Hulu Cancels Its Animated Superhero Comedy ‘The Awesomes’

Hulu’s library of original programming is a little less awesome now. The streaming video platform has canceled The Awesomes, an animated superhero comedy co-created by Seth Meyers, after three seasons.

The Awesomes was one of Hulu’s first ever original series. It was teased at back-to-back Newfronts presentations, and it was presented as a big part of Hulu’s plan to move beyond licensed TV shows and films and into a new space where it could fully match up with competitors like Hulu and Netflix. With those big expectations hanging over it, The Awesomes

premiered in 2013, and it was…decent. It didn’t exactly revolutionize the TV industry, but it did pick up a large enough audience to last for three seasons.

Variety, which first reported the news of The Awesomes’ cancellation, reached out to Hulu, but representatives for the streaming platform declined to comment.

By cancelling The Awesomes, Hulu is following a similar pattern to both Amazon and Hulu. Amazon’s first original series, Alpha House, lasted just two seasons before it got the axe. Netflix’s maiden voyage into the world of originals, Lillyhammer, managed to pick up a third season before its own cancellation. All three of these series were greeted with similar reception, with critics finding them to be good-but-not-great viewers experiences. At the same time, they established their respective distributing platforms as legitimate players in the TV industry and opened the doors for more successful series.

This is particularly true for Hulu. It didn’t get a ton of accolades for The Awesomes, but its new shows have fared much better. Through Casual, it just received its first Golden Globes nomination. Though it ended up getting cancelled, The Awesomes ended up serving as a very important stepping stone for Hulu.

Hulu’s library of original programming is a little less awesome now. The streaming video platform has canceled The Awesomes, an animated superhero comedy co-created by Seth Meyers, after three seasons.

The Awesomes was one of Hulu’s first ever original series. It was teased at back-to-back Newfronts presentations, and it was presented as a big part of Hulu’s plan to move beyond licensed TV shows and films and into a new space where it could fully match up with competitors like Hulu and Netflix. With those big expectations hanging over it, The Awesomes premiered in 2013, and it was…decent. It didn’t exactly revolutionize the TV industry, but it did pick up a large enough audience to last for three seasons.

Variety, which first reported the news of The Awesomes’ cancellation, reached out to Hulu, but representatives for the streaming platform declined to comment.

By cancelling The Awesomes, Hulu is following a similar pattern to both Amazon and Hulu. Amazon’s first original series, Alpha House, lasted just two seasons before it got the axe. Netflix’s maiden voyage into the world of originals, Lillyhammer, managed to pick up a third season before its own cancellation. All three of these series were greeted with similar reception, with critics finding them to be good-but-not-great viewers experiences. At the same time, they established their respective distributing platforms as legitimate players in the TV industry and opened the doors for more successful series.

This is particularly true for Hulu. It didn’t get a ton of accolades for The Awesomes, but its new shows have fared much better. Through Casual, it just received its first Golden Globes nomination. Though it ended up getting cancelled, The Awesomes ended up serving as a very important stepping stone for Hulu.

Plus, it hasn’t exactly gone away forever. You can still watch all of its episodes with a Hulu subscription.

Plus, it hasn’t exactly gone away forever. You can still watch all of its episodes with a Hulu subscription.