Here's Why Netflix Cancelled Santa Clarita Diet Season 4

Netflix has canceled Santa Clarita Diet, confirming Friday that the Drew Barrymore-Timothy Olyphant zombie comedy-adventure will not continue beyond the three seasons that have already been produced and released. The streaming giant released a statement yesterday, saying, "The world had never known a ‘zom-com’ until Santa Clarita Diet, and we’re indebted to creator Victor Fresco for bringing this idea to Netflix." The executive producers issued their own statement saying that they will always be grateful to the company for taking a chance with the show.  

In a statement published by the duo, they wrote, "They were supportive, ever positive, and appreciative of our work. Until about noon today. Still, they were just one phone call away from being a perfect studio. Not bad. Everything ends. This was a thing. And so it ended. We’ll miss it but are proud of the work we did and will always appreciate the love and enthusiasm we felt from our audience. It if was up to them, Sheila and Joel would continue for another 10,000 years.”

The decision by Netflix was a surprising one as just a year ago original programming chief Cindy Holland and her team seemed to think the show had legs. The star cast was also very strong in the series with the likes of Barrymore and Olyphant and the reviews remained strong. Industry insiders even hinted that the show pulled decent viewer numbers, though exactly how many is a mystery.

Hence the executives care just as much about other factors, if not more. Netflix series, even more than those on linear networks, get exponentially more expensive after three or four seasons in production. If the audience size doesn’t also increase, the cost-per-viewer can get affected. The streaming giant also wants shows that drive folks to sign up for the service for the first time and the new series are expected to draw fresh and new audiences rather than the already existing shows.