Netflix consciously decouples from Uncoupled

Netflix killed off yet another show last night, tossing the body of Neil Patrick Harris’ single-season series Uncoupled onto its ever-growing pile of bodies.

This is per Variety, which reports that the streamer is opting not to go forward with a second season of the series, which was created by Darren Star and Jeffrey Richman. The show starred Harris (in his second major TV role for Netflix, after starring in the TV adaptation of A Series Of Unfortunate Events) as Michael Lawson, a guy whose “perfect life” is ruined when his partner (Tuc Watkins) decides to leave him after 17 years together.

Uncoupled dropped on Netflix back in July of 2022, releasing all 8 of its episodes in a single block as they tracked Michael’s slow efforts to put his personal life back in order. The series co-starred Tisha Campbell, Marcia Gay Harden, Emerson Brooks, and Brooks Ashmanskas as Michael’s various friends and clients, commenting on, and sometimes helping him with, his efforts to get over his broken heart (and come to terms with dating as a gay man in his 40s in modern-day New York).

Uncoupled was one of two shows that Starr had running at Netflix at the moment, the other being the apparently unkillable Emily In Paris. News of Uncoupled getting canceled comes amidst what feels like a steady wave of cancellations at the streamer, which continues to churn through content at a rapid pace. The best you can say about this latest move, really, is that at least it’s a traditional cancellation for once: No surprise un-renewals of a show that’s already been promised a second season, no tossing out fully completed work. Just “No more of that, thank you,” which feels blessedly merciful in the current pop culture climate.