Every Netflix Original Show That’s No Longer Streaming On Netflix

Streaming is ephemeral. This is something TV fans realized in an abstract way about four years ago, when a boom of new streaming services led to more shows and movies playing licensing musical chairs. A documentary you like could be on Netflix or Hulu one month, only to disappear the next, later emerging on Max, Disney+, or somewhere else entirely. Tools like JustWatch, which keeps track of what’s streaming where at any given moment, have become invaluable in recent years: It’s simply too much for any one person to remember.

Despite the quickly normalized rotating catalogs, an unspoken social contract — a promise that anything that a streamer boasted was “original and exclusive” would stay put — still existed between streamers and subscribers until around 2022. Streamers may have quietly dumped some titles before this, but the practice made national news when Warner Bros. Discovery scrapped a reportedly nearly-completed movie and began purging its streamer of exclusive and original titles, some of which didn’t have anywhere else to go, all in order to save money. In this digital age, many shows and movies are granted no physical copies, even for filmmakers, resulting in what plenty of experts (myself included) fear could become a new era of lost media.

Here’s the good news: Though other major streamers have followed the WBD business plan since 2022, axing and disappearing their own exclusive shows, filmmakers and companies have gotten savvy about the new status quo. This has led to what appears to be an uptick in deals to “save” shows from streaming death by finding them new homes or licensing deals on other streamers. After cross-referencing the ongoing data being collected by What’s On Netflix, it’s clear that fewer genuine Netflix Originals (i.e. shows that debuted on Netflix in America, not shows Netflix distributed and slapped their logo on) have gone AWOL from the streamer than TV fans might have expected.

Of those that have been removed, though, it seems that at least four (listed below) are entirely unavailable to stream or purchase digitally in the U.S. Any number here would be alarming; with more technology than ever at our fingertips, there’s no excuse for works of art — acclaimed or not — disappearing entirely.

The highest-profile Netflix series exodus came in 2022, when news broke that the R-rated, mostly acclaimed Marvel TV shows originally made for Netflix would be leaving the streamer. Naturally, they moved to Disney+, which has been steadily gathering MCU-adjacent Marvel projects like infinity stones since its launch in 2019. Among the crown jewels making the jump: fan favorites “Jessica Jones” and “Daredevil,” action-fueled spinoffs “Luke Cage” and “The Punisher,” divisive origin story “Iron Fist,” and team-up project “The Defenders.”

The shows arrived on Disney+ alongside ABC’s “Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.” and marked a new, more mature era for the streamer that had previously only offered family-friendly content in America. The Marvel TV deal wasn’t entirely unexpected, as Disney announced plans to cut licensing ties with Netflix in 2019, taking an expected $150 million ding in the process. Still, the transition to the Marvel home base streamer was at times a messy one, as Disney+ publicly tried to work out its plans for characters like Charlie Cox’s Daredevil.

Where to watch now: Disney+.

Netflix has made headlines for all but demolishing its own animation department in recent years, but the departure of its DreamWorks shows throughout 2023 was especially jarring. Between April and December of last year, the streamer said goodbye to four kids’ shows that were tied into existing franchises. First, three seasons of “Turbo Fast” (based on the 2013 film “Turbo”) and four seasons of “The Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show” (based on the old “Rocky and Bullwinkle” segments) vanished from the platform. Then the six-season “Madagascar” spinoff “All Hail King Julien” disappeared, and finally, the equally long-running “Shrek” continuation “The Adventures of Puss in Boots” hit the road.

While some high-profile DreamWorks animated series — namely the “How To Train Your Dragon” spinoffs — are still available on Netflix, the mass departure seems to once again have been a licensing choice. If DreamWorks’ parent company, NBCUniversal, thinks the shows could get more bang for their buck elsewhere, they’re allowed to let the license lapse and move the show to a different streamer or service. According to What’s On Netflix, another DreamWorks show, “Dinotrux: Supercharged,” will be leaving the streamer in August 2024.

Where to watch now: “The Adventures of Puss in Boots” is now on Peacock, while the rest of the shows are available on PVOD sites like Amazon and Apple TV.

Marijuana cooking shows may not seem niche anymore, but when “Cooking on High” debuted on Netflix in 2018, they were still brand new. The streamer would go on to hone the subgenre with the show “Cooking With Cannabis,” but Netflix’s first foray into the stoner culinary world was apparently not a hit. The series was hosted by YouTuber Josh Leyva, and was billed in marketing as “the first-ever competitive cannabis cooking show.” In a negative review of the series, Jake Nevins at The Guardian noted that the show made several odd choices, like giving chefs just 30 minutes to cook, offering lackluster prizes, and using famous stoners — rather than foodies — as judges.

