The Great Cancelled After Only 3 Seasons

The Great Cancelled After Only 3 Seasons

The Great has been cancelled by Hulu

Just a day after the heart breaking news that our favorite show, HBOs The Idol was abruptly cancelled after only one season (which, again, was really only half a season), we get more devastating television news today. The hit Hulu series The Great, which brought us the iconic pairing of Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning has ended after only three seasons.

The show received some criticism for its most recent season, which notably (spoiler alert) killed off Hoult’s character. Luckily for fans he was replaced by a different character also played by Hoult through the rest of the season. Unfortunately that character was also killed off later, meaning any future version of the show would be Hoult-less. That was likely a big reason for Hulu pulling the plug here. Though Fanning is fully capable of putting the team on her back and keeping the show compelling, it simply won’t be able to reach the same heights, and won’t be as balanced without Hoult.

Many felt the show was petering out anyway. Many major characters besides Hoult had been killed off, and many side characters who had been promoted to more significant players simply couldn’t carry the load the show was asking of them. The result was a third season that was a far cry from the brilliance of the first two. At its best, the show was capable of biting political satire and gentle absurdism, a combination that made it amongst the smartest period pieces ever put on television. Many fans had hoped the show could coast a while longer on the legacy of those seasons, but it was not to be.

That’s disappointing at least because it didn’t seem Catherine’s rise to being “Catherine the Great” was complete, and the show’s unintentional finale left her character at more of a turning point than at a moment of triumph. This all comes amidst a likely major upheaval at Hulu, as well as with its parent company Disney, who find themselves embroiled in multiple lawsuits regarding their own streaming platform Disney+. The result is that many of the major investments in shows like The Great are coming to a halt. Time will tell how long it takes to see another show of its stature emerge.