I’m not gonna lie, being a TV fan is hard right now. Not only do we have to worry about the shows we love getting canceled before the story is complete, but now we also have to worry about shows being canceled at random stages of production, or worse getting erased from their streaming platforms entirely. HBO Max has been the worst at erasing its own shows from existence with around eighty total original titles taken off of the streamer last year as Warner Bros. Discovery plans to merge the service with Discovery+. But we can’t even call HBO Max’s great erasure a one-off moment, because now that Showtime and Paramount+ are merging into one streaming service, there are several Showtime originals that have been canceled with plans to erase them from the platform entirely.
We’ve lost some great shows over the last year, and it sadly doesn’t look like this trend is ending anytime soon. While some shows like Westworld, Generation, Raised by Wolves, and Minx have been picked up by other streaming services like Tubi and Starz, not all erased shows were that lucky. There are still many series that are lost for the foreseeable future with no known plans to stream them elsewhere.
Here we mourn ten great shows, stuck on a server somewhere rather than providing entertainment to the audiences they were created for.
Gordita Chronicles
Set in the 1980s, this coming-of-age story follows Cucu “Gordita” Castelli (Olivia Goncalves) as she moves with her family from the Dominican Republic to Miami, Florida. Gordita Chronicles is a heartwarming comedy that centers the experience of a Latinx immigrant family – something we sadly don’t get to see much of on screen. During a time where Latinx visibility in the media is severely lacking, it just doesn’t seem right for HBO Max to cancel this show, and then completely bar people from watching it.
Love Life
The romance anthology series Love Life ran for two great seasons before getting both canceled and erased from HBO Max within the same month. Starring Anna Kendrick in season 1 and William Jackson Harper in season 2, each episode provides a look at different relationships and key moments in the main character’s life. We get to see them fall in and out of love, traverse awkward hookups, and discover what they want out of life and what they’re looking for in a romantic partner. Even though the series is full of heartbreak, it offers a surprisingly optimistic look at love and dating that doesn’t feel forced or staged, but instead feels real.
Made for Love
Based on Alissa Nutting’s 2017 novel of the same name, Made for Love follows Hazel Green-Gogol’s (Cristin Milioti) escape from her tech-mogul husband Byron Gogol (Billy Magnussen). After living with him for ten years in a virtual biosphere that also serves as the base of operations for Gogol Tech, she decides she’s tired of living this life and wants to start fresh. That’s easier said than done, however, once she discovers that Gogol planted a surveillance chip in her brain that allows him to track her location, watch what she does, and even catalog her emotions. Made for Love offers an interesting take on toxic masculinity and the narcissism of “tech geniuses” that feels just as relevant now as ever.
Final Space
From YouTuber Olan Rogers, this more obscure animated series seemed to have finally found a place for its past seasons to call home in the U.S. with HBO Max. Final Space originally aired on TBS before moving to Adult Swim, so HBO Max seemed like the natural place for this series to expand its audience and let those of us who missed out on some episodes finally catch up. Final Space tells the story of Gary Goodspeed (Olan Rogers), an astronaut who is well-intentioned but not always the sharpest, as he tries to save the universe from the evil Lord Commander (David Tennant). Final Space was a passion project for Rogers, and as someone who has followed him since my freshman year of high school, I have to say that it was really cool to watch him create something he clearly loved. But it’s not just Rogers’ love for the series that makes it stand out, it also features a stacked voice cast that includes David Tennant, Ron Perlman, Fred Armisen, Jane Lynch, Shannon Purser, Steven Yeun, and Ron Funches.
Snowpiercer
Not only has the TV adaptation of Snowpiercer lost its streaming home on HBO Max, but now the fourth and final season that was set to air on TNT has been taken off of the schedule with no word on when or where the final episodes will be available. Based on Bong Joon-Ho’s 2013 film of the same name as well as the 1982 French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, Snowpiercer is set seven years after the Earth has become an arctic wasteland. Humanity is relegated to a perpetually moving train with 1,001 cars that are separated by a strict social hierarchy. Class status determines how good or bad a person’s post-apocalyptic experience is, which of course causes conflict amongst the lower classes who have to fight for scraps to survive. It expands upon the world in Bong Joon-Ho’s film and gives us a look at the early days of the train.
