‘Kim’s Convenience’ to End After Season 5

Kim’s Convenience is closing down. On Monday, the Netflix series announced that its upcoming Season 5 would be its last. The news left fans devastated but more excited than ever for the next installment.

Kim’s Convenience is a Canadian sitcom made for CBC Television in Toronto, which then airs internationally on Netflix. The fifth season is currently airing on CBC and will premiere all at once in the U.S. when it is finished. On Monday, the producers’ official announcement said that the show was ending because the original creators, Ins Choi and Kevin White, are moving on to other projects. However, some fans and even star Simu Liu were unsatisfied with that explanation.

“Authenticity of storytelling is at the center of the success of Kim’s Convenience,” the statement read. “At the end of production on Season 5, our two co-creators confirmed they were moving on to other projects. Given their departure from the series, we have come to the difficult conclusion that we cannot deliver another season of the same heart and quality that has made the show so special.”

“Kim’s Convenience has meant so much to our cast, writers, crew, and audiences around the world,” it went on. “Despite the restrictions and complications of shooting during the pandemic, Season 5 is our finest season to date. It’s been a privilege and a very great pleasure to work with the Kim’s family of gifted writers and performers for the last five years. Thank you to our fans for the love and support you’ve given this show.”

As with any TV cancellation, fans were heartbroken and they weren’t shy about mourning on social media. However, the series star Simu Liu offered a different perspective that made some fans angry. In a long note posted on Twitter, he wrote: “For reasons that I’m sure we will get into someday, we must prematurely bid farewell to Kim’s Convenience.”

The cryptic intro put many fans on edge, along with Liu’s assurance that he “was fully expecting to come back for our sixth season,” despite his new Marvel Studios fame. However, Liu did not get much more specific on the reason for the cancellation. Instead, he praised his cast-mates and crew members and mused on how much the show had meant to immigrant TV fans — including himself.

Kim’s Convenience Season 5 is airing on CBC in Canada now, with the series finale scheduled to premiere on Tuesday, March 23. It is not clear when it will join the first four seasons on Netflix.