Netflix Canceled A Highly-Rated Series After Two Seasons
Netflix has canceled one of its more highly-rated series. It's another surprise move from the streamer considering the critical reception
This article is more than 2 years old
With internal metrics and auditing behind closed doors at many streamers, it can be tough to know exactly what goes into keeping or ditching a series. In the end though, it likely mostly comes down to a pretty simple number: how many people actually watched the thing. That looks like it is the case with Netflix who just canceled a well-received series after only two seasons. Deadline has it that Gentefied has been given the ax and won’t be returning for a third season. It’s a disappointing development considering how well-received the show was in critical crowds especially.
As with all of these cancelation decisions, Netflix is tightlipped about the reason why, though it likely stems from the show not picking up the requisite number of viewers for the second season in particular. According to the reporting, Gentefied never cracked the top ten on the streamer this time around or when first released, an indication that it wasn’t growing its audience with more stories. And with Netflix, these decisions are usually final, with the algorithms telling most of the story.
Gentefied on Netflix follows the life of three Mexican-American cousins living in East Los Angeles who are all struggling with macro and micro problems around their families, jobs, neighborhoods, and culture. The first two seasons saw significant critical acclaim with Rotten Tomatoes scores sitting at 92% and 100% respectively. Critics saw it as a solid reflection of our times, dealing with the ideas around Latin American culture in the current environment and how different generations have something of a divide along these lines.
The Netflix series starred J.J. Soria, Karrie Martin Lachney, and Carlos Santos as the three cousins who are all at different points in their own respective lives when it comes to career and family. The show focused on their relationship with each other, but also with their grandfather played by Joaquin Cosio. He is the owner of a taco stand in LA and very much the patriarch of the family. The series dealt with the family’s relationship around the business and the fierce pride in culture that came with it. And it also dealt with themes around immigration and how different generations growing up in the United States see that particular topic.
Series creators Marvin Lemus and Linda Yvette Chávez brought the show to Netflix back in 2019 and in 2020 the first ten-episode season was released on the streamer. America Ferrera was on as a producer and also directed five episodes over the course of the two seasons. In all, Gentefied finished with 18 episodes.
Netflix giveth and Netflix taketh away. With the streaming wars only heating up, platforms and studios have to make tough decisions around what gets to live on and what needs to go away. It’s a tough business and the decisions aren’t necessarily tied to good vibes and solid critical reception. Series need to find audiences, and they need to do it quickly. Gentefied wasn’t able to grab enough of a foothold on the platform to continue making seasons.