Mrs. Fletcher
You’d think that in the midst of the Hahnaissance – the rightful appreciation of Kathryn Hahn and her talent as an actor – that HBO Max would keep her HBO series Mrs. Fletcher available for people to find or revisit as they explore her filmography. But unfortunately, that’s not the case. Kathryn Hahn played the title character Eve Fletcher, a divorcée going through a midlife crisis and sexual awakening after her son leaves for college and she finds herself alone for the first time in years. She finally has the chance to discover who she is and what she really wants out of life and her sexual relationships, proving that it’s never too late to learn and grow from new experiences.
Infinity Train
Despite being an animated series geared toward children, Infinity Train offers a pretty profound take on processing trauma and emotional issues. The cars on this titular train contain a wide variety of worlds and environments that allow its passengers to process and confront their trauma. Passengers arrive with a number on their hand that continues to count down as they work through their issues. Once their number reaches zero, they can leave the train and move forward with their life. It’s such a shame that HBO Max has erased so many of its animated series, including this one. With all of the collective trauma that the world has gone through post-COVID, this seems like a show that a lot of people could learn from and connect with.
Kidding
Showtime’s Kidding stars Jim Carrey as Jeff Piccirillo a.k.a. Mr. Pickles, the host of a beloved children’s show and a man struggling with the death of his son. His normally kind and optimistic outlook on life unfortunately isn’t enough to prepare him for this tragedy, and even as he tries to keep his sanity together for the sake of the show and his family, he starts to fall apart. Since Showtime is one of the more obscure streaming services, it seems like taking this series over to Paramount+ would have been a great way for more people, Jim Carrey fans and otherwise, to find and connect with this series even though it’s been canceled for a few years. But alas, Kidding is another series currently lost to the void for the foreseeable future.
On Becoming A God in Central Florida
Kirsten Dunst’s performance in On Becoming A God in Central Florida got her a Golden Globe nomination, but it looks like even that isn’t enough to bring the series over to Paramount+. Set in the 1990s, this series follows Krystal Stubbs (Dunst), a water park employee not satisfied with her minimum wage lifestyle. After her husband puts the family in debt by joining a cult-like multi-level-marketing scheme, Stubbs has to do whatever it takes to keep herself and the family afloat by going all in on selling Farmers American Merchandise.
Let the Right One In
Showtime’s series adaptation of Let the Right One In has only been around for a few months, first premiering in Oct. 2022 and finishing its first season in Dec. It feels like people didn’t even have a chance to find this series before it got axed and erased. I watch TV for a living, and I haven’t even had time to watch it yet. Let the Right One In is about a young girl who is turned into a vampire and her father who does what he can to take care of her and keep her secret. In this version of the story, Eleanor Kane (Madison Taylor Baez) has been a vampire for 10 years, though she still looks twelve thanks to the vampirism. She’s been traveling across the country with her father ever since her infection, trying to find a cure. They finally settle in New York City, and find a scientist, Claire Logan (Grace Gummer), who they hope to be the answer they’ve been looking for.
Other Shows Erased from Streaming
Because it doesn’t feel right to only share ten of the shows that have been erased, so here’s a bunch of other shows without a streaming home.
HBO Max
12 Dates of Christmas
About Last Night
Amsterdam
Aquaman: King of Atlantis
At Home With Amy Sedaris
Baketopia
Beartown
Beforeigners
Camping
Chad
Close Enough
Czech it Out
Ellen’s Next Great Designer
Full Bloom
Generation Hustle
Head of the Class (2021)
Here and Now
K Street
Lust
My Mom, Your Dad
Run
Ruxx
The Garcias
The Last O.G.
The Misery Index
The Sleepers
Vinyl
Wrecked
Craftopia
Detention Adventure
Dodo
Elliott From Earth
Esme & Roy
Little Ellen
Make it Big, Make it Small
Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart
Messy Goes to Okido
Mia’s Magic Playground
Mighty Magiswords
Odo
Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures
Squish
Summer Camp Island
The Fungies
The Not-Too-Late Show with Elmo
The Ollie & Moon Show
Theodosia
Tig n’ Seek
Victor and Valentino
Yabba Dabba Dinosaurs
Showtime
American Gigolo
American Rust
Super Pumped
Netflix
Hemlock Grove