“‘Cooking on High’ isn’t quite sure if it wants to be a competition or simply a show about getting the munchies,” Nevins eventually concluded. The show was canceled after just one season, and left Netflix entirely in 2021. What’s On Netflix reported that the show was likely the first “wholly developed Netflix Original” to be taken off the series, an unnerving move that means pretty much any show on the streamer could be on the chopping block, regardless of quality. No reason for the removal was given.

Where to watch now: This series is not currently available.

Essentially a show about rich people spending money, “Droppin’ Cash: Los Angeles” is a show that came and went from Netflix without leaving much of a digital footprint. A trailer for the series shared to YouTube by production company Bright Bay Creative describes the show as “a series that follows the paper trail of musicians and athletes in Los Angeles as they blow through stacks on the finer things in life from a blinged out T-Rex tooth to a Rolls Royce Ghost.”

While the premise of “Droppin’ Cash: Los Angeles” isn’t exactly captivating, reality shows about rich people are a booming industry, and it’s somewhat surprising that this one failed to take off despite featuring high-profile guest stars like Fetty Wap and Bella Thorne. The show, which came from Complex, doesn’t seem to have been marketed much through Netflix’s official channels. It quietly left the streamer in July 2022, and the Google meta description for the series’ landing page on Netflix now includes a notice: “Unavailable on an ad-supported plan due to licensing restrictions.”

Where to watch now: This series is not currently available.

In 2013, “Hemlock Grove” premiered on Netflix as one of its heavily-hyped first round originals, a show that arrived even before early titles like “Orange is the New Black” and “Arrested Development.” The gory, dramatic, decidedly adult “teen” series starred future “It” megastar Bill Skarsgard opposite Landon Liboiron, with a juicy part for “X-Men” alum Famke Janssen. Produced by Eli Roth and adapted from a novel by Brian McGreevy, “Hemlock Grove” was briefly considered must-see TV, which makes its departure from Netflix all the more stunning and unprecedented.

Initially a supernatural murder mystery that aimed to shock and repulse audiences, “Hemlock Grove” varied wildly in quality from offensive to awesome. It also had all the trappings of a Tumblr-era fandom favorite, including a love triangle in which the two male characters, Skarsgard’s vampiric Roman and Liboiron’s wolfish Peter, had more chemistry than their supposed love interest. The three-season Netflix Original left the streamer exactly seven years after its final episodes dropped, though production company Gaumont later struck a deal with FilmRise (per Deadline) to make sure it didn’t become entirely unavailable.

Where to watch now: Hoopla or PVOD sites like Amazon and Apple TV.

Plenty of people have tried to forget about the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, but one series made during the quarantine doldrums of 2020 has been totally erased from its home streamer. “Homemade” is technically a series of short films rather than a TV show, but Netflix allowed for its lockdown-filmed shorts from revered filmmakers to be viewed in succession. Each short was filmed in a different location across the world using only equipment the filmmakers already had at home, per Variety.

In terms of sheer behind-the-camera talent, “Homemade” may be one of the biggest losses on this list, as it features directorial work from Paolo Sorrentino, Ana Lily Amirpour, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Sebastián Lelio, Pablo Larraín, Rachel Morrison, Gurinder Chadha, and Kristen Stewart, among others. Stars included Stewart, Cate Blanchett, Peter Sarsgaard, and Christopher Abbott. Larrain called the experience of watching “Homemade” a “very strange, beautiful, unique film festival” of sorts, and it no doubt also serves as a time capsule into one of the most pivotal periods in recent world history. The collection left Netflix in late 2021.

Where to watch now: This series is currently not available.

“The Killing” was technically only a Netflix Original for its fourth season, as the streamer scooped up the show back when it was in the habit of saving TV rather than canceling it. The initially popular AMC murder mystery, based on Denmark’s dark crime drama “Forbrydelsen,” fell off in the ratings after it failed to wrap up its season-long arc in the first season finale. Even though it took ages to tell viewers who killed Rosie Larsen, “The Killing” remained a worthwhile watch thanks to cinematic filmmaking and crackling and complementary performances by Mireille Enos and Joel Kinnaman.

The captivating third season of “The Killing” injected new life into the series, yet AMC chose to end its run in 2013 (it also canceled, then un-canceled, the show in 2012). Fans rallied behind the series, and Netflix eventually picked it up for an abbreviated fourth season that was satisfying for shippers — if not armchair detectives. All four seasons left the streamer in 2018, back when the streamer’s rare choice to make an original series disappear still felt like a mystery in itself.

Where to watch now: Hulu, AMC+, or AcornTV.

