Apple TV Plus quietly cancels a hit animated series with 98% on Rotten Tomatoes
Central Park’s star and co-creator confirms that the show won’t be coming back for a fourth season
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It turns out that great reviews and a star-studded cast aren’t necessarily enough to stop thebest Apple TV Plus showsfrom being cancelled by their streaming overlords. Despite having 97% from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes and voice talent including Josh Gad, Kristin Bell, Kathryn Hahn and Stanley Tucci,Applehas decided not to renewCentral Parkfor a fourth season.
The news was shared on social media by Gad, who in addition to starring in the show is its co-creator alongside Nora Smith and Bob’s Burgers' Loren Bouchard. Apple has now confirmed toVarietythat Gad is correct, making this the third recent high profile cancellation at the streamer: Apple has alsodecided not to renew the similarly high-scoringSwaggerandThe Afterpartytoo.
Why has Central Park been cancelled?
Neither Josh Gad nor Apple have said why the show is being cancelled. On Threads, Gad simply posted “Sadly, it’s done”.
Apple doesn’t usually talk about viewing numbers unless they’re really, really amazing, but the most likely explanation is that, as with other shows,Central Parksimply isn’t doing enough numbers to make Apple want to spend more money on it.
AlthoughApple TV Plusacquired the show in a wallet-waving bidding war, that was back in 2018. For the streaming industry, 2018 was an eternity ago. It was the middle of what Variety calls “the Peak TV bubble”, the pre-strikes, low borrowing cost period where multiple streamers threw money around like confetti in order to boost their rosters and attract new subscribers.
The streaming and financial landscapes are very different now, with all thebest streaming servicestaking a long hard look at their catalogs and looking for savings. Not only that, but some of them are thinking the previously unthinkable and eitherentering into bundling deals with other streamersor at least actively exploring the possibility of doing so. It’s not that Apple feltCentral Parkwas a bad show, it’s just that it wasn’t reaching the audience Apple wanted to reach.
All three seasons ofCentral Parkare still available to stream on Apple TV Plus.
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Writer, broadcaster, musician and kitchen gadget obsessive Carrie Marshall has been writing about tech since 1998, contributing sage advice and odd opinions to all kinds of magazines and websites as well as writing more than a dozen books. Her memoir,Carrie Kills A Man, is on sale now and her next book, about pop music, is out in 2025. She is the singer in Glaswegian rock bandUnquiet Mind.
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