Beloved Disney+ Show Quietly Canceled

Earth to Ned, one of the more unique original series Disney+ released, was canceled months ago. Eliza Skinner, the show’s head writer and co-executive producer, shared the sad news with fans back in April. Interest in Earth to Ned was revived recently when series writer Sierra Katow asked her TikTok followers if they were familiar with it.

In April, a fan tweeted to Skinner, asking if Disney+ ever planned on releasing a second season. “Thank you! Sadly, no – Disney didn’t pick us up for a second season,” Skinner replied. The fan was disappointed because of what happened in the finale when Ned learned that his father was coming to earth and the meaning of family. Since there will never be a resolution, Skinner shared her thoughts on what might have happened in a potential Season 2.

“In my mind, his dad showed up and took over the show for an episode, but by doing so found his own reasons to like Earth enough to leave it (and the show) in Ned’s many hands,” Skinner replied. “And Cornelius returned to the ship/show with a segment he really got to control.”

Earth to Ned was a one-of-a-kind talk show featuring puppets and animatronics from The Jim Henson Company, with Brian Henson as an executive producer. Ned is an alien sent to earth by his father to destroy the planet. Instead, he buries his shop below the crust and abducts celebrities to interview them for a late-night talk show. Ned even has a sidekick, Cornelius, whose race was conquered by Ned’s race. Most of the show was improvised, including Ned’s conversations with celebrities.

The first 10 episodes were released on Sept. 4, 2020, and featured appearances from Andy Richter, Vanessa Hudgens, Kristen Schaal, Billy Dee Williams, Lil Rell Howery, Jenny Slate, NeNe Leakes, Raven-Symone, RuPaul, Taye Diggs, and many others. The final 10 episodes were released on Jan. 1, 2021, with Ginnifer Goodwin, Yvette Nicole Brown, Aisha Tyler, Sherri Shepherd, Brenda Song, Mayim Bialik, Molly Ringwald, Jason Ritter, and others stopping by. (Well, not really by choice since Ned abducted them.)

Although the series earned critical acclaim, it was not renewed for a second season. Disney never even formally announced the show was canceled. Earth to Ned is still available to stream on Disney+ though. The series holds an 83% fresh rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an 81% average audience score.

In a January 2021 interview with Forbes, Henson said he had really ambitious plans for the show. He had dreams of doing a more adult-oriented talk show with animatronics, but he understood that had to be toned down if it went to Disney. He also mentioned potential issues, like its cost and the limitations caused by the coronavirus pandemic, that probably didn’t help the series in the long run.

“Disney had two things that they wanted. One was to make sure we had at least two celebrity interviews per episode and at least one field piece with Cornelius going out into the real world,” Henson explained. “Other than that, we could play around and do all sorts of weird ideas. They were hugely enthusiastic about it. I think we pitched it to them in December of 2018, and we had it fully shot and in the can by December 2019. Post-production finished in April or May of 2020, but because of the COVID shutdown, we had to move everything into people’s homes, and that slowed it way down.”