During the ’80s toy boom, when Cabbage Patch Kids were flying off shelves and Care Bears had their own TV show, another toy was attempting to break out: Popples, colorful dolls that balled up like socks. As an LA Times piece explained in 1986, “the furry fantasy dolls can disappear into their own pouches and become little fur balls, or a child can partially hide them in the pouches so they seem to peek out or wave their stubby arms.” Sure!

In 2015, Netflix released an animated “Popples” show that would go on to last for a remarkable three seasons, topping out at 26 episodes. The complicated co-production (it seems to have been the product of six different production companies) was made even trickier when the Popples brand sold to Hasbro in 2018, and by 2023, the series was no longer available on its original streaming home. It did, however, make a move to linear TV, apparently playing in reruns for a while on Discovery Family Channel.

Where to watch now: This series is currently not available.

Joshua Safran’s musical drama “Soundtrack” took a winding path to Netflix, with TVLine reporting that it was originally developed as a Fox show back in 2018 before the network passed and Netflix nabbed it instead. An ensemble storyline set in Los Angeles, the show featured actors including Christina Milian, Jenna Dewan, and Madeleine Stowe. Described as a “groundbreaking drama that explores the love stories connecting a diverse group of Angelenos through the music that lives inside their hearts and minds,” the buzzy cast and premise weren’t enough to save the show from being canceled after one season.

“Soundtrack,” which had originally been titled “Mixtape,” left Netflix in March 2022. Based on its music-filled trailer, one might guess that the series included significant music licensing, which can be prohibitive for long-term streaming availability. But Deadline reported that “Soundtrack” actually came from 20th Century Fox TV and Fox 21 TV Studios, so the Disney-owned company was ultimately able to give the show a new home on Hulu.

Where to watch now: Hulu.

In an overcrowded streaming arena, even “Sex and the City” creator Darren Star has gotten Netflix’s kiss of death. While Star’s “Emily in Paris” is still going strong on the streamer, the sardonic gay rom-com he co-created with Jeffrey Richtman, “Uncoupled,” was axed after just one season on Netflix. The show starred Neil Patrick Harris as a rich, gay, high-key insufferable New Yorker stumbling through the dating world after his long-term relationship abruptly ended. The show earned middling reviews, but Marcia Gay Harden was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for her supporting turn.

The end of “Uncoupled” is especially depressing because the show initially found a new home: It was axed at Netflix in early 2023, then picked up by Showtime in the month that followed. Yet, like Netflix and so many other streamers, Showtime has since been subject to drastic cost-cutting measures, and the already-delayed season 2 production was ultimately canceled in March 2024 after months of work were put into it, per Deadline. Since the show had already been moved to Showtime, its first and only season no longer streams on Netflix.

Where to watch now: Paramount+ and Fubo.

The chipper religious vegetables that make up VeggieTales have been ubiquitous at Sunday school services, church daycares, and in Christian households since they first made their home video debut in 1993. As strange as the idea of a talking computer generated cucumber and tomato telling Bible stories may seem, “VeggieTales” remains a major part of non-secular pop culture, having at one point or another inspired everything from a trading card game to a magnetic dress-up doll.

Netflix made two VeggieTales shows from 2014 to 2017, following in the tradition of the original direct-to-video series. Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki, the franchise’s original creators, reprised their voice acting roles in both “VeggieTales in the House” and “VeggieTales in the City,” the former of which introduced a polarizing character redesign. Both shows were canceled, and by late 2023, they had been removed from Netflix in most regions. Surprisingly, this removal could be due to the same licensing issue likely faced by several DreamWorks originals, as the company behind “VeggieTales,” Big Idea Productions, was bought by the animation studio in 2012.

Where to watch now: PVOD sites like Amazon and Apple TV.

The vast majority of “Netflix Originals” removed from Netflix in recent years have actually been international co-productions — shows that debuted either earlier or simultaneously on TV sites and networks in their home countries. Netflix, in these cases, serves as a valuable but not always permanent global distributor for the shows, which are sometimes branded as originals in the U.S. and may stick around for years at a time. This system has been an undeniable game-changer for TV worldwide, and has especially allowed American audiences to catch up with far more international TV than ever before.

There appear to be dozens of removed shows that fit this criteria, including early Netflix mainstays like the Gillian Anderson-led crime thriller “The Fall” and Michaela Coel’s uproarious coming-of-age cringefest “Chewing Gum.” Both of these shows are now available to stream elsewhere in the States, but not every international series is so lucky. As of publication time, several co-produced shows that have left Netflix can no longer be legally watched in the U.S., a problem that highlights how valuable global distribution partners are — and how much culture and art can be lost when the powerful, impermanent streaming industry decides to change course to save a buck.