Vince Staples Show to have “genuinely funny moments” but said its “pacing and structure sometimes made the narrative feel unfocused.” Those comments point to the same problem from different angles: neither series consistently turned its premise into something durable.
Netflix has been reassessing scripted programming based on audience response, critical reception and production circumstances, even as it renews some series and expands development on others. Industry analysts have pointed to viewership performance, production costs and creative direction as key factors in those calls. In that context, the end of The Abandons and The Vince Staples Show looks less like a surprise than a clear sign of where the streamer is drawing the line in 2026.
For viewers, the answer is already settled: both shows are done, and neither will return for additional seasons.
