Netflix Cancels Neil Patrick Harris Comedy Series Uncoupled After Just One Season

The Neil Patrick Harris vehicle "Uncoupled" has been canceled after one season on Netflix, according to Variety. The gay rom-com made just eight episodes before getting the axe; even the combined star power of Harris and "Sex and the City" creator Darren Star behind the camera couldn't save it.

"Uncoupled" followed Harris as Michael, a New York City real estate agent whose heart gets broken when his partner, Colin (Tuc Watkins), decides to leave him after 17 years together. Michael spend the next eight episodes attempting to get over Colin (when he's not trying to win him back), get the hang of the modern gay dating scene, and navigate relationships with his friends and a wealthy real estate client (Marcia Gay Harden). Harden received a Critics Choice TV nomination for her turn as a brutally honest woman going through a situation that parallels Michael's, but otherwise, "Uncoupled" didn't make much of a splash.

According to Variety, the series that was co-created by Star and Jeffrey Richman spent only one week in Netflix's coveted Top 10 list, at the number six spot. That means the cancellation may have simply come down to not enough eyes on the series. That being said, "Uncoupled" was also a frustrating watch; Michael is casually caustic, perpetually selfish, and out-of-touch rich, but the show doesn't seem to fully realize that. It positions the season as his unironic journey towards something like self-love, but he's not a character who's easy to root for. And whatever the series attempts to say about gay dating in middle age, it's hindered by its blindly privileged, often wincingly amoral (the joke about one of Michael's friends is that he only dates teenagers) cast of characters.

"Uncoupled" ended its first season with several cliffhangers that now seem like they'll go unresolved for good. After dancing together at a wedding, Colin told Michael he was considering giving their relationship another go. Meanwhile, his friend and business partner Suzanne (Tisha Campbell) was set to meet up with her long-lost son, while the only character in the show worth rooting for, Michael's friend Stanley (Brooks Ashmanskas), was recently diagnosed with cancer. While I personally won't miss "Uncoupled," I will miss Stanley, and I hope that in some unrealized script out there, he got good cancer treatment and a new set of friends.

We're only two weeks into the new year, but Netflix has already canceled at least three other series, including the twisty mystery "1899," the conspiracy theory comedy "Inside Job," and the kid-friendly animated series "Dead End: Paranormal Park." Darren Star's other Netflix series, "Emily in Paris," is now in its third season on the streamer.