On Netflix, it was a big first half of 2025 for limited series and — outside of phenom Squid Game — OK six months for ongoing scripted series.
Only two English-language ongoing scripted series, The Night Agent (S2) and Ginny & Georgia (S3) made it into Top 10 at #9 and #10, with four limited series ahead of them, Adolescence (#1), Zero Day (#4), Missing You (#5) and Sirens (#8), with Sirens and Ginny & Georgia poised to amass millions of extra views in the second half of 2025 having dropped in late May and early June, respectively.
Released today, Netflix’s semi-annual viewership report includes data for the three scripted series canceled by so far this year, The Residence and Pulse after one season and The Recruit after two. None of them was an outright ratings flop.
Comedic White House murder mystery The Residence, starring Uzo Aduba, fared the best, ranking #23 with 33.3 million views from its March 20 release through June 30. New medical drama Pulse, starring Willa Fitzgerald and Colin Woodell, was #30 with 26.2M since its April 3 release. And Season 2 of spy drama The Recruit, headlined by Noah Centineo, was #34 with 24.1M since its Jan. 30 premiere while its first season added respectable 19.1M views over the first six months to take #47.
All three have been canceled while series that launched new seasons during the same Jan-June time period to similar or lower viewership have been renewed, including XO, Kitty S2 (35.3M since 1/16), Ransom Canyon S1 (29M since 4/17), Forever S1 (19.1 since 5/8) and Sweet Magnolias S4 (16.9M since 2/6).
The discrepancy underscores the multiple factors going into Netflix’s renewal decisions, the leading being cost vs. performance. That was likely in play for both The Residence and The Recruit. As Deadline reported earlier this month, The Residence‘s first season came at a very high price point due to its all-star cast, elaborate production design sand extensive VFX work. There were conversations about ways to reduce the budget for a second installment, likely in a different setting, which ultimately didn’t materialize. The Recruit‘s second season featured a slew of action sequences, with a portion of the story filmed in Korea.
The Residence and Pulse, which was produced on a more modest, broadcast-size budget, also may have been overshadowed by Adolescence and The Pitt, respectively. The Residence was released at the height of Netflix limited series’ popularity while Pulse went head to head with HBO Max’s breakout hit medical drama.
There are also other factors taken into consideration, including completion rates, which Netflix values highly but does not disclose publicly, as well critical acclaim, pop culture impact and what kind of viewers a show attracts as Netflix tries to serve the widest audience possible.
Another Netflix scripted series whose continuation is in doubt, dark comedy No Good Deed, ranked #204 with 7.9M from Jan-June 2025 in addition to the 15M it drew for the first 20 days of release in December. There are no current plans for a second installment of the murder mystery but the door has been left open.
This is not the first time Netflix has axed a Top 30 scripted series. In 2023, it canceled fantasy drama Shadow and Bone whose second season had raked #26 in hours viewed between Jan-June that year. Like The Residence, it was expensive to produce.
There was some consolation for The Residence this week — the show landed four Emmy nominations, including one for Aduba in the Lead Actress In a Comedy Series category.
The post Netflix’s High Threshold: Canceled Series ‘The Residence’, ‘Pulse’ & ‘The Recruit’ All In Top 35 For 2025, Data Reveals appeared first on Deadline.
