It may not be broadcast television, but you know that we support Shonda Rhimes and her production company Shondaland wherever that may be. This time, that support takes us to one of the creative's new shows on Netflix, The Residence. Unfortunately, there isn't good news about it to share, however.
In a surprising move, Netflix decided to cancel Rhimes' The Residence after just one season, which means The Residence season 2 is not happening. The engaging murder mystery comedy premiered its 8-episode season in March 2025, and now its fate has been determined, per Deadline. This is quite shocking as the producer has a good relationship with Netflix due to mega hit historical romance drama Bridgerton, and is obviously a big success at ABC with Grey's Anatomy.
The news outlet notes that there were a few factors that contributed to the cancellation. The first is that The Residence premiered one week after British series Adolescence, which became a breakout hit worldwide and gained all the attention at the time. I'll tell you, the intense but effective drama deserves all that attention. Though it was easy for it to take away the spotlight from the Shondaland show at the time, which is what ended up happening.
Deadline also shares that the series was expensive and cost a lot, which also contributed to its cancellation. The production team had been trying to find a way to lower those costs for a possible season 2, even trying to move the show's setting from the White House. Though that unfortunately didn't work out either. The series would have served as an anthology, and the second season would have had lead star and character Uzo Aduba as Detective Cordelia Cupp handle another murder mystery.
This news is quite unfortunate as I personally enjoyed watching The Residence. It brought a nice and new element to the murder mystery genre with it being more lighthearted during its comedic beats. The cast was also nothing to complain about! Stars including Giancarlo Esposito, Randall Park, Susan Kelechi Watson, and more all made it an enjoyable watch.
With Rhimes' success overall as well, I'll be honest I didn't see this one coming. Though it is what it is at this point, and all we can do is move on. At least we've got new episodes of Grey's Anatomy on ABC, as well as Bridgerton on Netflix to look forward to and enjoy from Shondaland!
The Residence's first and only season is streaming on Netflix.
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