Netflix has canceled The Boroughs, a science fiction series executive produced by the Duffer Brothers, following its debut in May 2026. The cancellation occurred just weeks after the show's premiere.
The series starred Alfred Molina and Alfre Woodard in a story centered on a group of unlikely heroes. The Duffer Brothers, known for creating Stranger Things, served as executive producers on the project rather than in a showrunner capacity.
The cancellation comes on the heels of Stranger Things' final season, which became Netflix's biggest English-language debut ever. The fifth and final season of Stranger Things achieved 59.6 million views in its first five days, setting a new record for the platform. This represents a significant increase compared to the fourth season's performance in 2022, when Netflix measured viewership differently using stream time rather than view counts.
The massive audience for Stranger Things' conclusion was so large that it temporarily overwhelmed Netflix's systems. The platform had to increase bandwidth by 30 percent in advance of the premiere to prevent crashes, according to co-creator Ross Duffer. The surge in viewers even caused the platform to briefly freeze despite these precautions.
Before the final season dropped, all previous Stranger Things seasons entered Netflix's top 10 simultaneously, marking the first time any show had achieved this milestone on the platform. The show has maintained its status as one of Netflix's most popular English-language series since debuting in 2016.
Stranger Things helped launch the careers of numerous actors who have since become prominent in the industry. The cast includes Millie Bobby Brown, one of Netflix's first major in-house stars, along with Joe Keery, Natalia Dyer, Charlie Heaton, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink, and Gaten Matarazzo. Series regulars Winona Ryder and David Harbour also returned for the final season.
The fifth season features a time jump from the show's typical 1980s setting to accommodate the actors who have aged since the series began. The story returns to Hawkins, Indiana, the fictional small town central to the series' narrative about otherworldly threats.
The co-creators, brothers Matt and Ross Duffer, indicated that the final season would deliver particularly intense moments, teasing "the most violent death of any season." Critic Jack Seale praised the fourth episode of the first half of the finale, calling it a "solidly thrilling 90 minutes" that effectively uses the show's substantial effects budget.
Stranger Things' conclusion continues throughout December, with the final three episodes set to premiere on Christmas Day and New Year's Eve.