Netflix's Lockwood & Co. Canceled After One Season
Another one bites the dust as Netflix has canceled the supernatural series "Lockwood and Co." after just one season. This cancelation may come as a bit of a surprise, given that the show, which is adapted from Jonathan Stroud's popular series of books, was critically well-liked and seemingly found its audience. Be that as it may, we will not be getting more episodes.
According to Variety, Netflix opted not to renew the series, which debuted in early 2023. It featured a cast led by Ruby Stokes ("Bridgerton"), as well as relative newcomers like Cameron Chapman and Ali Hadji-Heshmati. Taking to Instagram, Stroud addressed the cancelation with an air of gratitude, saying the following:
"I'd like to thank everybody who worked so hard to create something so special. It has been a joy working with Joe, Rachael, Nira, Brad and all my other friends at Complete Fiction. They made a show that was both totally true to the original books and stunningly fresh and new. And they did it with such love and panache. No one could have done it better. I'm incredibly lucky that such an amazing team chose my stories to take on this journey, and I couldn't be prouder or more grateful."
The series, which hailed from Joe Cornish ("Attack the Block") was set in a world plagued by ghosts, where giant corporations make use of psychic teens to battle the supernatural. Lockwood & Co. is unique as it is run without adult supervision. Headed up by the rebellious Anthony Lockwood, who works with his brilliant sidekick George and a gifted girl named Lucy, the trio begins to unravel a terrifying mystery that will change the course of history.
Why was Lockwood and Co. canceled?
Netflix is no stranger to canceling shows that have only been running for a season or two. With a company that makes that much TV, it's bound to happen. But in this case, even by Netflix's hazy metrics for determining such things, this one feels a bit odd. "Lockwood and Co." is, for one, very well-liked, boasting a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes with a 94% audience score. It also, seemingly, had a pretty significant amount of viewership across its eight-episode first season.
The series stayed in Netflix's top 10 most-viewed shows for the first three weeks it was available on the service, topping the charts in its second week. During that time, it racked up just shy of 80 million total hours viewed, meaning quite a few people tuned in. Be that as it may, that amount of eyeballs wasn't enough for the series to score a second season, which feels surprising.
More than anything, the fate of "Lockwood & Co." speaks to the landscape of streaming. New subscribers are harder to come by and the purse strings are tightening at pretty much every streaming company, and the cost-saving measures can get pretty extreme. Even a well-liked, seemingly successful show with a series of books to mine for future seasons isn't safe. Netflix is, very clearly, becoming much more discerning about what does and does not warrant a continuation, for better or worse.