Netflix might be best known for its hit scripted shows and movies, but it goes without saying that Netflix has quietly established itself as a force within the reality TV space. Over the last several years, Netflix has truly upped its game in the reality TV space to bring fans some of the most insanely addictive shows to ever grace our screens.
One of the first major reality shows to break through for Netflix was its competition series The Circle, which helped kick off the Netflix reality TV renaissance in 2020.
The Circle is truly Big Brother meets Catfish, which is what made the show so deliciously addictive. Each season threw together a group of players who could enter the game playing as their true selves or as a catfish, playing the game behind a fake persona. While the players are all playing the game in the same building, each player is sequestered in their own apartment, and their only way of communicating with their fellow players is through The Circle.
Players communicate only through social media profiles and messages in what is the ultimate social experiment, where your life in the game relies on the connections formed with fellow players. The only problem was that you never quite knew whether the person on the other end of the screen was truly who they said they were or a catfish playing the game behind a fake persona.
Fans quickly embraced the series, which began releasing new seasons annually and became a staple of the Netflix lineup. Sadly, though, it seems that The Circle’s time has truly come to an end.
The Circle has quietly been canceled by Netflix
While Netflix has failed to release an official press release confirming the cancellation of The Circle, all signs suggest that Circle Chat has closed for good. Although fans have kept hope alive, it sadly seems that The Circle season 7 was the show’s last and that an eighth season is not happening.
Because of the streaming landscape, Netflix often gets away with sporadic scheduling of its original series; however, it’s now been over a year since The Circle season 7 finale was released on Netflix, and there have been absolutely no updates on season 8.
Making matters even worse, The Circle is no longer listed on the Studio Lambert’s open casting page, meaning there are no efforts to recruit players for another season of the show. Instead, The Circle now only appears as part of the “shows” page which highlights past and present series from the studio.
A seven-season run is nothing to scoff at for a Netflix Original; however, there is no denying that The Circle is a series that still felt fresh and could have gone on for many more years. It was an amazing series and also helped to serve as a launching pad for Netflix that helped kickstart the careers of several Netflix reality stars. This then helped Netflix to build its own interconnected universe with stars crossing over into various programs, including Perfect Match, which was the ultimate mashup of Netflix reality TV stars.
The Circle may never have broken through in the way that The Traitors did, securing Emmy acclaim, but the show was a favorite among subscribers who passionately tuned in weekly for the latest batch of episodes. It was such a fun show to watch, and it’s sad that Netflix cut its run short.
We can only hope that perhaps a new iteration of The Circle could one day make its way to Netflix or that perhaps Netflix will decide to reboot the series with a new twist on the format. For now, though, we’ll have to settle for rewatching previous seasons or turning to other shows such as Big Brother for our reality TV fix.