Another Acclaimed Max Show Just Got Canceled

The upcoming third season of the CBC and Max original comedy Sort Of will be its last. Co-creators Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo announced Thursday the Peabody Award-winning comedy is ending, noting that “we feel in this coming season that story came to an end in a way that felt right for us.”

“Along with the producing team behind Sort Of, we have chosen to end the series with this upcoming third and final season,” Baig and Filippo wrote. “We want to thank you for welcoming this show so graciously into your worlds and for celebrating our work with generosity. We know how much the series means to a lot of you – it means so much to us too. It’s been such an incredible privilege to make this show for these last three years, working with every single person, cast and crew, who helped make our vision a reality. We feel incredibly fortunate to have received your love and enthusiasm and passion for all things Sort Of and to be totally real, to end the show was a very difficult decision to make.”

Premiering in 2021, Sort Of centers around Baig’s Sabi Mehboob, a gender-fluid millennial who feels like they’re in transition in every aspect of their life. Baig and Filippo said that when they first developed Sort Of, they “set out to tell a story about a kind of transition in Sabi’s life, and how those around them also change – and we feel in this coming season that story came to an end in a way that felt right for us.” The creators went on to stress that while shows centering queer and transgender characters “tend to get canceled early on… that’s not what’s going down here.”

“We made this third season knowing it would be our last. A big shout-out to Sphere Media, CBC and Max for believing in the story and for helping us tell it over these last few years,” they continued. “We’re also aware that this show is ending at a time when trans communities continue to be targeted and trans rights are being constantly attacked. Our hope is that this series can continue to affirm lives and spark conversations well after the final season drops. Sort Of will always exist, despite all the transphobia in our world.”

The upcoming third and final season will show Sabi coming to terms with feelings of grief and an unexpected sense of freedom following the death of their father. Without the constraints of living up to their father’s expectations, Sabi confronts big questions about their identity, prompting some massive life choices. In a season that has the entire ensemble grappling with aftermaths, a rebirth comes in a sort of messy, sort of hopeful, sort of ‘Sort Of’ way. The eight-episode final season will premiere in Canada on the free CBC Gem streaming service beginning Nov. 17, releasing two episodes per week until the series finale on Dec. 8. It will then premiere in early 2024 on Max for U.S. viewers.