27 notable TV shows that ended in 2025

They made a couple of surprisingly good “Goosebumps” movies with Jack Black as R.L. Stine, but when the second didn’t quite land as hoped, that series ended. Disney, then, brought “Goosebumps” to television. A first season arrived in 2023, and then a second season, telling a different story, “The Vanishing,” released in 2025. It was a little bit older-skewing than some earlier “Goosebumps” offerings, and it had the cache of having David Schwimmer in the cast. However, “The Vanishing” proved to be the end of the line for this version of “Goosebumps.”

Some shows get to the end of their own volition…sort of. “Craig of the Creek” was a Cartoon Network show about a group of friends in something of a Neverland-esque utopia for kids. However, things were churning along when it was announced that the fifth season had been cut down. It was going to be the final season, and a proper final episode of “Craig of the Creek” was written. Then, Warner Bros. decided to tweak things, and the show basically got its original order back, but with the back half of the season now a separate sixth season. All told, “Craig of the Creek” had 180 episodes, and while it didn’t end at the creator's discretion, at least it wasn’t canceled abruptly.

At first, “Cobra Kai” seemed like a nostalgic lark designed to generate attention for YouTube Red. Remember that? Ralph Macchio and William Zabka were back as Daniel LaRusso and Johnny Lawrence, respectively. However, as many shows do, it ended up having episodes on Netflix and took off, leading to Netflix giving “Cobra Kai” four more seasons and the ability to wrap up the whole story as they saw fit.

Once Michael C. Hall opted to return for the show “Dexter: Resurrection,” “Original Sin” got the “We have Dexter Morgan at home!” treatment. Maybe people didn’t need a prequel focused on the serial killer and just liked watching Hall in the role of Dexter. In fact, Paramount went so far as to retract the offer for a second season of “Original Sin” to cancel it instead.

The nature of being a Netflix show, even a flashy one. “The Residence” dropped its eight-episode first season at the end of March, and it was canceled by the beginning of July. If you don’t hit right away on Netflix, sometimes that is that. We’re highlighting this comedic mystery series, though, because Uzo Aduba was nominated for lead actress in a comedy series by the Emmys. Which means, yes, by the time the Emmy Awards broadcast was happening, Aduba already knew her show had been canceled.

Here is an unusual case of a half-measure between the creatives and the network. We were a bit surprised that “Mythic Quest” got a fourth season, as the comedy set in the world of video game development never felt like a massive show for Apple TV. Maybe they just wanted that Wrexham runoff love since the show starred Rob McElhenney (we just can’t with the whole “Rob Mac” thing). The show was canceled after the fourth season had hit Apple TV, but Apple decided to do a solid by the show’s creators. They were allowed to film a new ending that was added to the last episode to make it a proper series finale.

Conceptually, we were on board with “Mid-Century Modern.” Here was an old-school, multi-cam sitcom, but for Hulu. They even got James Burrows to direct! It’s about three gay friends who move into a lavish Palm Springs house together, something of a “Golden Girls”-esque show, but instead of being a favorite of gay men, it was about gay men. The problem is then, you know, you have to deliver, and “Mid-Century Modern” proved pretty unremarkable as far as sitcoms go. This led to its cancellation after one season.

Once again, conceptual enthusiasm needs to be bolstered by tangible execution eventually. For “The Bondsman,” Amazon Prime got Kevin Bacon to play a redneck bounty hunter who dies and then becomes a bounty hunter for Satan. Good premise, good lead, and plenty of money behind it. “The Bondsman” just wasn’t good, and it was canceled basically a month after the first season dropped on the platform.

Of course, a “Yellowstone” spinoff on Paramount+ ended of its own volition. You think there was any chance Paramount was going to mess with Tyler Sheridan? This is one of the “Yellowstone” prequels, this one set in, duh, 1923. While it only went for two seasons, that was probably always the plan. How else do you get Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren to sign on as the leads?

Amazon basically realized, “Okay, maybe we shouldn’t have let ‘Bosch’ end.” The original show, based on the crime novel series, ran from 2014 to 2021. Then, in 2022, “Bosch: Legacy” debuted, with Titus Welliver returning in the lead role. Basically, this was just a continuation of “Bosch,” which lasted for three more seasons. “Legacy” ended in 2025, though who knows if it will really be the end this time?

Kudos to the “Conners” crew.” “Roseanne” got a reboot, but then Roseanne Barr made herself unemployable at ABC. Instead of letting things fall apart, they pivoted to “The Conners,” a show about the family dealing with the unexpected death of Roseanne’s character. Even without Roseanne, “The Conners” ran for seven seasons and 112 episodes. That’s remarkable for any network sitcom these days, much less one born out of necessity.

“You” is another show that was saved by Netflix. The show began on, of all networks, Lifetime. An interesting choice, especially for a show starring Penn Badgley as a bookstore-owning serial killer with a propensity to obsessively fixate on women. When “You” moved to Netflix, it took off as a hit and ended up running for five seasons.

Danny McBride’s HBO comedy about a family of corrupt televangelists was critically acclaimed, and so McBride got to end the show as he saw fit. HBO and McBride like each other, and even “Vice Principals” ended after two seasons because that’s what was agreed upon. “The Righteous Gemstones,” meanwhile, ran four seasons and 36 episodes before its series finale.

