It seems Found’s time on air has come to an end much sooner than many fans had been hoping. With its Upfront presentation scheduled for May 12, NBC has been making some tough decisions about its primetime slate, and Found has, unfortunately, become one of the network’s growing list of casualties.
NBC has opted not to renew its Shanola Hampton-starring drama for a third season and has canceled Found after two seasons. News of the cancellation comes ahead of the show’s season 2 finale, which will now serve as a series finale when it releases on May 15.
Found had quite a unique journey in its two seasons on NBC. While the show was originally slated to release as part of NBC’s midseason lineup in 2023, it ended up being pushed to the fall, where it was one of the few scripted shows that aired among the broadcast networks amid the 2023 writers’ strike. In a fall that was full of reality shows, Found enjoyed a strong launch on NBC, becoming a hit that season, and the show was quickly renewed for a second season.
Sadly, when airing among a much more competitive landscape during the 2024-25 season, Found’s ratings dipped quite sharply. Disappointing as it was, it made sense as the first season aired during a time when fans were desperate for scripted originals, as the biggest shows on ABC, NBC, FOX, and CBS were off the air due to the strikes aas episodes could neither be written nor filmed when the actors union also went on strike.
With ratings slipping and NBC forced to cut back on its primetime slate as it prepares to become home to NBA coverage in the 2025-26 season, the network has had to make some difficult decisions. We’ve seen many shows that could have been renewed in past years canceled, and Found is most certainly in that category.
If NBC wasn’t about to lose some of its primetime real estate to more live sports coverage, we imagine shows like Found would have a better chance of securing a renewal. Instead, Found becomes one of the shows on a growing list of beloved NBC shows to be canceled in 2025.
The one glimmer of hope for fans is that it seems Warner Bros. Television, the studio behind the show, is considering shopping Found around in hopes of trying to find the show a new home. It’s unclear whether those efforts will yield results, but it’s promising to know that the studio is considering shopping the show rather than throwing in the white flag.