Why Netflix Canceled The Residence After One Season
by Pauli Poisuo · /FilmNetflix's "The Residence" differentiates itself from other political shows by focusing its murder mystery on the lower rungs of the White House staff. Though the President of the United States (Paul Fitzgerald) and other major players very much appear on the show, its investigation centers around the White House's Chief Usher Wynter (Giancarlo Esposito). Similarly, Uzo Aduba's Detective Cordelia Cupp generally deals with folks like FBI Special Agent Edwin Park (Randall Park), Wynter's assistant Jasmine Haney (Susan Kelechi Watson), White House Executive Pastry Chef Didier Gotthard (Bronson Pinchot), and Executive Chef Marvella (Mary Wiseman).
Along with a generous splash of comedy and Cupp's eccentric fixation on birds, this approach makes "The Residence" unique among the many shows Netflix has to offer ... or perhaps made is the more accurate tense. Per information obtained by Deadline, "The Residence" has been canceled despite the murder mystery's chart-busting showing and critical appreciation. Two specific things worked against "The Residence:" Not only was the show costly to make thanks to its massive seven-stage White House set and huge cast full of major names, but Netflix also released the series on March 20, 2025. At that point, the streamer's unnerving crime drama "Adolescence" was still the talk of the proverbial town, which robbed "The Residence" of the cultural spotlight it might have otherwise received.
The Residence isn't the first series to have gotten steamrolled by another Netflix show
Streaming services are infamous for canceling shows early, and Netflix is easily the best-known offender when it comes to nipping interesting new series in the bud. As "The Residence" demonstrates, even critical success and good numbers don't necessarily guarantee survival in the dog-eat-dog world of streaming — and if you look at the platform's past, this isn't even the first time a Netflix show has received an abrupt end just because it happened to be on the expensive side and ended up running against another, more successful series.
In fact, these exact circumstances have happened before. Netflix notoriously canceled its sci-fi mystery series "1899" after just one season due to production and budget concerns. Much like "The Residence," that show also had the misfortune of debuting concurrently with a more popular series. In that case, "1899" was up against "Wednesday," which went on to hog all the available space in the pop culture zeitgeist. Since both "The Residence" and "1899" were good shows that had potential for even greater things, their cancellations were no doubt a massive blow to the fans. Time will tell whether such blows make viewers ever so slightly more wary of investing their time in checking out promising new Netflix series in the future.