Even though a new fall TV season has begun, with hit Fox shows like Doc and Murder in a Small Town returning for new seasons, the network still had some unfinished business to tend to from last season. Fox had revealed the fates of the vast majority of its shows, either renewing them for new seasons or cutting some runs short, but one particular show had been left on the chopping block.
Earlier this spring, Fox renewed a number of Animation Domination mainstays like The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob's Burgers for multiple seasons and even surprised fans with the announcement that American Dad! will be returning to the network after spending 10 years on TBS. However, The Great North was noticeably absent from the list of Fox animated shows coming back.
The writing had started to be on the wall for The Great North at the time of the mass-renewal for the Animation Domination slate, and the chaotic release schedule for season 5 didn't help. Fox started airing The Great North season 5 in December 2024 and ended its run in September 2025. Thankfully, the writers prepped a series finale for the inevitable: The show has been officially canceled.
The Great North season 6 isn't happening after Fox cancellation
While Fox didn't provide a concrete reason as to why The Great North was canceled after five seasons, it's not hard to pinpoint the culprit as ratings. According to TV Line, the animated series was Fox's lowest-rated comedy and the network's least-watched series overall. Those kinds of numbers don't make a strong case for a renewal, no matter how much the show deserved one.
In addition to low ratings, The Great North season 6 likely didn't come to fruition because Fox simply doesn't own the show, which was produced by Disney's 20th Television Animation. Fellow Disney-owned shows like The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Bob's Burgers have decades of success to back them up, while new Fox animated shows Krapopolis and Universal Basic Guys are Fox-owned.
Fox Television president Michael Thorn celebrated the show and its cast and crew while sharing the unfortunate news of its cancellation: "We’re so grateful for everything Wendy, Lizzie, Loren, and the amazing cast and crew put intoThe Great North. It’s difficult to say goodbye, but we’re thankful for the five hilarious seasonsThe Great North brought to the iconic Animation Domination lineup."
The Great North's cancellation leaves fans devastated and one storyline unresolved
The Great North got the raw end of the deal, but as previously mentioned, the creative team saw the cancellation coming and prepared a fitting series finale ending. "It's a Beef-derful Life," the show's 97th and final episode, found Beef facing his mortality and getting celebrated by the town. The series ends with a montage set to "Thank U" by Alanis Morissette. It's the perfect, bittersweet send-off.
Following the news that The Great North season 6 isn't in the cards, fans quickly took to the internet to share their feelings, with one expressing their devastation after binge-watching the show twice this year and finding comfort in its storytelling. Others said the series "should have run forever" and one even suggested writing the Tobin family into Bob's Burgers.
Although the series was able to end on its own terms for the most part with an ending that offers closure, fans have noted that there's one particular storyline that wasn't resolved. For much of the series, the Tobin children spoke about their mother who left them, but she never managed to pop up. We didn't get to meet the Tobin mother, and now we never will. But we still got 97 great episodes!