It felt like the kind of show that would run forever. “The Equalizer” was a CBS crime procedural, and those shows tend to run for years. Also, it starred Queen Latifah, a known name. CBS premiered the show after the Super Bowl! However, in 2025, CBS, perhaps owing to the Paramount sale, got its knives out and canceled several shows. That included “The Equalizer.”

Well, “Night Court” was more successful than a lot of legacy reboots, such as “Murphy Brown.” Melissa Rauch, an alum of the successful “The Big Bang Theory,” starred as Abby Stone, the daughter of the original’s Judge Harry Stone. John Larroquette even returned! “Night Court” ran for three seasons on the reboot, but it was then canceled.

Wisely, Tony Gilroy decided to pivot from his original plan of doing five seasons of “Andor.” Instead, the second and final season was essentially made up of four three-episode runs, each covering one year. The story of the acclaimed “serious” “Star Wars” show just got expedited. That kind of kinetic feel and forward momentum was definitely to the show’s benefit, as the second season of “Andor” was a fitting capper for the show.

“S.W.A.T.” was canceled in 2025, but in a way, the folks working on it may have been relieved not to be jerked around anymore. CBS originally canceled the show after six seasons, but then, a few days later, greenlit a seventh. That was supposed to be the final season, until CBS decided it wanted an eighth. Then, “S.W.A.T.” gave the network an eighth season, but this time around, CBS decided to cancel it again. Eventually, one might want to get off that treadmill, especially when they have eight seasons of network TV money.

“Suits” worked, to the extent it worked, because it was a breezy, mindless USA Network show and then it became popular on Netflix. Trying to make that work 14 years later on network TV because of some Netflix fandom and the fact people have heard of Meghan Markle was never the best idea. Also, by all accounts, “Suits LA” was terrible. Not merely mindless, but dumb. It was canceled after 13 episodes.

Nick Kroll’s vulgar coming-of-age cartoon took its final bow on Netflix in 2025. You know, that probably made sense. “Big Mouth” ran for eight seasons over eight years. Obviously, characters don’t have to age at real-human rates in cartoons, but for a show about puberty, you are starting to stretch it after keeping that going for eight years.

What was once one of the most-talked-about shows ended with something closer to a whimper. Do recall that the Margaret Atwood adaptation was the first streaming show to win the Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series. The sixth and final season hit Hulu in 2025, but the only Emmy nomination it earned was for Cherry Jones for Outstanding Guest Actress.

Speaking of shows that couldn’t live up to that early hype. Well, at least in the United States. “Squid Game,” a South Korean sci-fi of the dystopian variety, became Netflix’s most-watched show during its first season. That led to two more seasons, which were filmed back-to-back. The buzz for the third season was muted, though, even if it was the final season of the show. Sometimes it’s hard to keep that enthusiasm going.

Peacock, and thus NBCUniversal, must have been turning the “Poker Face” decision over in its head. The quirky mystery procedural starring Natasha Lyonne dropped its second season in 2025, and while it did seem to pivot from the original plan early on, it also left things on a clear cliffhanger. “Poker Face” released the season finale on July 10, but it wouldn’t be until November that it was announced the show was canceled. Rian Johnson is pitching the show around to other networks, but he wants both a two-season agreement and to replace Lyonne with Peter Dinklage. No, really.

NBCUniversal did try to do right by “Resident Alien.” The sci-fi dramedy starring Alan Tudyk as an alien who crashes on Earth aired its first three seasons on SyFy. With that network, like most cable networks, flagging, it was announced that the fourth season would air on both SyFy and USA. When that didn’t juice the ratings enough, “Resident Alien” was canceled.

Sometimes the best modifier one can use is to say a show “mercifully” concluded. Those who weren’t big “Sex and the City” fans largely loathed “And Just Like That…” and even “Sex and the City” lovers mostly tolerated it at best. It was a show people watched not to enjoy, but to gawk, or so it often felt. “Sex and the City” wasn’t exactly in touch with reality, but “And Just Like That…” ratcheted things up a level and didn’t even have Kim Cattrall around for the ride. After three seasons, people stopped having to consider how much they were willing to tolerate of “And Just Like That…”

You can’t accuse FOX of not giving its animated shows plenty of runway. “Bob’s Burgers,” “Family Guy,” and, of course, “The Simpsons” have been on forever, and the network has even brought “American Dad” back into the fold.” While “The Great North” was created by two “Bob’s Burgers” writers, it was canceled after five seasons. Not a bad run, but not remarkable for a FOX animated show.

The fact that an inexplicably serious reboot of “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” got four seasons and was told ahead of time that the fourth season would be the last was not expected. We figured, like the “Saved by the Bell” reboot, “Bel-Air” would top out at two seasons, if it even got there. Instead, the Peacock show did run for four seasons and got to wrap up the story.

Finally, “Stranger Things” concluded in 2025. Now, we aren’t saying that because the show had run out of steam. Not at all! It’s just that the time between the announcement of the fifth and final season and its final drop was pushed by a multitude of factors. Do recall this is a show about tweens turned teenagers that ostensibly takes place over a handful of years. “Stranger Things” debuted in the summer of 2016 and ended on New Year’s Eve 2025, with the kid cast now grown adults.