Stunning Netflix Show Canceled

Netflix canceled one of its most visually stunning and emotionally moving shows after just one season. The Midnight Gospel, a 2020 animated series that drew critical acclaim, will not return for Season 2, per co-creator Duncan Trussell. He broke the news to fans in response to a tweet asking if there were “plans for any more episodes” of the psychedelic animated series, which transformed interviews from Trussell’s podcast The Duncan Trussell Family Hour into fantastical otherworldly adventures. Trussell plainly stated in a June 3 tweet: “The Midnight Gospel was cancelled by Netflix.”

Trussell revealed he’s envisioned at least one more season of the show that could be made but alluded to Netflix’s algorithm and non-publicly disclosed formula for renewing programs as the reason the streamer pulled the plug. However, he did thank the team at Netflix for giving The Midnight Gospel a green light in the first place.

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“I’m so lucky that the folks at @netflix rolled the dice and let us make such a strange show,” Trussell tweeted. “They were supremely supportive all the way through and I’ll love them forever for it.”

The Midnight Gospel is about Clancy Gilroy (Trussell), a young man who transports into various bizarre universes to record podcast interviews. Clancy goes on otherworldly — and perilous — adventures while talking to citizens of each universe. The repurposed conversations from Trussell’s real-world podcast often tackle heavy issues like death, faith, and addiction, and they are weaved into Clancy’s fictional adventures in awe-inspiring ways. The program’s most stunning episode, “Mouse of Silver,” takes an interview Trussell conducted with his mother before her death and transforms it into an episode about Clancy accepting his own mom’s death.

While the partnership with Netflix is how the show was made, it’s also the reason it cannot be revived elsewhere. Like fellow Netflix outcast Tuca & Bertie, it seems like The Midnight Gospel would be the perfect fit for Adult Swim or its streaming partner, HBO Max. (Tuca & Bertie aired Season 2 — is about to air Season 3 — on those platforms after Netflix canceled it after one season.) However, that kind of revival can’t happen due to Netflix owning the property, as opposed to it belonging to a production company in conjunction with Netflix, like many programs are.

In response to a fan rallying for a revival elsewhere, Trussell wrote, “They (Netflix) own the rights so it’s [skull emoji,]” implying that the show is dead. Pendleton Ward, the show’s other co-creator best known for Adventure Time and Bravest Warriors, has not addressed the cancellation as of press time. All episodes of The Midnight Gospel are streaming on Netflix.